Ties That Bind
by dmnq8
Summary: Armageddon looms on the horizon.The Uchihas, Naruto and their children are all blissfully unaware. The ties that bind them all will be put to the ultimate test in this last installment to the Bonded and New Bonds saga. Yaoi, yuri, het. Discl. in profile
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Wow. I actually have nothing to say here...putting an author's note has become a habit...

Well, actually I would like to say that even though I said I wouldn't have NaruSasu in here, I found that I couldn't adhere to that. The whole story started with them and so I felt like I had to have them in here. Still, the story features a lot of the OC's, so don't let the category fool you. I had to put who the characters were when I uploaded it and who better than Naruto and Sasuke.

I'd also like to thank all the readers who've stuck by be from the beginning and given me positive encouragement. I love you guys. Onward!

P.S. I've updated my profile.

* * *

**Ties That Bind**

_Prologue_

_Ten years have passed since Pein attacked Konoha in an effort to lure the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi. Naruto had been captured and killed, but Sasuke sacrificed his own life to bring Naruto back from the dead. Raiden, Sasuke and Naruto's son, sought help from other worlds to bring back his papa. _

_When we left them, Danzo had been killed by nine-month-old Uzumaki Aimi. Danzo's regime was overthrown by the village as they rallied to save Naruto from his clutches. Kakashi was sworn in as The Seventh Hokage and Naruto was made his assistant. Itachi left the Uchiha clan in Sasuke's hands in order to go live with Gaara in Suna._

_A lot's happened since then. _

_***  
_

_Gaara was the proud father of a little red-haired girl with jade green eyes like his. Willow had walked out of thin air and into Gaara's office one day nine and a half months after she'd left them. She'd been holding a wrapped bundle in her arms. Gaara had looked up and known immediately. He came around his desk swiftly._

_"Is that…?" he breathed._

_"Your daughter," Willow said with a small smile. "She's healthy, two weeks old today. I haven't named her."_

_Gaara reached her and took the white-wrapped bundle reverently. He looked down at the small pink face. The baby was asleep. "She's perfect," he said. Gaara looked up to ask Willow if she was all right, if she'd like to stay for awhile, but she was already disappearing through the air again, as if she'd never been there. Gaara looked back down at his daughter. He gave her a sad little smile._

_"Ah, little one. I fear we will never see your mother again."_

_He named her Yanagi. She was the light of his life._

_***  
_

_Itachi, after a bit of trouble involving Kaito, decided to have his daughters move to Sunagakure with him. He didn't want them also falling prey to some overzealous man and ending up pregnant. The girls whined and complained about being away from their brothers. In their entire life, Itachi's children had never been separated from each other. The harpies made Itachi's life such hell that he was forced to send them back. They went. Hiroko opted to remain near her father in order to train with Genjutsu. Sumiko said she wanted to train with Baki for a time. The two ended up staying in Suna. Itachi took frequent trips to Konoha to check up on his brother and sons._

_Those sons were doing fine. All except Juro, Yukio and Shouta were Jounins. Hiroto taught at the academy. Kenji, the resident expert on explosives, had founded something of a bomb squad in Konoha. Other nations were quickly following his example. He had pioneered research and development of many new ways of using explosive powder and tags. Kenta was a brilliant geologist. The two worked together and were Konoha's demolition team._

_Juro and Yukio were gifted architects and the chief engineers for the village. They were often contracted to draw building plans for other villages. They had their own construction crew and, though only sixteen, were quite wealthy. _

_Shouta and the triplets still lived with Sasuke. Shouta was Chuunin. The triplets were still in the academy._

_Regarding Kaito…Itachi was nearly prostrate with delight at how the boy was diligently doing his part to rebuild the clan. He kept Hanabi pregnant. Kaito had produced a horde of girls that Itachi was savagely happy to note had no trace of Byakugan in them. _

_As for Itachi's girls, the harpies were all successful in their own right. Asami was a gifted medical nin right up there with Sakura and Ino. Akiko was in ANBU and Akane was a part of ANBU's Torture and Interrogation Force. _

_***  
_

_One evening in Suna, Hiroko stood in her room at the palace looking at a sheet of paper with an official seal at the bottom. She held the letter in a trembling hand, reading it for a second time. Itachi read it over her shoulder. "Daddy," she breathed. "Konoha wants to recruit me for ANBU."_

_"So I see. Hardly surprising," Itachi said with satisfaction. "There isn't a ninja in the known world who doesn't know your name and fear it. I've expected this letter long before now, frankly."_

_"It would require me moving back to Konoha."_

_"Yes."_

_"Oh, Daddy." Hiroko turned and threw her arms around Itachi's neck. "I'm going to miss you!"_

_"Go," he said as he hugged her back. "I'm proud of you."_

_When Sumiko heard the news, she decided to move back to Konoha with her sister. Gaara and Itachi said a tearful (on Gaara's part) goodbye to the two young women._

_***  
_

_In Konoha, Kakashi thought he was ready to retire soon. Naruto was more than ready to take over, he could tell. Still, he held off. He wanted to be absolutely sure._

_Meanwhile he and Kurenai were also proud parents. Kurenai had Asuma-chan, but she and Kakashi also had a son, age eight, named Sakumo. He was a curious mixture of Kakashi and Kurenai with his gray hair and red eyes. Unlike his parents, he was neither quiet nor reserved. He was a loud-mouthed terror who hung out with Uzumaki Raiden and the triplets a great deal. _

_Hinata and Shino had also had a child, a little girl now seven years old. She had her mother's black hair and her father's grey-green eyes. She was called Amaya and considered both exceptionally intelligent and beautiful. _

_Shikamaru had moved back to the village with Temari some years ago in order to see to his former sensei's wish of looking after his son. He saw to this duty with as much grace as he could manage though it was bothersome at times. Shikamaru's own children played with Asuma-chan and Sakumo-chan on a regular basis. _

_Neji and Ino had Naruto-chan and one other boy, Seiji, who'd just turned eight. Naruto-chan had Neji's brown hair with his mother's eyes, but Seiji was Hyuuga all the way. Neji and Ino loved them both to death._

_Naruto and Sasuke were still together, still deeply in love, though they had their fair share of fights. Naruto was busy all day and most nights. Sasuke was beginning to question his purpose in life. They looked after their children, Shouta and the triplets as well as two men such as themselves were able to. _

_

* * *

  
_

Chapter 1

On this morning, Naruto was awake, dressed and ready to walk out the door before the sun was up. He was busy looking around the bedroom for his keys as Sasuke watched sleepily.

"Oi. Demon. Give me sex before you go."

"Sasuke, please, not now, I can't find my keys," Naruto said distractedly. He bent to look under the bed.

"Yes, now. You get home so late, I hardly ever see you anymore. We haven't fucked in over a week."

"Dammit! I know I left them in these pants!" Naruto held a pair of brown cargo pants, frantically feeling all the pockets.

"Fuck me or feel my wrath," Sasuke yawned. "I mean it."

"Fucking hell…where could they be?" Naruto cast a glance at Sasuke before turning to search the dresser again. "Sasuke, I can't, I'm already dressed."

"Sharingan."

Naruto paused, looked over his shoulder.

"Chidori!"

Naruto dodged, tripped over one of his own shoes that lay on the floor and came up swinging. Sasuke got him in a bear hug and manhandled him with difficulty toward the bed, where they both collapsed.

"Shit, Sasuke!"

Sasuke silenced him with a fierce kiss. Naruto struggled briefly, then felt his body heat up. He gave in, took over.

"Stay home today," Sasuke hissed as Naruto entered him.

"Sasuke-"

"Do I have to beg?"

"You know Kakashi's counting on me. The council, too."

"Fine, go. Harder."

Naruto obeyed Sasuke's commands. He allowed himself a ten-minute rest before he was up and looking for his keys again. Sasuke casually reached under his pillow and withdrew the keys with a faint jangle. Naruto turned at hearing the sound.

"You fucking bastard," Naruto snarled as he snatched the keys. "Why'd you take them?"

"So I could have some of that randy cock of yours. You always sneak off in the mornings before I wake up."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do. Be home early tonight for the festivities. And when you get back I'll expect a proper fucking, not the quickie you just threw me. I want hours of your body, Naruto. Don't make me come to the office looking for you."

"Son of a bitch," Naruto hissed as he walked out the bedroom.

"I love you, too," Sasuke chuckled. His smile faded as Naruto left the room, though_. I love you so much that I can't stand it_, he thought. After awhile he turned over and went back to sleep.

* * *

Udon adjusted his vest on his shoulders, ran a hand over his hair to smooth it unnecessarily. He adjusted his round glasses, inspecting himself in the mirror. His stomach jumped with nerves.

A crash sounded behind him. Udon rolled his eyes. Konohamaru and his latest conquest had been at it since dawn, both of them falling into the house drunk. He went and pounded on his roommate's door. "Konohamaru, hurry up! We're supposed to be meeting the new ANBU recruit in less than thirty minutes!"

"Be right out," Konohamaru called. Udon heard the girl growl something in a husky voice that had Konohamaru chuckling low in his throat. The banging of the headboard resumed. Udon turned away in disgust to wait for his life-long friend in the hall.

Udon leaned against the wall outside his apartment door and reflected on the turns his life had taken. ANBU had been so decimated by Danzo that they recruited any and every available Jounin they felt was worthy in order to flesh out their ranks. Udon had been more than surprised to get a letter requesting that he join. He was a good ninja but fighting wasn't his main weapon. He was pleasantly shocked to find that the ANBU captain was aware of this; Udon had been recruited as a tactical and strategic genius. Much of the work he did was from right here in Konoha at ANBU HQ.

Konohamaru was another story. He was a strong fighter, frequently sent out on missions with his unit. He was social where Udon was reserved, temperamental where Udon was usually even-tempered. Most importantly, Konohamaru was considered quite a catch. He was broad and muscular, reminding many people of his late uncle Sarutobi Asuma. Women were always all over Konohamaru and he accepted the offerings willingly. The only people more popular with the opposite sex were those Uchihas. Konohamaru had a new woman on his arm every week, and it didn't seem like the man planned on slowing down anytime soon.

Udon smirked as he heard Konohamaru and the woman showering. If his roommate knew they were going to retrieve Uchiha Hiroko and Sumiko he'd pitch a fit that would have the entire building awake. The bespectacled Jounin shuddered to think what would happen when Konohamaru found out that Hiroko was joining ANBU. He'd managed to keep that information from him.

It wasn't something that he ever spoke about, but Udon knew Konohamaru had been glad when Hiroko had moved to Suna. He had not forgotten or forgiven the incident with that Genjutsu. Udon himself had been heartbroken that Sumiko had gone. He'd been in love with the quiet girl, much to his shame. He'd thought that she liked him, too. Apparently she hadn't if she'd decided to stay away from Konoha for so long. But now she was coming back. Under Konohamaru's urging, Udon had known a few women in the past eight years, but he'd never forgotten Uchiha Sumiko. He wondered what she looked like now.

Konohamaru came bustling out of the apartment, ushering the woman ahead of him. She pecked his lips as Udon watched before skipping off down the hall to go her own way. Konohamaru watched the sway of her ass as Udon slammed the door closed and locked it. He turned to Udon with a wince.

"Jesus, easy with the door! I have a raging headache."

"You're drunk."

"No, I'm hung over. Let's get this chore over with."

"We're late," Udon griped.

"So we'll hurry, big deal."

They got to the gate in record time. There was no sign of the recruit just yet. Konohamaru placed a toothpick in his mouth and leaned against the wall while Udon struck up a conversation with the Chuunins on duty. Last night's soccer match between the academy teachers was picked apart in detail.

Konohamaru spotted the faint dust cloud in the distance first. He squinted, shaded his eyes with a hand. "Is that him? I thought there was just one recruit?"

Udon turned from his conversation. He could see two people surrounded by an escort of Suna Chuunins and Jounins. He could make out a head of pale hair and one of dark hair on the two people being escorted. "Yeah, there is."

"And they need such an escort?" Konohamaru snorted. "What kind of recruit is this that they can't protect themselves? Come to think of it, why was a Leaf ninja hiding out in Suna anyway?"

Udon refrained from answering. The shit would hit the fan soon enough. No need to rush matters. Besides, he was trying not to sweat at seeing Sumiko again. Did she remember him?

* * *

"I can't wait to see everyone again," Hiroko gushed. "I know I saw him only three months ago, but I really miss Hiroto!"

"I wonder how Shouta's doing," Sumiko said quietly. "I haven't been back to the village in at least a year. I missed when uncle Sasuke and the kids visited three months ago. I was off in Waterfall Country, remember?"

"Shouta was doing all right, last I heard," Hiroko said. "I'm sure uncle Sasuke takes good care of him."

"I still can't believe you're going to be in ANBU. The harpies, I can understand, but you? You're so non-combative. I mean your Taijutsu barely cleared dad's approval. I can't believe ANBU wants you."

"Me either! Seems like all dad's girls are in it. Except you and Asami, I mean. I know you turned them down last year. What are you going to do now?"

"You mean with my life? I don't know. Dad mentioned teaching at the academy, but…"

"But?" Hiroko prompted.

"I…kind of want to start a family."

Hiroko, a diehard romantic, grinned roguishly. "Ahh. Plan on looking up Udon-sensei?"

Sumiko blushed scarlet. No one knew of her feelings for her old sensei except her older sister. "He's probably found someone else by now."

Hiroko shook one index finger with a superior air. "Nope! I know he loved you. He's probably waiting for you to come back to the village and worried you've forgotten him."

Sumiko rolled her dark brown eyes. "Even if he did have feelings for me, he didn't know how I felt. He wouldn't be worried about any such thing. And speaking of feelings, what about you and Konohamaru?"

Eternally cheerful, Hiroko nonetheless sobered a bit. "He made it clear that he won't forgive what I did to him. He hates the sight of me."

"But you still love him," Sumiko said. "You've never loved another despite how men chase you."

"No. I haven't. Daddy said Uchiha's love once and hard."

"Are you going to speak to him? He's in ANBU too you know."

"I'll probably stay away from him. If I'm lucky we won't run in to each other."

Sumiko's heart hurt for her sister's pain. Hiroko didn't deserve to live a loveless life. "Maybe you'll find someone else?"

"I've found many men," Hiroko laughed easily. "I just can't love any of them."

Their escort, secretly hanging on to every word the two young women were saying, interrupted the conversation. "Hiroko-san, Sumiko-san, we are approaching the village gates. It seems someone has been sent to meet you."

The two women looked ahead past the protective shelter of their escorts and saw two men. Sumiko paled, Hiroko blinked, but did not otherwise react. _Of all the rotten luck! _Hiroko thought as they came to a stop in front of Konoha's gates. To be met by the very men they'd been discussing was cruel of fate indeed. She steadfastly ignored the tall man whose toothpick dangled from his full lips in the exact way she remembered from her youth. She tried to pay attention to the conversation taking place between the leader of her ten-man escort and the man she belatedly recognized as Udon-sensei.

* * *

"There were no problems?" Udon was asking. His eyes never left Sumiko.

"None," the escort was saying. "I see that you are also ANBU. I will tell Itachi-dono that his girls were delivered directly into your care." The man bowed low to Udon.

"Excellent," Udon mumbled. Sumiko's eyes were locked on his. Udon was in the process of dying slowly.

Sumiko was expiring with more speed. Udon-sensei was looking directly at her, hadn't looked away since she'd strolled up. He was so beautiful! Had he been that beautiful before? She finally dropped her eyes in self-preservation; she was close to fainting. She struggled to bring her breathing under control, disturbed to feel her nipples tight and sensitive against her tunic. She held her bag in front of her chest in case that detail was visible.

***

Konohamaru blinked. He stared. He blinked again. The vision still stood there, right before his eyes.

He hadn't really seen Hiroko since that party at her house. She'd been a gawky pre-teen then. That girl was gone, though there were similarities to the beauty who stood ignoring him. He ran his bulging eyes down her body.

Hiroko wasn't thin like her sisters. She was voluptuous, almost indecently so. Her breasts rivaled the late Tsunade's. Her waist was narrow. Her hips were round, flaring out dramatically to taper into curved, extremely shapely thighs and calves. Her ass was plumply provocative. And that hair! Konohamaru remembered it being in a thick ponytail, with equally thick bangs covering her forehead. Now it cascaded in a brazen fall to the backs of her knees in such amounts that he wondered how her graceful neck could support the weight. It was in a loose tail held with a clip made of the Uchiha fan picked out in rhinestones. Waves of the pale blond stuff framed her oval face. Her black eyes were bordered by thick, dark gold lashes. Her small nose and delicate pink lips were nothing short of perfection. Her cheeks were dusky with a natural blush.

She had on some kind of white outfit that suited her coloring very well, Konohamaru noted absently. The top couldn't quite cover her stomach, lifted as it was by her huge breasts. Her navel was visible over the waistband of her knee-length pants. His eyes were drawn to her deep cleavage, also visible since the first few buttons on her top couldn't close.

All in all, the sight of Hiroko dispelled the lingering effects of Konohamaru's hang over so emphatically that he was left slightly dizzy; he'd never seen such an extravagant hourglass figure outside of porn mags. His toothpick dropped from his slack lips as he stared, stupefied.

***

Udon addressed Hiroko. "Uchiha Hiroko, welcome back to Konoha. I hate to be so formal, but do you have your letter from ANBU?"

Hiroko was relieved to have something to take her mind off Konohamaru's roaming eyes. He was making her feel distinctly uncomfortable. "Yes, right here." She reached into her bag, withdrew the letter and handed it to Udon.

"Perfect," Udon said. "I was told you have a place to stay in the Uchiha compound. You need to check in with the ANBU captain, but after that you're free to rest from your journey if you wish." Udon finally noticed the look on Konohamaru's face. A beauty of an idea came to him. "Why don't I let Konohamaru take you to HQ? I'll escort Sumiko-san to the Uchiha compound."

Hiroko started to protest, but Udon had already handed the letter to his roommate and was turning away with a hand placed gently on the small of Sumiko's back. Her own escort from Suna had already disappeared into the village. Hiroko was left standing there with the man who hated her with such a passion. She did not look at him.

***

Konohamaru finally closed his mouth. It was dry from leaving it open so long. _All right, Sarutobi, _Konohamaru thought as he began walking with Hiroko at his side. _She's hot. Beyond hot, she's a fucking goddess. That doesn't mean you can forget she's considered one of the most dangerous people alive or the fact that she forced you into nearly having sex with her. And as for Udon, _Konohamaru thought wrathfully. _You'll be dealing with his skinny ass later. _His strides became long and angry as he stalked toward HQ.

***

Hiroko had a hard time keeping up. She was left looking at his stiff back as she hurried to follow him. Now, while he wasn't looking at her, Hiroko took the time to examine Konohamaru's appearance. It hadn't changed much since the last time she'd seen him. His hair was a little longer, hanging just past his shoulders in a thick club. His torso was a little broader. She placed him at an even six-foot-two. He towered over her five-foot-six inch frame. She could tell his body was just as strong and powerful as it had been ten years ago.

And she was still horribly in love with him. Hiroko sighed and jogged to keep up.

* * *

Sumiko kept her back stiff. That hand touching her was heating her skin to the melting point. She maintained control of her face and breathing with her trademark self-possession as Udon walked with her to the Uchiha compound. It was strange being touched like this. Touching of any kind outside of battle was something she was unaccustomed to. It left her body tight and breathless. And it was Udon, whom she was carrying a torch for, that was doing the touching. That didn't help at all. She concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other.

It was early yet, only just nine in the morning. She figured those of her siblings not at work would likely still be sleeping. She and Hiroko had not told anyone they were coming. They wanted it to be a surprise. Sumiko led the way in the compound to the pretty two-story house that was hers. She noted that one of the harpies had planted flowers in the front garden and tended to them regularly. She must remember to thank them.

She fished her key from the cord around her neck and inserted it into the lock. Her door opened easily. She stepped into the shadowy interior of the main room and paused to turn back to her former teacher.

"Udon-sensei-"

"Please, call me Udon," he said. He was standing on her shaded porch. The sun was at his back, making it difficult to see his face. Oddly, this helped Sumiko face him.

"Udon," she said after a moment. "Thank you for escorting me." She offered a small smile.

Udon bowed to her while trying to think up something to say that would keep him with her a while longer. Nothing came to him. He was forced to leave her standing there in her doorway. He glanced back once when he was some yards away and found her still looking at him. He halted, staring back, wondering if she-

Sumiko slowly closed her door. He heard the faint click of the lock from where he stood and wilted in disappointment. He turned and slowly headed home.

* * *

"Daddy! Daddy, Mari thpilled all the Lucky Charmth!"

"Miki won't let me watch _Nihongo de Asobo_!"

"Mommy? Can I have ice-cream for breakfast?"

"I have to pee…"

Kaito blocked out the voices and the pounding on his door, thrusting into Hanabi's body strongly. He was braced on his palms to avoid crushing her huge stomach. "I swear," he panted. "No more kids after this one."

"Ahhh, harder Kaito!" Hanabi moaned. "That's what you said two kids ago."

"Yeah…but this time I mean it."

"Ohhh, OOOHH!"

"You close?" Kaito thrust a little harder, feeling his own orgasm approaching.

"Yess…oh God, don't stop…"

Kaito didn't. Neither did his kids outside the door. The banging and yelling increased. A fight broke out amongst the three eldest as the youngest kept chanting that she had to pee. Just as Kaito spilled his seed and Hanabi cried out sharply, both young parents heard, "I hate you! Katon: Gokakyu no Jutthu!"

"Dammit!" Kaito gasped. "I'll kill her!" But it would have to wait until he finished climaxing.

By the time Kaito opened his door and surveyed his four children, there were scorch marks on the hallway walls. His three eldest were in the middle of a brawl while his youngest looked on, jumping up and down with her hands between her legs. Kaito and Hanabi were in the process of toilet training her.

"Enough!" he bellowed.

The children separated themselves and stood regarding their daddy silently. Miki spoke in a sullen voice as she pointed at her sister. "Thee thtarted it," she lisped.

Kaito stared at her. Miki was his firstborn. Hanabi had almost lost her when Hiashi, now dead, had attacked her. Kaito remembered the frantic run to Suna, the days and weeks when Hanabi had hovered on the brink of a miscarriage. Sakura-san had been brought to Suna and the woman had worked day and night to save the baby. Kaito hadn't left Hanabi's side. She'd needed to remain on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy, but she delivered a healthy baby girl and here she stood, meeting her father's look with defiance in her grey eyes. She was almost seven.

The rest had come like clock work, all girls. Mari was five, Momo was three and Mai, the baby, was eighteen months. Hanabi was six months gone with their fifth and Kaito really felt that this one would be the last. His kids drove him bugshit on a regular basis. Hanabi often said he was just another one of the kids since he could usually be found playing with them, but he was a good dad and a good husband. Kaito addressed his eldest after he took Mai to the bathroom.

"Miki, how many times have I told you not to use katon jutsus in the house? And against your sister, no less, what were you thinking?!"

"But Mari thpilled the thereal on purpothe-"

Kaito held up a hand. "No excuses. You're grounded for a week. No TV, no playstation, no going to your cousins or your friends, you hear me?"

Miki was a lot like her dad, rebellious and hardheaded. She stamped her foot as she frowned furiously. "But daddy-"

"No. The decision is final."

"But-"

"Go to your room!"

Miki whirled and stormed away. Kaito heard her slam the door to her room. He then went down to the kitchen to inspect the cereal mess and see about feeding his children.

"Jesus, look at this mess," he groaned. "I swear you kids are eating it anyway. I don't have money for you to be wasting food like this. Get me a broom," he told Mari.

The broom was brought and Momo held the dustpan. Mari held the Lucky Charms box open as the cereal was poured back in. Kaito got bowls, searched in the frdge for the milk. "What happened to all the milk?" he asked over his shoulder. The girls were already digging into the box of cereal, crunching it up dry.

"Mommy finished it," Momo supplied.

"Damn," Kaito muttered. Keeping the woman fed when she was pregnant was almost impossible. Hanabi ate like a dray horse. He straightened and closed the fridge. He added milk to the grocery list held to the freezer door with an Uchiha fan magnet.

"Daddy, can we make snickerdoodles today?" Mai asked in her baby voice. She was exceptionally verbal for a child her age.

"Didn't we make snickerdoodles yesterday?" he asked, examining the list.

"I want more. Miki hogged most of them."

"Tough. We got things to do today while mommy rests. Go get dressed."

His girls toddled off upstairs as Kaito quickly straightened up the downstairs. He stopped off in Miki's room to tell her to get dressed before heading back to his own room. Hanabi was snoring softly, curled on her side. He made sure he was quiet as he selected his customary outfit and put it on over his boxers. This outfit consisted of black cargo pants, black tank top with the Uchiha fan on the front and a navy blue bandana with little Uchiha fans all over it. He tied the bandana onto his head, leaving his hair loose as he inspected himself in the mirror.

He was six-foot-four, rangy build, lean muscles. He wasn't beefy like Hiroto, or very muscular like Kenta, Juro and Yukio were. Satisfied with his appearance, Kaito pecked Hanabi's cheek lightly before meeting his kids in the hall outside his room. She murmured a sleepy goodbye.

Miki's hair was in its trademark black snarl but otherwise they were presentable enough. Miki and Mari settled themselves on Kaito's feet, wrapping their arms and legs around his calves tightly. He settled Mai on his shouldrs and picked Momo up to sit her in the crook of his left arm. This was his usual way of going around the village when he had to take all of his kids with him; they were never able to keep up with his long strides and he didn't have the patience to wait on them.

Kaito leapt and cleared all the stairs in a single bound, landing with a thud that shook the house. His girls shrieked in delight and hung on tight. Kaito ran out the house with his human burdens. He was supposed to be contacting the caterer for the festivities this evening.

* * *

The other residents of the Uchiha compound were still asleep. Those in Sasuke's large house were about to be woken, though.

On the second floor of the house was a certain room. The room was a junky mess, clothes and books strewn everywhere. No one was ever allowed in this room and whenever the occupant of the room was out, he locked his door with a sealing jutsu. The occupant was currently asleep, sprawled face down on his bed.

The boy, formerly husky, was now tall, lean and graceful. His sandy hair spiked up in the back exactly the way his papa's had done at the same age. It fell over his cheeks in the same way. He was fair like his papa, but his eyes and eyebrows were like his daddy's. This boy, now twelve, was none other than Uzumaki Raiden.

He was having a nightmare.

It had been years since he'd had a nightmare like this one. Not since the Danzo incident, in fact. He moaned in a faint voice as his eyes moved restlessly behind his lids.

***

_Faces. Some he knew, some he didn't. There was that bad person, Madara. The notperson, a guy with glasses, a guy with snakes. The faces shifted, became a battlefield beneath a blood red sky that boiled with black clouds. The evil goddess cackled, striding among the bodies…the bodies, oh, God! Everyone he'd ever known lay dead. His friends, his family…Pop, Dad, all dead, dead, dead. Then it was all gone, all darkness and somehow that was worse than all the death-_

_***  
_

Raiden was screaming his head off. He screamed until his voice was gone, screamed until Sasuke came crashing into the room, Sharingan on. He screamed and screamed and screamed until his father hauled off and punched him. That silenced Raiden. He hadn't been completely awake when he'd been screaming, but the punch knocked him out again and Raiden tumbled right back into that nightmare.

Sasuke immediately grabbed his son to him. He cradled the big kid awkwardly in his lap as he thumbed his fluttering lids apart. Raiden's grey-blue eyes rolled madly. The boy was muttering under his breath. Sasuke only made out a few words. "Dead, all dead. Oh, God, the darkness!" There was such dread, such agony in Raiden's voice that Sasuke was badly scared. He shook Raiden repeatedly, called his name right in the boy's ear, but Raiden didn't respond.

"Aimi!" Sasuke roared. "Get in here!"

His quiet daughter walked calmly into the room a minute later, her face still red from sleep. Sasuke could sympathize. He'd been sleeping himself when Raiden's bloodcurdling screams ripped him awake.

"Get your dad," Sasuke barked at her urgently. Raiden was starting to thrash in his arms, having some sort of seizure. "Fold, sweetie, hurry."

Aimi looked frightened at seeing her normally strong brother so incapacitated, but she nodded and disappeared where she stood. By now Shouta and the triplets had come to see what all the commotion was about. They arrived in time to see Sasuke kicked across the room as whatever Raiden was seeing caused adrenaline to pour through him. His already considerable strength was given a boost; Sasuke crashed through the wall and landed in the hall beyond. The four boys yelled in fright.

Sasuke picked himself up and charged back into the room toward where Raiden lay convulsing on the floor. The boy was screaming again in a voice gone hoarse. "Help me hold him down," Sasuke shouted at the cowering boys.

They tried. Sasuke held Raiden's shoulders. The triplets and Shouta held down his arms and legs. Even exerting all their strength, Raiden nearly bucked free. His head whipped from side to side and Sasuke saw with a sick jolt that Raiden's eyes were open and staring. "Raiden!" Sasuke yelled down into his face. "Raiden, snap out of it! Baby, _please_!"

Raiden couldn't see or hear anything but what was taking place in his mind.

"Uh, uncle Sasuke?" Kei said nervously. "I think his chakra is leaking out…"

Sasuke glanced up and saw that Raiden's black chakra was indeed starting to swirl out of him. Jesus, what was happening to his son?

Aimi returned with Naruto then. The blond took one look at the five people holding down his son and rushed to lend aid. "What happened," Naruto said as he knelt next to Raiden. Shouta and the triplets backed away, giving him room. Naruto took over holding Raiden down. "What happened to him?" His eyes went to Sasuke.

"I don't know. I think he's dreaming or something. He's having a fit of some kind. I can't get through to him. Can you get in his head?" Sasuke asked desperately. "Reach him that way?"

Naruto gazed down at Raiden with a frown on his face. The boy's chakra was coming out fast and strong now. _Raiden? Raiden, son, can you hear-_

Naruto's mind was sucked into Raiden's nightmare.

***

_He was surrounded. Naruto knew these people, had killed some of them…Madara, Deidara, Zetsu, Konan…Akatsuki. All alive and all throbbing with a power that had Kyuubi howling in recognition. __**"The bijuus!" **__the fox howled inside him. __**"My brethren! They mean to take the kitling, Boy, kill them!"**_

_Naruto was astounded to see that Kyuubi was right. Akatsuki was now alive and all Jinchuuriki. They transformed before his eyes and for the first time since Sasuke died, he lost control of Kyuubi. The Demon Fox exploded from his seal, transforming Naruto to six tails, seven, eight-_

_But he was one and they were many. Kisame came at him and the power of him was too much. Naruto turned, wanting Sasuke's face to be the last thing he saw-_

_***  
_

Naruto growled, screamed as his eyes turned red. Sasuke saw this, started to say Naruto's name, but he was blown back by the explosion of chakra that blasted out of the blond. Their house was almost completely obliterated. When the wood and plaster settled, Sasuke saw that Naruto had three tails going, was crouched on all fours and Raiden had a Death Sphere spinning around his entire body. Shouta and the triplets were down, the bright morning sky open all around them. Black and orange chakra fountained into the atmosphere.

Sasuke struggled up, tried to crawl toward Naruto. "Naruto," he choked out. He looked down at himself. His entire right side was soaked with blood. He was numb, he realized. Sasuke swallowed, tried to focus. "Naruto, get to Raiden. Help him…I don't think he-"

Naruto wasn't listening, caught in the nightmare as he was. Kyuubi was, though. He realized the kitling was having one of his prophetic dreams, realized that he had been sucked into it and his host's mind was still prisoner to the kitling's vision. He tempered his chakra, reeled it back in. Yes. First wake the kitling then deal with this plague that was coming for them. Gods, all his brethren joined to the most dangerous hosts in creation!

Using his own host's body, Kyuubi made his way toward where the kitling still lay thrashing and yelling. He had to get past that chakra some how. Perhaps if he entered his mind again-

***

Aimi hadn't been able to shield herself in time. She'd been thrown, briefly knocked unconscious. She woke now, picked her head up from the rubble of their once-handsome house and blinked blood from her eyes. She was in time to see Raiden's Death Sphere contract slowly before blasting outward. She reacted immediately. Still, she wasn't quite fast enough. She saw her daddy vaporized, saw her papa suffer the same fate. Shouta was gone and one of the triplets halfway gone as she flung out her hand, her chakra jumping out of her crazily. "_NO!"_ she screamed.

Everything froze.

Aimi's chakra was a unique lavender and fatal to anyone who touched it unless she consciously willed otherwise. Everything hovered now in that lavender light as she struggled to her feet. She didn't know what had caused Raiden to do what he did, but she had to reverse it. Grief at seeing her parents killed so heartlessly threatened to overwhelm her, but Aimi forced herself to push what she'd seen from her mind.

Freezing time wasn't so hard for her. Turning time back was. It wasn't a quick process and it was very draining. The problem with the jutsu was that time encompassed all; she couldn't reverse events for only the few in the room with her. She needed to do it for everyone and everything in this dimension. It wasn't something she'd done often. None of her family knew she could do it. Aimi closed her eyes and concentrated on taking hold of the large, immovable, implacable weight of time and rolling it backward.

She heard the changes taking place around her, heard Raiden yelling, the house repairing itself. She focused, bearing down with the force of her mind, pushing against the resistant forward momentum of time until she stood alone in Raiden's room. She judged it was just before Raiden began having his nightmare. She opened her eyes and released time with a gasp of relief. She felt it begin sweeping forward immediately.

Aimi sank to her knees, her limbs shaky. She'd temporarily forgotten that she'd been injured. That was another thing about moving time backward. Everything around her was affected except herself. She struggled not to throw up. Her head was pounding fiercely in time to her heartbeat. She immediately tried to heal herself, but the effort required caused the pain in her head to escalate to an unbearable pitch. She actually did throw up a little then. She swallowed it as she tried to wait for her head to stop spinning. Healing wasn't as easy for her as it was for Raiden.

When her head cleared somewhat, she got up and walked unsteadily to Raiden's bed. Her vision was blurry, she noticed. Raiden was snoring softly. She glanced out his window and saw that the sun was just coming up. She shook his shoulder. "Raiden, wake up."

It took several tries, but her brother grunted, farted then turned over to regard her with sleepy eyes. "Aimi?" His eyes widened. His expression sharpened at seeing her torn and bloody clothing, at seeing the gash on her head. "Aimi, what happened?!" Raiden scrambled off his bed and reached her just as she collapsed.

* * *

"Stay home today," Sasuke hissed as Naruto entered him.

"Sasuke-"

"Do I have to beg?"

The door banged open and Naruto swore as he pulled out of Sasuke quickly. They both turned to see Raiden running toward the bed. "Aimi's been attacked!" the frightened boy shouted in a cracking voice.

***

They raced back down to Raiden's room. Aimi was laid out on Raiden's rumpled bed. Sasuke reached her first, bending and brushing her bangs off her forehead. Naruto rounded the other side of the bed and knelt so his face was close to Aimi's. Raiden stood at the foot of the bed, looking on fearfully. Sasuke turned Sharingan-enhanced eyes on his son.

"You checked the house?"

Raiden nodded jerkily. "There's no one. The other boys are sleeping."

"What about outside," Naruto said without taking his eyes from the blood on Aimi's temple.

"No one," Raiden said. "I checked."

"Tell us what happened," Sasuke said tensely.

"I don't know what happened," Raiden said. "I was sleeping. Aimi woke me up and then she fainted. She was like that when I woke up."

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a glance.

***

Aimi was taken to the hospital, where Ino healed her injuries. She studied Aimi's pupils with a penlight, but Aimi did not regain consciousness. Ino said that Aimi's chakra was slightly depleted, which confirmed the theory that the girl had been in a fight, but the reduction was so small compared to the chakra still present in the girl that Ino said she didn't think it was the cause for the child's unconscious state.

"The only thing I can think of," Ino said thoughtfully, "is the gash on her head. She has a concussion. If any jutsu she performed in that state required excessive concentration or mental manipulation…she may be more than unconscious. She may slip into a coma."

Naruto covered his eyes with a palm. Sasuke spoke to Ino while looking at Aimi's serene face. "Aimi can't do ninjutsus. If she fought it would have been with her mind. How likely is she to slip into a coma?"

Ino frowned in thought. "Depends on the strength of the jutsu she performed. If it was anything major, I'd say it's only a matter of time. If not, then she may wake in a while. I've done all I can for her right now. We can only wait and see."

Sasuke, Naruto and Raiden sat down in chairs around Aimi's bed to begin waiting.

* * *

Hiroko met the captain with Konohamaru glowering at her side. The captain took one look at her cleavage and there his eyes remained as he informed her that she'd been given elite status based on her reputation. There would be an introduction ceremony later that week where the rest of ANBU would be able to meet her, he said. Then, the captain told Hiroko's cleavage, she would be able to choose men and women for her own unit, a specialist unit.

"My own unit?" Hiroko asked in puzzlement. "What do you mean? And why am I given elite status? I thought all new recruits began at the bottom with domestic patrol duty?"

The captain licked his lips as his eyes remained glued to Hiroko's ample breasts. "Talent such as yours can't be wasted on grunt work, begging your pardon Hiroko-san. You're known as the Angel of Death. I don't think any one person has been so feared since Akatsuki. You may even have surpassed your father in that respect. You will be given a unit comprised of members of your choosing."

"Oh," Hiroko said quietly. She hated that nickname. "And what will be the purpose of my unit?"

"Your unit will specialize in infiltration and data gathering. Might I suggest you choose other shinobi skilled in Genjutsu such as yourself? No one will be able to come close to your talent, of course, but I will leave the decision up to you."

Hiroko nodded. Despite having his eyes firmly down the front of her top, the captain saw her nod. He handed her a dossier of the current ANBU members. Hiroko took it and waited to see if there were any further instructions. The captain's mouth was open a bit. Drool was pooling at the corner of his lips. Hiroko cleared her throat nervously. "Captain? Will that be all?"

At last, the captain dragged his eyes upward and met Hiroko's eyes. "No. You can choose to hold interviews with names you select from that dossier. Let me know when you wish to begin. Konohamaru will take you to where you can be outfitted for ANBU gear and a mask. Before you go, there is the matter of your contract. I have it here, ready for you to sign. You may take it home and look it over along with the dossier."

Hiroko bowed over the dossier she held to her chest as she took the contract. Then she turned to follow Konohamaru's ground-eating strides.

***

Konohamaru had been thoroughly disgusted at the behavior of his captain. He'd watched in stark disbelief as the man he looked up to had been reduced to the actions of a green school boy. It was a wonder the man had been able to speak at all, the way his attention had been focused on Hiroko's breasts. Some of the respect Konohamaru had for the man evaporated. If he hadn't been watching closely, he would have thought the woman had used Genjutsu again. She hadn't. If anything, she'd been a little embarrassed at the captain's behavior. _Way to make a first impression, _Konohamaru thought venomously. He'd wanted nothing more than to punch his captain's face in. Why, he didn't know. He especially hated the fact that Hiroko had been made a squad leader right off the bat. He'd had to work for years before obtaining squad leadership.

They arrived in the supply room a few minutes later. A small, wizened man sat at an old wooden table. He had a pair of glasses on that made his eyes look huge. There were several unfinished masks on the table. He was currently painting one with graceful strokes of his brush when Konohamaru and Hiroko entered. He blinked up at them owlishly. "Ah! Our newest recruit! And such a recruit she is! Itachi must be very proud."

Hiroko smiled. She liked this little old man already. Konohamaru snorted.

The old man asked if she had a preference in mask design. Hiroko, who had a passion for fantastical creatures, asked if she could have a dragon mask. The man said he would have it done in two days. Hiroko thanked him and was led by Konohamaru into an adjoining room that had ANBU uniforms hanging in neat rows. Dozens and dozens of outfits. Hiroko moved to find one that would fit.

She was very aware of Konohamaru lounging in the doorway. He watched her movements with hooded eyes. She steadfastly ignored him until she'd examined every outfit in the room. Then she was forced to face him and speak to him for the first time.

"There isn't anything here that will fit me."

Konohamaru ran lazy eyes down her lush body. He could see why. She was definitely heavier than any Kunoichi he'd ever seen. Yet she wasn't fat. Not quite. Her figure just missed being fat narrowly. She was simply extremely feminine, extremely curvy, extremely well-endowed both in the chest and in the rear. There was also some muscle involved. Her arms were toned, as were her legs. Her stomach, visible in the two-inch gap between her shirt and pants, was taut. She may rely on Genjutsu as her fighting style, but she was probably no slouch when it came to Taijutsu, Konohamaru surmised. He hated that he had to speak to her, but the sooner this chore was done, the sooner he could go kick Udon's ass for not telling him this bitch was coming. "And what would you like me to do about that?" he drawled.

Hiroko ignored his rude tone. "Does ANBU employ a seamstress? I normally have my clothes custom made."

Konohamaru straightened and sauntered toward her slowly. "Sorry, but we don't get a lot of pampered princesses in ANBU. The women here make do with what they're given. There have never been any complaints." He stopped when he was a foot away from her, looking down into her large eyes. "You'll just have to accept what we have." He reached past her shoulder, grabbed an outfit sized for a man like him and shoved it at her. "There you go. Anything else?"

Hiroko caught the outfit before it could slip from her grasp as she juggled the dossier and contract. She shook her head.

"Good. Then I'll schedule you for your tattoo first thing in the morning. You'll be given your ninjato afterwards." Konohamaru spun without another word and left her there to find her own way home.

* * *

Aimi hovered at the edge of a coma without slipping. Around noon, Kakashi himself came by to see if there was anything he could do for his assistant. Naruto said there wasn't. Sasuke's face was haggard. Neither Raiden nor Aimi had been seriously injured in years. He'd forgotten that they even _could _be hurt.

"I wonder why Aimi didn't heal herself," Raiden said thoughtfully.

Sasuke looked up from where he had his head in his hands. "Good question. Probably her head injury interfered."

"Should I…take her to Wyatt?" Raiden asked his fathers.

Naruto considered it. "No. Her life isn't in any danger. Wyatt should only be called on when it's a dire emergency. When's the last time you saw him?" Naruto asked casually.

Raiden didn't believe the casual tone for a minute. Still, he saw no reason to lie. "Few years ago."

"That long?" Naruto looked at his son in surprise.

Raiden ducked his head. "Been busy."

The kid certainly had been. He'd been Jounin by the time he was eight. He'd done a brief stint in ANBU before deciding he wanted to be a hunter-nin instead. Raiden had a knack for finding people who didn't want to be found. He was leader of his own squad, his success rate unblemished by a single failure. Only Sasuke, Naruto and Aimi knew the kid could sense whoever he was seeking by their chakra. Everyone else thought the boy just gifted at finding people.

Ino came by later in the afternoon and placed her palm on Aimi's forehead. She gave a single nod. "I think she's coming out of the woods. She's no longer in danger of slipping into a coma. I think it's safe for me to try bringing her back to consciousness." She looked to the two men for permission.

Sasuke and Naruto nodded. Ino coated her palm with chakra and worked carefully. When Aimi slowly opened her eyes, Sasuke let out his breath in a relieved gust and sank to his knees by the hospital bed. Raiden grinned at his sister. Naruto bent and rested his lips against his daughter's wan cheek for long seconds. Sasuke got up and bent over her other side.

"You really scared us, princess," the Uchiha said. "I thought we were losing you for a moment there."

"How are you feeling?" Naruto asked her gently.

"Forget that," Raiden said loudly. He shouldered his way passed his dad and leaned into Aimi's face. His own face blazed with anger. "Who attacked you?"

Aimi looked at all of them. Her head ached. "Attacked? I don't know what you mean. Why am I here?"

"What do you remember?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Aimi thought. "Going to sleep last night. Nothing else. Am I hurt, Papa?"

Sasuke frowned as he nodded slowly. What in God's name had happened to his girl?

Aimi sat up and took stock of her condition herself. She didn't sense anything broken. Her head hurt badly, as if her brain had been injured.

Ino came and sat on the edge of the bed. She spoke in a calm voice that Aimi liked. She lived with a houseful of men and boys. All she ever heard was shouting, cursing and coarse boy language. "Aimi-chan, I know you have certain abilities. If you are able to, I think it would be safe for you to try healing yourself. Can you? You have a concussion. The swelling is going down, but if healing hurts your head, let me know and you can stop."

Aimi nodded slowly, careful of her head. She called up her chakra. It did hurt to heal herself, but just as the pain built to a point where she almost quit, the healing took over and wiped her concussion away. She sighed in relief. Ino checked her again and pronounced Aimi fit as a fiddle and able to be discharged.

Now Sasuke and Naruto both grinned as the tension drained from their bodies. Raiden scooped his hefty sister up and swung her round and round in dizzying circles. Aimi's shrieking laughter dispelled the last of the cloud of worry that had hung over the room. Ino looked on, smiling.

"What about her memory?" Naruto asked. "Why can't she remember anything that happened this morning?"

Ino shrugged. "Head injuries are tricky at best. She may regain her memory of the missing hours, she may not. The important thing is she's fine now."

Sasuke and Naruto had to content themselves with that. Raiden told Aimi that he'd stick around home for a few days in case her attacker came back. Aimi gave him a steady look.

"If someone plans on attacking me, I'll deal with them myself," she said quietly. Raiden didn't miss the way her eyes turned yellow. He hoped the bastard tried again if only so they could feel Aimi's anger. He loved when his sister kicked ass.

* * *

Kenta walked home with his arms full of supplies in two large paper bags. If he was aware of the women turning to stare at him, he didn't show it. It was such a common occurrence that one could believe he was used to it. The fact that he didn't notice would have been closer to the truth.

Kenta and his twin had grown to be tall, though not as tall as Kaito. Still, six feet even was nothing to be ashamed about. Kenta, who'd always been thicker in the body than Kenji, had developed a nicely muscled physique. He wore his curly brown hair in a long ponytail, further distinguishing himself from Kenji, who wore his hair to his shoulders in a wild mane. He was still a very quiet, introverted individual. Every woman wanted to be the one to draw him out of his shell and help him rebuild his clan.

It was nothing short of sad how Konoha lusted after its Uchiha residents.

Kenta made it home and had to step aside as Kenji came flying toward him out of nowhere. Technically, they each had their own homes in the compound, but until such time as they were married, the two young men preferred to live with each other in Kenta's house.

"Did you get everything?" Kenji asked excitedly. "We have to have everything on the list or Akane will skin me alive."

"Didn't forget a single thing," Kenta said calmly. "Juro and Yukio are bringing the rest."

Kenji snatched one of the bags and rummaged in it. "Where's the disco ball?" he wailed at Kenta.

"Being delivered later. I gave them uncle Sasuke's address."

Kenji let out a relieved breath. He, Kenta and the rest of his siblings were in the process of planning a surprise welcome home party for Hiroko and Sumiko.

Uncle Gaara and their dad had slipped them the information that their sisters were returning home at long last. Hiroko and Sumiko were under the impression that they would be the ones doing the surprising, but they were in for a shock.

The party was going to be held at uncle Sasuke's. A lot of village people had been invited, as well former classmates. Akiko had managed to invite some ANBU friends, Asami co-workers from the hospital. Akane had rounded up every eligible bachelor Konoha had to offer. The party was scheduled for eight that night.

* * *

Sumiko walked over to Hiroko's house late in the afternoon after she'd taken a nap. She found Hiroko angrily altering her ANBU uniform with a needle and thread. Sumiko sat next to her sister and watched the needle jabbing in and out of the white material. "Let me guess," she said after a few minutes. "He said something to you."

"I swear, there is something wrong with a man who can't forget the mistake a girl made _ten years _ago. Stuck up, self-righteous asshole!" Hiroko continued sewing savagely.

Sumiko giggled. Hiroko's temper was very rare, but almost on par with the harpies' when it was riled. "What happened?"

Hiroko relayed her day. Sumiko listened attentively. She sympathized. Hiroko suddenly threw her ANBU vest aside to look shrewdly at her quiet sister. "What happened with Udon-sensei? He seemed possessive of you when he led you away."

Sumiko returned Hiroko's beady look with a calm sigh. "Well, he doesn't want me calling him sensei anymore, for starters. And nothing happened. But…"

"Yes?" Hiroko asked, bouncing in her chair.

"Maybe there is something between us like you said. He did behave in a…familiar way. And the way he looks at me…" Sumiko looked away, blushing.

"Ha! I knew it!" Hiroko shrieked. Then she calmed down. "But seeing as you're both painfully shy types, I don't see how things will progress between you."

"Please," Sumiko said in a strained voice. "None of your matchmaking attempts."

Hiroko conceded reluctantly. For now. She changed the subject as she picked up the garment she'd been altering. "Seen our sibs yet?"

"No. I was thinking we could head over to uncle Sasuke's tonight then catch up with everyone."

"Sounds good."

***

They spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening discussing how lacking their homes were and how they needed to decorate and stock the kitchens with food as soon as possible. Curtains, furniture and other female interests were spoken of in great detail until a knock sounded at Hiroko's door. She put down her sewing with a curious frown towards Sumiko. Sumiko shrugged; she didn't know who it could be.

Hiroko opened the door and found a beefy red-haired kid standing on the threshold. His hair was in a high ponytail with thin locks hanging from his temples. His eyes were a crystalline blue a shade or two lighter than navy. He looked at her with a serious expression.

"Um," Hiroko said in consternation. "Ryota?"

"Disgraceful," the boy said. "I'm Masaru. Honestly, don't you know your own brother?" Then he came in and gave his sister an awkward hug as he'd been instructed. Masaru was not a hugging kind of boy.

Hiroko squealed in delight, hugging the solid boy hard. "Look at you! I haven't seen you in at least two years! Why didn't you visit with uncle Sasuke three months ago? And how did you know we were here?"

"Was having my tonsils out. And I saw your light on," Masaru lied.

He stood patiently as Sumiko and Hiroko gushed over how he'd grown and how strong he looked. When their kissing and petting died down he got on with his little mission. "Since you guys are home, do you want to come over for dinner?"

"That sounds wonderful," Hiroko enthused. "Su and I were thinking of heading over to uncle Sasuke's anyway. How is everyone?"

Masaru gave updates on all his siblings, his cousins and his uncles as he walked between them to Sasuke's house. He was thoroughly interrogated about goings on in the village, who had married who, who was wearing what until Masaru was nearly running to get back to the house and ditch them. He knew nothing about people's relationships or clothes and didn't care to know. He burst into the house ahead of them and ducked out of sight.

"Why's it so dark in here?" Sumiko said. She heard Hiroko closing the door behind her. "Masaru?" she called.

"SURPRI-IIISE!"

Hiroko went Sharingan reflexively at the multi-throated scream. Sumiko's curved knives appeared in her hands as if by magic as she dropped into a battle stance. The lights came on at the same moment the scream was issued and Hiroko saw that all her brothers and sisters and a good many friends were present. The living room and hall were packed.

The two startled young women were grabbed and dragged enthusiastically into the crowd and bombarded with greetings and warm welcomes. Sumiko and Hiroko soon relaxed and were laughing at how well they'd been surprised.

Sasuke came over and hugged his nieces. "No more Suna?" he asked with a smile.

"Nope. Konoha and that's it," Hiroko laughed.

"Glad to hear it. How's my punk of a brother? He coming back any time soon?"

"I hadn't heard he was. Didn't he just visit six months ago?"

"Yeah," Sasuke admitted. Itachi did find time to visit regularly. Sometimes he even stuck around for a month or two. It didn't stop Sasuke from missing him, though.

Naruto arrived an hour later, apologizing for being late. He'd had to go into the office to take care of some things since he'd missed an entire day of work. He came in carrying a huge cake balanced on each palm. Asami and Akane rushed to relieve him of them.

***

Music blared and the party got under way a short time later. Guests arrived in a steady stream until Sasuke and Naruto were forced to allow them the run of the second floor. They locked the bedrooms.

Sumiko and Hiroko's brothers surrounded them, taking turns lifting the two young women off their feet. Even Shouta, now taller than both girls, managed this feat. Masaru, Ryota and Kei, or the triplets as they were commonly called, were hugged to withing an inch of their lives. There were some tears and much laughter as all of Itachi's children were reunited at last.

Then the harpies cornered their older sisters on a couch and proceeded to grill them on men. Asami went first.

"_Tell _me neither of you are still virgins? Not with that body, 'Ko, and not with that shy smile of yours, Su. Men love shy women."

Hiroko and Sumiko exchanged embarrassed glances.

"Unbelievable," Akane chided. "If I had tits like yours I'd be getting laid every day, 'Ko. Every _hour._"

"Oh, stop," Hiroko blushed. "Besides, the ANBU captain already seems very interested in my tits."

"And you already get laid every day, you slut," Asami shot at her sister.

"Anyway, Sumiko is the one with a man interested in her," Hiroko deflected. She gave Sumiko an apologetic glance.

"Really?" the harpies breathed. "Details," they squealed in unison.

Sumiko gave Hiroko a narrow-eyed glance before turning her attention to the three young women. "Well, I'm not entirely sure he's interested, but I've had feelings for him since we moved to Konoha all those years ago."

The harpies were thoroughly entranced with this news and more than annoyed that Su had kept it to herself for so long. They knew who Udon was, of course. They knew who every unmarried man in Konoha was, and all their vital statistics.

"Not a bad choice, Su," Akiko said thoughtfully. "I think he's hung, too. A girlfriend of mine dated him for a few weeks and she had no complaints about his package."

"Ugh," Sumiko shuddered. "I'm not interested in that."

Akiko narrowed her black eyes. "You should be. What good is being with the love of your life if he can't fuck you into the next century like a proper man?"

Sumiko had a hard time remembering her sister was only seventeen. She wondered how many men she'd had. To get all three harpies to stop staring at her, and also to pay Hiroko back, she said, "Well, I don't need your help landing a man. I'll find one when I'm good and ready. Hiroko's the one who needs your help. She's still in love with Konohamaru and she saw him today. He was rude to her."

All three heads on the harpies swung to Hiroko. She looked back at them and tried to stare them down. She lost. The events of that morning were told a second time.

"Stay away from him, sis," Asami said when Hiroko was done. "He's worse than we are. He gets more pussy than a toilet seat. He's had every woman in the village except us three and he's not looking to slow down any time soon. All he'll do is break your heart."

Hiroko was shocked. "He's a womanizer?"

Akane was forced to admit that he wasn't. "He doesn't actually chase women…they come to him. He just takes what's offered. He's good to them, too. Least I always heard that he treats his women well. But he's not relationship material, 'Ko. He's strictly wham bam, thank you ma'am. Though I heard he's got an impressive dick. I heard it was almost ten inches."

Hiroko blinked. She wasn't ignorant about sex, but the finer aspects of the act escaped her. "I assume that's…good?"

The harpies exchanged smug looks. "Very good," Asami purred. "If you were going to go after him, that length would almost be worth the pain of him eventually dumping you."

Hiroko seemed thoughtful. "Well, I'm not. He hates me."

Akiko wisely switched the topic from Konohamaru at seeing how her sister's eyes grew glassy. "I heard plenty of other men don't. Is it true you've had fifty marriage proposals?"

"Fifty-seven," Hiroko corrected absently.

"And not one of them met with your approval?"

Hiroko was silent. The harpies studied their sister for a time. Hiroko had to be seriously in love with Konohamaru if not one man in fifty-seven had appealed to her. How could she love a man she hadn't seen in years? it boggled the mind. Then Akane asked, "Exactly how inexperienced are you two? You guys have at least made out, right?"

"No...unless you're counting what happened with Konohamaru," Hiroko said.

"Afraid not," Sumiko said.

"Are you two gay?" Akiko asked.

"No!" the two older sisters chorused.

"What, there's nothing wrong with being gay," Akiko huffed. "I'm bi, after all."

Asami took charge of the discussion. "Kissing?"

Again, Hiroko and Sumiko spoke in unison. "No."

"Hand holding?"

"No."

The harpies stared in profound distress. "How isolated did dad keep you guys?" Akane asked in outraged tones.

Hiroko snorted. "Guys like me for some reason, but they're too afraid I'll put them in a Genjutsu to try and take liberties with me. Dad didn't have to do anything."

"And no man wants to risk offending someone known as the strongest kunoichi in Taijutsu," Sumiko added. "Besides, I didn't want to kiss anyone."

The harpies promptly began a dire lecture on the shame of being so gorgeous and still untouched. Hiroko and Sumiko listened until a familiar voice caught Sumiko's attention.

"Oh, my God," Sumiko said in dismay. "Who invited _them_?"

Hiroko looked where Sumiko was pointing. She saw who Raiden was letting in the door and groaned.

* * *

Konohamaru had gotten home and found Udon sitting on the couch, staring dreamily off into space. He slammed the door forcefully behind himself and went to stand, legs braced apart, in front of his roommate.

"What," Udon said innocently.

"What? How come you didn't tell me the new recruit was that mind-raping bitch, that's _what_!" Konohamaru yelled.

Udon stared up into the red face. "Maybe because I knew you'd react like this? She didn't mean to do what she-"

Konohamaru spun away, making a slicing gesture with one hand. "If I have to hear one more time that she didn't mean what she did, I'll kill you. Fine. She did it by accident, so what? She's still capable of mind control! Don't you think that's dangerous?"

Udon got up, speaking slowly as if to an idiot. "Yes. It is. It's why she's so renowned. Her Genjutsus are the deadliest anyone's ever seen, even without the mind control. But you know what? Her little cousin is much more powerful. So if you're going to fear someone, fear Uzumaki Aimi. What happened with Hiroko was a long time ago. Bitching about it ten years after the fact only makes you look weak and foolish."

Udon hadn't quite been able to duck the fist that crashed into his face, but he gave as good as he got. Or he tried to. Once the brief fight was over and he had an icepack to his eye, Udon ventured a question. "You going to their welcome home party tonight?"

Konohamaru stared in shock. "Dude, why the hell would I be going to their party? Bad enough I have to work with the bitch!"

Udon risked his life with the statement, "I saw how you looked at her this morning. I've never seen you look at any woman like that. She's a bit thick for my tastes, but I know you like them heavy up top and-"

"Shut. The hell. Up." The expression in Konohamaru's slitted eyes implied strongly that more violence would be forthcoming soon.

Udon was quiet, adjusting the ice on his face.

Konohamaru was moody for the rest of the day. But when he saw Udon getting dressed for the party, he mumbled that he had to tell Naruto something and might as well come with him. He even shaved. Udon hid his smirk. Konohamaru must really be attracted to Hiroko if he was lying to himself like this. Konohamaru never lied where women were concerned. He never needed to. Come to think of it, Udon realized, the man never got worked up over women at all. They were just always there for Konohamaru, something he didn't even have to think about. Like oxygen.

Once Raiden had let them in, Udon had observed Konohamaru keenly. His roommate's eyes skipped over faces until they landed on a pair of black eyes in a corner. Udon saw Hiroko's face look crestfallen. She got up and excused herself as Asami, Akane and Akiko got up and came towards Udon and Konohamaru.

"Glad you two boys could make it," Akiko purred. Udon thanked her for the invitation. Konohamaru was staring off to where Hiroko was suddenly engaged in conversation with one of her brothers.

Udon was led off into the crowd by two of the sisters. One of them, Asami, stayed to speak to Konohamaru. "Hey. Big boy," she tapped his muscled bicep to get his attention. He turned to look at her slowly.

"Big boy?" he said.

"Consider it a compliment," Asami said off-handedly. "I want you to stay away from my sister. I see how you're looking at her, so her proclamation of you hating her seems a might misinformed, if you ask me. Just keep your dick in your pants where she's concerned and no one needs to get hurt." Asami's eyes flashed into Sharingan before returning to green as she sipped from her glass of Pepsi. She smiled and walked away.

Konohamaru felt impotent rage at being threatened by the girl. Then he wondered why Hiroko would be telling anyone he hated her. His eyes went to her again.

He was helpless not to notice and catalogue her body all over again. She'd changed her clothes since that morning. She had on some kind of short white dress that came to mid-thigh. It was sleeveless, V-necked. It showed way too much skin. Her stunning legs, arms and chest were exposed. Konohamaru saw two out of every three men staring hard at Hiroko. Several were now crowded around her, talking and grinning like gawky adolescents as her brother made introductions.

***

Hiroko struggled to keep track of all the names Yukio was saying, but her attention was on the tall man steadily approaching their huddle. She wanted to get out of there. "Yukio, I'm sorry, would you excuse me? Nice to meet you guys," she said to the group as she turned to make her escape.

"Hiroko."

_Dammit! _Hiroko stumbled at hearing her name in his voice, but caught herself and turned around gracefully. She looked at him calmly, though her heart was racing. _What is it about him that turns my emotions upside down? _she thought.

Up close, she smelled fresh, like a spring garden. Konohamaru salivated, swallowed, got himself under some semblance of control. "Look, I…" He stopped, not knowing what he wanted to say to her. Her hair was in a twisted rope that hung over one shoulder to past her hip. Konohamaru found that he wanted to see her clothed in nothing but her hair. The thought had heat pooling in his loins heavily. He tried not to think about that. "I may have been a bit sharp with you this morning," he said finally. "I wanted to apologize."

Hiroko only nodded. She turned to walk away.

"Wait," Konohamaru said, nonplussed. "That's it? You're not going to accept my apology?"

"You haven't accepted mine," Hiroko said quietly.

Konohamaru cursed inwardly. She just had to bring it up. "So? That doesn't mean I hate you."

"What makes you think I think that?"

"Your sister told me."

"I see. Well, I don't believe that. I think you're still angry about what happened. It doesn't matter if you hate me or not, anyway. And for what it's worth, I am sincerely sorry." She turned to walk away again.

Konohamaru startled them both by reaching out and grabbing her arm. Hiroko turned, looked down at his hand, then back up at his face. He was very close to her, close enough for her to smell his aftershave. She inhaled deeply.

His eyes were drawn to her breasts by the action. Her arm was silky and warm in his grasp. This close, he could feel her trembling. Despite what she'd done and his feelings on the subject he wanted her. It was a mindless imperative that his body issued. His body heated at the faint feel of her breath on his neck. "I don't hate you," he said. "And I know you don't hate me."

"Oh?" Hiroko said coolly. "You seem sure of that."

"I am," Konohamaru said confidently. His easy way with women was asserting itself, reaching past the angry awkwardness he'd been feeling around her. He managed a lazy smile. "I remember what you said to me at that other party."

So did Hiroko. It warmed her cheeks with shame and anger to see that he thought she had nothing better to do than wait for his conceited ass. Did the man think every woman created lusted for him? The formidable Uchiha pride rose up in her, choking her. She would set him straight, by God! "I was a child when I said those words, Konohamaru. People change."

Konohamaru thought the way her eyes glittered with anger absolutely captivating. God, he wanted to fuck her. "Is that right? So you haven't waited for me?"

_Yes, I've waited. I've waited and dreamed of you and even now I want you, God help me. _"Hardly."

Konohamaru studied her, trying to decide if she was lying. He was annoyed to discover that he couldn't tell. And honestly, with a body like hers, men had probably been all over her for years. He let go of her arm, strangely disappointed and not understanding why. "I see. My mistake. I'll leave you to enjoy your party."

He turned away from her and Hiroko sagged against a wall, struggling not to cry. Suddenly the harpies were there, supporting her and guiding her to an unoccupied loveseat. Hiroko couldn't speak, only took the drink one of them handed to her and drank numbly.

***

Konohamaru left the party. He took the first woman to approach him in the bar he went to and fucked her against the wall in the bathroom, assuaging his injured pride.

He changed his mind. He _did_ hate miss ice bitch, Uchiha Hiroko.

* * *

Sumiko's evening went differently. Udon had approached her on the couch where she sat. He lowered himself until he was sitting next to her. They were both quiet for a time. She asked what had happened to his face. He replied that he had an unhealthy habit of deliberately pissing his roommate off. Then Udon asked if she'd been surprised at the party. Sumiko said that she was. After that, conversation flowed tentatively between them. He asked about her years in Suna, probing casually until he could ask the most important question:

"And what about your boyfriend? Will he be joining you in Konoha?" Udon asked.

Sumiko lowered her lashes. "I don't have a boyfriend."

Udon bit his tongue to keep from screaming in joy. "Oh? Well, whoever let you go was a fool."

"I've never had a boyfriend," Sumiko said softly. She hid behind her glass as she sipped her drink.

"Never?"

"No."

"Why not? You're very beautiful." Udon's voice had lowered on the last word until Sumiko felt her privates swell alarmingly. She pressed her legs together.

She couldn't answer, even if she'd been capable of speech then. She only raised her eyes to Udon's where they were promptly ensnared by his direct gaze. Neither of them looked away.

Udon took his faltering courage in his hands and asked, "Would you like to dance?"

Sumiko nodded shyly that she would.

A slow song was playing. Udon drew her to the crowded space in the living room and placed one hand against her lower back. He held one of her hands in his other one. There was very little room to do more than sway to and fro. Sumiko held herself stiffly, realizing too late that she'd never slow danced in her life. And being in Udon's arms was destroying her composure.

Sumiko shuddered as chills ran up and down her back, spawned by that warm hand. She shuddered again as she was bumped from behind and pressed against the length of Udon's hard body. She closed her eyes in humiliation as Udon's arms came around her and held her close. She couldn't. She just couldn't endure such intimacy, not out here where there were surely eyes watching. She began pulling away, but Udon held her close, tipped her head up so that he could look into her panicky eyes.

"What's wrong," he asked.

"Nothing," she croaked. "I just…I'm not used to dancing."

Udon's brow cleared. "Are you uncomfortable?"

She nodded. "A little."

Udon said not another word. He led her by the hand, wending his way through the gyrating crowd until he found a closed door. He opened it and they were in Uncle Naruto's den. Sumiko leaned against the closed door as Udon turned to face her. She fanned herself with a hand. "Thank you, Udon-sen…Udon. It was crowded in there and I-"

Udon grabbed her face and kissed her.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Can you believe this was done a week ago? I had to wait for my beta and I'm finding that nothing is harder than that. It seriously slows down the speed with which I update. Chapter 3 has also be done for days and days and is still with her.

Someone asked for ages so here they are: Kaito-21, Hiroko, Hiroto, Kenta, Kenji-20, Sumiko-19, harpies-17, Juro, Yukio-16, Shouta-15, Raiden-12, Aimi-10, Hisa, Hiroshi-12, Asuma-13, Chokichi-12, Naruto-chan-11, Kumiko-11. Konohamaru, Udon-27, Sasuke, Naruto-30. I know that some of the kids have the last name of one parent while their sibling has the last name of the other parent and I'm sure that's wrong in some way, but it gos toward which parent the child takes after. Example: Hiroshi and Hisa are Kiba and Hinata's twins, but Hiroshi is Hyuuga and Hisa is Inuzuka.

As far as this story goes, the first part (several chapters) will be sort of background info about how everyone came together, what was going on in their lives before disaster struck. Second part will be like training, or preparing. Third part will be the showdown.

And now. I hate to be forced to say this, but I know some of you just can't read angst where Sasuke and naruto are concerned so I'll give a little warning. As with a lot of married couples there comes a point where one or both just questions it all and every problem is magnified a hundred-fold. Ppl grow apart, feel incompatible, etc. They want a divorce. Sasuke and Naruto WILL HAVE A HAPPY ENDING, a lasting one since this is the last installment, I won't leave them fighting and angry. They'll be right as rain in a few chaps so please just sit back and enjoy the angst, okay? No couple goes through life without serious problems and I like keeping my portrayals realistic. I know I'm not the best writer, as I've been made aware of many times, but I am trying.

Also, Sumiko and Udon will have a fairytale kind of romance. Hiroko and Konohamaru will have the typical kind you see in romance novels, all denial and reluctant attraction, etc. I'm fully aware their relationship is cliche!

Lastly, thank you soooo much for the reviews! I missed seeing some of my more regular ones, though. I guess they're busy with school or work. I wish everyone all the best and happy holidays!

Onward!

Beta: LadyMisaga

P.S. as I mentioned on my profile, I'm on deviant art and now you can see a picture of Itachi's kids as they were in bonded. More fan art to follow shortly.

* * *

Chapter 2

Heat. Above all, Sumiko was aware of a sizzling heat scorching her nerves, quickening the blood in her veins.

Udon's hands were hot as they cupped her face. His lips were hot as they pressed urgently to hers. His body was hot where it touched hers. Her cold, stiff lips warmed, melted apart. Udon took full advantage.

Sumiko tried to protest, tried to turn her head away at feeling the strangeness of his tongue. Before, the kiss had been nice. Now it was too much, his tongue more than she was willing to stand.

But he didn't move away. Sumiko was startled to realize her limbs had grown weak with the kiss, that she wasn't pushing against him with all her strength as she'd thought. His tongue shifted in her mouth, caught her own and a lightning bolt of desire shot up her back, stiffening her spine so that she arched into him. Then she was quickly learning from him, kissing him back.

Udon braced one palm behind her head against the door, lifting her against him with his other arm. Her body was hard, compact, very athletic, yet it yielded enough now as the kiss deepened. His senses swam with the feel of her breath on his cheek, the knowledge that he was definitely her first kiss. She was too clumsy in her attempts for it to be otherwise. He just had the presence of mind to drop his hand to the lock on the door and twist it home.

* * *

Elsewhere in the party, Aimi was lost in thought as she stood against one wall. Who had attacked her? Where were they now, what had happened? How could they have been sufficiently stronger than her to leave her bloody? Aimi never got bloody. She never got hurt, either. Not like she apparently had been this morning. She saw all threats in plenty of time to avert them.

"Aimi, can we dance?" It was Hyuuga Hiroshi. He, along with Akimichi Chokichi, Yuuhi Asuma and Yamanaka Naruto, was standing very close to her. The boys were usually grouped around her whenever they all got together.

"She's supposed to be dancing with me," Asuma said before she could reply.

"We could go to the buffet table together, Aimi," Chokichi said shyly. "They have your favorite fried shrimp."

"She doesn't want food, 'Kichi. She wants to dance with me, right Aimi?" Hiroshi smiled brightly.

"Actually, I asked her first," Naruto said. "Get lost, _cousin._"

Hiroshi bristled. "Bya-"

Naruto was ready, "Shinrenshin-"

Aimi put them all under a brief Genjutsu. "Go bug Kumiko," she said in a low voice. She released the Genjutsu. The boys all blinked. Then they rushed to find Shikamaru's daughter.

Aimi sighed, looking down into her 7-up. She didn't know what they saw in her. She was fat. Her hair was a thick, black mass that she had to enlist her Papa's aid to tame. She was quiet and shy, hardly speaking to people outside her family. But it was her the boys flocked around, not the pretty and vivacious Nara Kumiko or the wild and aggressive Inuzuka Hisa. Amaya was too young and Yanagi visited only rarely. All the attention left her feeling confused.

The harpies could have told her that her bashful and demure disposition was like a magnet to nearly every boy at the academy. Aimi was much like Kenta in that she was plagued with males who all wanted to be the one to draw her out of her shell and earn her laugh. But Aimi didn't speak to the harpies much. Raiden was her best friend, not any of her female cousins. She was pretty close to the triplets, too, since they shared a birthday and had grown up together. Still, Raiden was the one she spoke to most often. Him and her Papa.

Once, she'd asked them both what she should do to get them to leave her alone. Raiden had asked immediately if one of them had tried to kiss her. Aimi had given him a look that told him any boy who tried to kiss her would likely be dead. Sasuke hadn't been so easily convinced. "Has one of them suggested sex?" Aimi had gone red as a beet and fled to her room.

She liked playing with her friends, for the boys and girls of her parents' acquaintance _were_ her friends. She just didn't like how the boys seemed to be taking a personal interest in her lately. Why couldn't they all go back to digging for worms together or practicing academy assignments?

But that wasn't what she should be thinking about. Someone had attacked her…or had they? Aimi thought about it. Short of going back in time, she would never know for sure. And Aimi didn't know how to go back in time. She could turn time back, but not go back herself and see previous events. It was something she was working on learning to do.

More disturbing still was the fact that she couldn't remember a thing. She tried and tried to recall the missing hours. All she got was a headache and a crushing sense of grief and fear. She had no idea where these emotions were coming from. She was always happy. Everything, especially things that had her parents and Raiden screaming in rage, struck her as enormously funny most of the time. The only time she ever got sad was if her family got hurt, which hardly ever happened. And none of her family was hurt now.

Aimi spotted the triplets trying to dump salt into the punch bowl. She made her way towards them. They looked at her anxiously, wondering if she would try to stop them. She smiled and they relaxed. Operation: Screw Up the Punch went forward.

"Hey…you guys hear anything this morning?" she asked casually.

"Like we already told Raiden," Ryota said, "We didn't see or hear anything until he woke us and told us you'd been hurt."

"Oh."

"Are you worried the attacker will come back?" Kei asked.

"I'm _hoping_ he comes back," Aimi said.

Masaru said nothing, only kept a lookout for his uncle Sasuke.

Aimi studied them. They would have come to her rescue if she'd been in a serious fight. They were identical in that respect, as well as in looks. Regarding everything else about them, though, they couldn't be more different.

Masaru was the eldest, having been born first. He was almost as chunky as she was, but he wasn't fat. He was solid in body and personality. He was a serious, unsympathetic, tough individual. In short, everything the boy he'd been named after hadn't been. Aimi had never met the first Masaru, but she knew _this_ Masaru lived with an image of him in his mind all the time.

They had been four when Itachi had told them the story of the first Masaru, the kind of boy he'd been and how he'd died. This Masaru had been deeply affected by the tale. It was more than knowing where his name came from. Masaru felt as if he'd been born to give the first Masaru a second chance at life. Such a complex idea was beyond the preschooler's ability to articulate, but Aimi had sensed this nonetheless. Masaru began training day and night, sometimes with Aimi's Papa, more often with Raiden or Kaito.

He said he wanted to be strong, as strong as possible. He was self-reliant and pitiless with any weakness he found in himself. He strove to be everything the other Masaru hadn't been. Aimi had asked him why he pushed himself so hard one time. He'd told her that it was as if the first Masaru walked beside him day and night. He said he wanted to be strong enough to protect that Masaru who hadn't been able to protect himself.

There was only one thing that both Masarus had in common. An obsession with insects. The first Masaru had harbored a natural love of the creatures. This Masaru didn't like them much but made it his business to study them as a way to honor the boy he'd been named after. To that end, he spent a lot of time with the Aburames.

Then there was Ryota. He was the wise-cracking troublemaker of the trio. He wore his hair short, was of average build. If a prank or practical joke existed, Ryota had done it at least a hundred times. He got punched so often by people that Aimi considered it a miracle that he still had his wits. Though that was questionable now that she thought about it. Her father regularly threatened to send him to Itachi whenever he got in trouble, yet the boy just kept doing the same stupid things.

Kei was the thinnest one of the trio and the brainiest. The other two weren't stupid, but Itachi said Kei took after his mother, Willow. Kei's knowledge of physics and quantum physics was the most advanced of anyone in the Five Great Nations. What he lacked physically he more than made up for with his intellect.

Aimi thought of them as Warrior (Masaru), Idiot (Ryota) and Brain (Kei).

Kei looked at her now. "The answer to your problem lies with your actions before you passed out," he said quietly.

"Meaning?" Aimi asked in puzzlement.

"Raiden said you woke him up before you lost consciousness, right?"

Aimi nodded.

"As we know you don't usually require his help in fighting, so we can assume that it wasn't for his assistance that you woke him up. And there was no one around but you. Why did you feel it was imperative to wake him when you were so clearly hurt? That concussion must have been urging you toward a faint before you woke him, yet you held on to consciousness until he was awake. _Then _you passed out."

Aimi's fine black brows drew together as she considered this new idea. Why _had _she wanted Raiden awake?

***

Inuzuka Hisa knew what she wanted. She was indeed aggressive, as people said, and right now she wanted a kiss from one sinfully handsome Uzumaki Raiden.

She'd been trying to get a kiss from him for the past six years with no luck. She was determined to marry him, despite the fact that her stupid younger sister Amaya also wanted him. So did that witch, Kumiko. Hisa was not about to let one of them claim what was hers. Her sharp eyes spotted the object of her affections lounging against a wall and talking to Shouta. She marched towards them.

"-tried sensing if anyone was around, but I swear there was no one but us in the house or near it," Raiden was saying. Shouta was listening attentively. "It's like-"

"Hi, Raiden."

Raiden looked up and stifled a groan. Hisa. Again. All the damn time. Why couldn't she leave him alone? He mustered up a smile. "Hey, Hisa. Enjoying the-"

"I need to talk to you. Alone."

"Really? This wouldn't be another attempt to try and rape me, would it?"

"You mean kiss you?"

"If that's what you want to call it. My shirt was ripped beyond repair the last time you tried to 'kiss' me."

"Well, yes and no. I'm not going to try. You're going to give me a kiss voluntarily."

Raiden was curious despite himself. He could sense Shouta grinning by his side.

"How's that?"

"A wager." She smiled broadly, revealing her pointed canines.

"On what?" Raiden asked warily.

"Whether or not you can hide from me. See, everyone says you're the best hunter around, but my granny says my nose is even sharper than my dad's and he's an Inuzuka prodigy. I bet I can hunt better than you can."

Raiden sipped from his Coke, swallowed, tilted his head in thought. "So let me get this straight. I hide. If you can find me I have to kiss you. If you can't then you'll leave me alone forever?"

"I didn't say-"

Raiden ignored her shriek. "That's the only way I'll agree. Take it or leave it." He studied her over the rim of his cup.

She was tall for a girl. Her hair was a wild brown mass that fell over her forehead and down her back, enhancing her ferocious look. She had the Inuzuka tattoos on her cheeks and her father's slit pupils. Her fangs were just visible over her lip. She had a small black puppy named Kaminari that was forever sitting on top of her head, nearly swallowed by her bushy hair. Hisa and Raiden were the same age, only a few weeks separating their birth.

"Fine. I accept." She grinned smugly.

"Great," Raiden put his drink down, uncoiled from the wall. "Meet me outside the house."

"This, I have to see," Shouta muttered.

When they were all outside, Raiden turned to her. "What's the time limit?"

"Ten minutes."

"Perfect. I-"

"And no funny stuff." Hisa's eyes were narrowed.

Raiden's smile dropped. "What do you mean?"

"I mean none of your weird disappearing tricks. You have to stay inside Konoha."

Raiden's fond thoughts of folding to the far side of the planet were rudely dispelled. No one besides his cousins and the people uncle Itachi had told nine years ago knew exactly what he could do, but many knew that _something _about Raiden was strange. Hisa had come uncomfortably close to the truth just now. "Disappear?" he laughed nervously. "How ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous," she said seriously. "Uchiha Madara could travel through dimensions so it's not impossible. And sometimes when you disappear I can't smell you anywhere."

_Fuck, _Raiden thought. He had to be more careful. He exchanged a glance with Shouta. "Fine. I'll stay in Konoha." The sooner this was over the better.

"Fantastic!" Hisa grinned. "I'll give you a three-minute head start, then I'll come and find you. If I can't find you in ten minutes, you win."

"And you'll leave me alone?"

"Yes."

"I am _so _going to win."

Shouta looked at his watch. "Go," he said when the minute hand touched the twelve.

Raiden walked around the side of the house then broke into a run.

***

It was no good. No matter where he hid, Hisa came pelting after him a few seconds later. He tried masking his chakra, masking his scent, all to no avail. "Screw it." Raiden stopped on the verge of hiding in a dumpster and folded himself a couple of hundred miles away.

***

Hisa skidded to a halt in front of the large dumpster, looking around. She sniffed. "He did it again," she said to no one. Kaminari barked in agreement.

***

Raiden waited an hour. He was in some kind of weird jungle. Creatures with glowing eyes stared at him, wondering at the intruder that had materialized in their midst. He walked around, exploring the strange terrain and large foliage before he recalled that he was supposed to be engaged in a wager. He folded himself back to Konoha and just stood where he was. He'd put himself behind his house, he saw. It sounded like the party was winding down. He could hear people leaving.

Hisa arrived barely two minutes later. He faced her with a smirk. "Looks like you didn't find me."

"You cheated."

Raiden pretended indignation right up until Hisa grabbed him and forcibly shut him up. Caught off guard as he was, Raiden went toppling backward into the flowerbed with Hisa on top of him.

Sasuke came out into the backyard at that moment to put out some garbage and found them both.

* * *

Naruto was up in Raiden's room. He'd forced his way in past the locking jutsus. He wanted to see if Aimi's attacker, or Aimi herself, had left any clues about what could have happened this morning. Involved though they all were in the party, none of the inhabitants of the house had forgotten what had happened today. He'd already searched Aimi's room and found nothing. Her room was as neat as a pin.

He searched methodically through Raiden's mess, grimacing at the filth his kid lived in. He didn't find any clues, but he did find several items he thought were interesting. Very interesting indeed.

* * *

Raiden was fighting to get Hisa off of him without seriously hurting her. Hisa was struggling to keep herself on top of Raiden, hunting his mouth with her own as he frantically twisted his head away. To Sasuke it looked as if they were in the throes of a serious make-out session. He hollered over his shoulder, into the house. "Kiba!"

Sasuke didn't make a move until Kiba appeared. He wanted the man to see it with his own eyes. Kiba took one look at his daughter and let out a menacing growl. By then Hisa had already detached herself from Raiden and was hastily standing up. Sasuke's bellow had frightened her. Kiba ordered her to get her ass to the Inuzuka complex and wait for him. She scurried to obey.

Raiden picked himself up from the wrecked flowerbed. He met his Papa's eyes, his face red with anger. She'd gone too far this time, Raiden thought. The next time he saw that bitch he'd punch her, never mind that she was a girl. He would punch her fucking fangs in.

Sasuke interpreted Raiden's red face as one of embarrassment. He ran his eyes up and down his son's stiff body (stiff with rage, but he didn't know that) and decided he'd speak to him later. With Naruto by his side, preferably. For now he only nodded at the open doorway. "Get inside, kid. Everyone's leaving." Raiden stalked past him.

* * *

As if from far away, Sumiko heard her name being called.

"Sumiko? Su? Come on, party's over let's go! The harpies said they want to continue our reunion at my place. Dammit, Su! Where are you??" Hiroko's voice rose and fell as she searched all the downstairs rooms. She'd reach the den soon enough. Sumiko tried to lift her arm so that she could push Udon away but she was too weak.

He hadn't stopped kissing her since he started. She was completely drowned in the sensation of having the man she loved display similar feelings for her so ardently. She'd long since given herself up for dead, and happily, so ungodly was the pleasure of his mouth.

They were on the couch, Udon laying half atop her. Her breasts were tingling and swollen, her privates as well and all from his passionate kisses. No words had been spoken. None were needed.

Udon, a bit more experienced, lifted his head at last from Sumiko's bemused face when he heard her sister calling for her. He was hard as a rock, but kept that information from the shy woman beneath him by having only his torso cover hers. The rest of him lay to her side. He called her name himself, stroking her drowsy face with the backs of his knuckles. "We should get up," he whispered. "They're looking for you."

Sumiko nodded dreamily. Udon continued to watch her, holding himself back from giving in to her beauty and kissing her again. Gradually she came around. They sat up on the couch. Hiroko called for her sister again, this time right outside the den door and Sumiko shot to her feet with a gasp. She seemed to become aware all of a sudden that she'd been in a locked room, kissing a man for more than an hour. She left the den hurriedly, without a backward glance. Udon dimly heard Hiroko say, "_There_, you are, where were you?!"

It might have hurt his feelings to see Sumiko leave so quickly without saying anything, but Udon was beginning to understand her. She was an extremely introverted, reticent person. Her kisses were evidence that she had feelings for him, even if they didn't show on the surface. He smiled to himself as he prepared to leave as well.

* * *

It was times like these that Sasuke wished they still had Nana-san. The elderly widow had gone and married Teuchi of Ichiraku Ramen and now tended to the shop with the old man. Sasuke held yet another black garbage bag as he bent to pick up trash. The house was a wreck and his lovely nieces and nephews were nowhere to be found. Aimi had gone with the triplets to Asuma and Sakumo's house. Raiden was presumably somewhere on the premises, but he certainly wasn't bending his ass to help Sasuke clean up the mess left by the partiers. Naruto had stepped out a moment, saying he had to do one quick thing at the office and would be back soon.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Sasuke took a much needed rest as his clones set to work. He smiled, thinking about the first time he'd really seen Kage Bunshin in action. It was the day he'd learned he'd be on Team 7. He and Naruto had attacked Kakashi when he'd come in to introduce himself. God, how the time passed! Now Kakashi was Hokage and Sasuke's kids were playing with his.

A couple of hours were all the clones needed. The house was spotless. Naruto walked in a short time later with a groan and a stack of paperwork. Sasuke eyed this with a grim expression. "Naruto, you're going to have to leave that work for later. Right now I think you and I need to have a talk with Raiden."

Instead of arguing with him about how important his work was, for once Naruto agreed. He set the stack down by the door, stripped off his jacket and went wearily into the living room. Sasuke studied Naruto's stooped shoulders with a frown. Naruto looked so tired…

"Call his ass," the blond said around a yawn. "Let's get this over with."

Sasuke went in search of Raiden and found the kid in his pigsty of a room. He looked to be sitting moodily on his bed, staring at the wall. "What are you doing?' Sasuke asked.

"Nothing."

"Get downstairs. Your dad and I want to talk to you."

Raiden got up and preceded his father down the stairs.

***

He saw his dad leaning one shoulder against the living room wall, arms folded. He tried to read his expression, but his dad's face was blank. Pop came down then and stood near Dad. They faced him with their neutral expressions.

He tried not to feel nervous. After all, he hadn't done anything. It was that dog Hisa. Raiden decided then and there that he hated her. He'd disliked her obsession with him before, but now he plain couldn't stand the hag. He waited.

"How long have you known?" Naruto asked Sasuke. He didn't trouble to lower his voice or look away from Raiden. Let the kid hear everything.

Sasuke, thinking of the scene in the backyard, frowned. It sounded as if Naruto had known their kid was friendly with the opposite sex for some time. "I just found out tonight."

Naruto's mind was on what he'd found in Raiden's room. "Oh? He did it right out where you could see? Ballsy."

"How long have _you_ known?" Sasuke said.

"I found out tonight, too, but I think he's been doing it awhile. I found lots of empty packs in his closet."

"Empty packs?" Sasuke asked in puzzlement. Then he understood. Condoms. He turned to look at Raiden with red eyes.

Raiden looked back and forth between his parents, growing more uneasy with each cryptic sentence. What the hell were they talking about?? His dad had been in his room? What had he found? Oh God…

"So. You want to go or should I," Naruto said blandly.

"I'll go," Sasuke said. Then, "Raiden how long have you been doing the boring thing?"

Naruto and Raiden both looked as if they'd been kicked in the head. "_What?!?_" they chorused. They stared at Sasuke.

"I saw you and Inuzuka Hisa all over each other tonight behind the house. Now your dad has found your condoms, what the hell were you-"

Raiden shrieked hoarsely that what Sasuke was saying was impossible just as Naruto pulled something out of his pocket. "I don't know what condoms you're talking about," Naruto said in a shaking voice, "but this is what I found in his room." He held out a pack of cigarettes that was half empty.

Ringing silence. Sasuke frowned furiously. Naruto watched his son closely. Raiden wished the floor would open and swallow him.

Okay, Raiden thought. It's okay, they're not trying to kill me…yet. I just need to take control of the situation, that's all. Out loud he said, "That…uh. I…" No good. He didn't know what to say; he couldn't defend his actions.

"Let me make it easy for you," Naruto drawled menacingly. "On top of smoking, how long _have _you been doing the boring thing?"

Raiden rolled his eyes. "Dad, I know it's called sex. And I haven't been doing it."

"See that, Sasuke? He feels safe enough to roll his eyes at me when I'm this close to going Sage mode on his ass. Such a brave little fucker!" Naruto mimed wiping away a stray tear.

"What were you and Kiba's brat doing, then?" Sasuke said.

"She was trying to kiss me. I hate her, I'm going to really hurt her the next time she tries that shit."

"Cursing, too!" Naruto crowed. His eyes were anything but amused.

Raiden kept a wary eye on his dad. He was by far the more dangerous of his parents. He wasn't out of the fire yet, maybe he should try and control his tongue.

Sasuke studied Raiden. He didn't think the kid was lying. He took the smokes from Naruto and held it up. "What about this? Care to explain?"

Raiden blurted the first thing to come to mind. "They're a pack of cigs?"

Naruto moved so fast that Raiden missed seeing the blow. He certainly felt it, though. He went flying to rebound off the far wall, fall to the couch and roll to the floor. He groaned weakly, feeling perilously close to tossing his cookies. _Gut-punched. _He rolled slowly to his side in time to see his dad resuming his previous position against the wall. "Now's really not the time to sass us, boy," he said casually.

"I-I wasn't…I didn't mean…"

Sasuke watched as Raiden picked himself up. "You've been smoking." It was a statement.

"And for quite some time if the empty packs in your room are any indication," Naruto added. "I'd start talking if I were you, boy. Between your sister and the party, today has been one bitch of a day and I'm in no mood for any _bullshit._"

Raiden stood and squared his shoulders. Better to just own up to it, take his medicine and pray they left him with his skin intact.

"It was the other hunters in my squad," he began.

Sasuke and Naruto listened as Raiden told of being teased and put down by his own squad for being a captain at such a young age. They refused to obey him or follow him unless he proved he wasn't a kid. "They dared me to smoke and drink with them-"

"Wait, what? _Drink???_" Sasuke's arms unfolded themselves as he leaned forward in shock. "You've been _drinking, _Raiden?"

Raiden lost his nerve then and his face started to crumble. He held onto himself a little longer, but the tears were there, trembling on the edges of his lashes. Whenever he was in trouble, he had difficulty remembering that he was stronger than both of his parents. In his fear of what they would do to him, he reverted to the most respectful forms of address he could think of. "Yes, sir. But not as much as the smoking, sir, it was only a few times…and they accept me now, so…"

"So…what?" Naruto asked curiously. "Now you'll stop? Had I not found any of this shit in your room, you'd still be doing it, right? Tell the truth."

Now he did cry, the sobs clawing past his resolve to keep them in. "I'm sorry," he said brokenly. "I swear, I'll stop."

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think of the right words to say. Getting in the kid's ass was all well and good, but in the long run, ineffective. God, he was exhausted. His bed was screaming for him. "Raiden."

Raiden looked at him miserably.

"Listen to me. You are better than those people in your squad will ever be. You don't need them to tell you who you are. You are unique, a beautiful person inside and out. Can't you see that they hate that and wanted to bring you down? And you let them. You let them manipulate you into making yourself less than you are. Why, Raiden? Why did you feel like you needed that from them? Don't your papa and I show you how wonderful you are all the time?"

Raiden didn't think he could bear the disappointment on his dad's tired face or how his shoulders slumped with it. He cried harder. "Yes! But you're never here, Dad, and I didn't have anybody to talk to about it and…"

"I'm here, Raiden," Sasuke said. "I'm always here. You could have spoken to me-"

"No, Pop, you're not here." Raiden scrubbed at his face. "I mean you're _here, _but you're not. You don't talk to me. All you do is go around angry because dad is always working and…" he stopped, afraid he'd said too much. Both of his parents were looking at him. "And…besides, I'm pretty busy with my squad, too," he finished lamely. He shouldn't have mentioned the problems between his parents. It was never mentioned. It was a silent shadow in the house, the growing estrangement between his two fathers, and it was decided unanimously by all the boys and Aimi that they would ignore it. But now he'd gone and opened his stupid mouth.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who was steadfastly not looking at him_._ "I want your room spotless before you turn in," the blond said to Raiden. "And no more locking your door, or I'll know the reason why. Go. I want to talk to your pop for a minute."

Sasuke watched Raiden trudge up the stairs. He turned to face Naruto. "I am here for them, Naruto, no matter what he says. Not like I have anything else to do, right?"

Naruto noted the bitter tone with interest. "What's that supposed to mean? If you have a problem just come out and say it."

Sasuke's patience, always frayed these days, snapped with an almost audible _twang. _He swung towards Naruto, teeth bared in a grin that had nothing to do with amusement and everything to do with suddenly wanting to rip the blond's throat out. He spoke in a falsely cheerful tone that grated on the ears, it was so abrasive. "Oh? Tell you my problem, you say? You mean like I've been doing for the past two years? But that would mean that you didn't hear me at all the first thousand times I told you my problem. That can't be right, can it? Hmmm?"

Naruto watched Sasuke with hooded eyes. It dawned on him very slowly that more was going on here than Raiden being caught smoking and boozing. A lot more. "What are you talking about?"

It was enough to make Sasuke go Level Two. The dense motherfucker! "I'm talking about you. How you're always working and leaving this family for me to take care of. Why the hell do you need to spend sixteen hours a day in that office? Kakashi has you running this entire village while he does what, I ask you? You're Hokage in all but name while the rest of us fall by the wayside!"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "That's not true, I am here for you guys! I just have work as well."

Sasuke made a rude sound with his mouth. "Spare me, I don't have a violin handy at the moment. Unless it's something major like tonight, your ass is planted firmly in that fucking office."

Naruto wanted this over, he wanted to sleep. He scrubbed his hands down his face. "Fine. I work a lot. I don't want to argue. What do you want, for me to stay home more? You sound like a nagging wife, you know th-"

Naruto managed to twist midair and land in a crouch but he thought maybe his jaw was dislocated. He felt it gingerly with one hand. It was already swelling up. His entire head rang from Sasuke's punch.

"A fishwife? That's what I am? Wow. Naruto, my man, please….go fuck yourself." Sasuke turned and went up the stairs. Naruto heard the door slam with incredible force.

A knock sounded at the front door. Naruto straightened and walked to answer it in a daze. He opened the door to find Kakashi standing there with Aimi and the triplets. Kakashi's face betrayed nothing, but Naruto suspected his former sensei had heard the fight. Aimi definitely had. Her face showed her bravely trying to smile. The triplets all looked very grave. "Hokage-sama," Naruto said. His jaw was numb, he found.

"Ah, Naruto. Sorry I couldn't make it to the party. I thought I'd escort your children home. Is everything all right?"

There. Naruto now new Kakashi had heard everything. How long had he been standing outside the door listening? Sneaky bastard! "Fine, sir."

Kakashi eyed the way one half of Naruto's face was a spectacular plum color and chose not to comment. He nodded when Naruto thanked him for bringing the kids home and made his way back to his own house.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto delayed going to work for the first time in God knew how long. It felt strange to be lying in bed with the sun coming up, but he forced himself to do it. He could hear Sasuke breathing evenly beside him. He turned over slowly, not wanting to wake him up. He started to reach a hand towards him, intent on spending these few extra minutes cuddling Sasuke.

"Don't touch me."

So Sasuke was awake. Naruto put his hand down between them, not touching him. "Sasuke…look, about last night, I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said you sound like a nagging wife."

Sasuke didn't answer. Naruto went on.

"It's just that all you do is complain about my job and bug me for-"

Sasuke turned over. "You're right. I'm sorry, too. I won't bug you anymore. Go to work. Have fun. Bye." He gave Naruto his back again.

"Sasuke-"

Sasuke threw the covers aside and got off the bed. "Actually, I have shit to do today, myself. I need to meet with Neji and run some errands. You want the shower first?"

Naruto sat up on the bed. He didn't believe Sasuke's carefree attitude. It stank of sarcasm. "We could take a shower together…?"

Sasuke seemed to consider the idea. He paused in the act of pulling clothes out of the dresser. Naruto was able to walk up to him and tentatively wrap his arms around him. Sasuke stiffened…then he relented, turned in Naruto's arms and kissed him as if his life depended on it. "Naruto…oh, god, I need you so much."

Naruto was caught off guard by the ferocity of the kiss, but he steadied them before they could fall. He lifted Sasuke to sit him with a thud on the dresser as he moved to stand between his knees. Combs, brushes and other assorted items toppled to the floor. Naruto yanked Sasuke's hips forward, mashing the Uchiha's groin against his stomach.

Sasuke gasped. "Yessss…"

He freed Sasuke's hardening cock from his boxers and took it in his mouth. Sasuke let out a cry of affirmation, drumming his fist on Naruto's shoulder as the pleasure built up fast. Naruto concentrated on the sensitive bell-shaped head, sucking around the nerve-endings, flicking his tongue back and forth against the oozing slit. He used his hands on the shaft, letting his saliva lubricate his twisting up and down strokes. Sasuke pulled on his hair and Naruto hummed strongly. That did it. Sasuke jerked beneath him, rocking the dresser repeatedly against the wall as he came expansively. Naruto continued sucking until Sasuke was screaming. When he at last begged Naruto to stop, the blond lifted his head. He moved to catch Sasuke just as he collapsed forward off the dresser. Naruto lifted him and carried him back to the bed. He lay with Sasuke under the sheet as the Uchiha fell asleep almost at once.

Now I can cuddle with him, Naruto thought. He'd wait a little while before heading to the shower and going to work.

***

Sasuke woke an hour later to find a note on his pillow.

_Sasuke,_

_I'll be home early. Wait for me…I'm not done with you. This morning was just the appetizer._

_Your demon._

Sasuke held the note to his lips, hiding his smile. _Naruto. Please don't be late._

_

* * *

  
_

Hiroko was rudely awakened by fierce pounding on her door. Light sleeper that she was, she scrambled out of bed, threw on her robe and ran down the stairs to see who it was.

Konohamaru was drawing back his fist to knock again when the door was snatched open. His fist halted in midair. He choked on his tongue.

"It's barely six in the morning," Hiroko ranted. "What do you want?"

The effort was monumental, but Konohamaru turned his attention from the skimpy cami top she was wearing and matching shorts that covered…nothing, really. All that creamy skin…He actually remembered how to talk, thank god for miracles.

"I'd say the fact that it's six in the morning with you still in bed is a problem. Unless you neglected to read the manual the captain gave you with your contract, you'd know that you're supposed to report for duty at five. Your tattoo is scheduled for six-thirty so I suggest you dress quickly." Konohamaru took a breath. "And captain says something's come up. We, I mean you, have a mission today."

Hiroko stood in numb shock for all of five seconds. Then she whirled in a cloud of corn silk hair and fled to her room to get dressed. Konohamaru inhaled the scent her flying hair left behind: flowers again.

***

Konohamaru had gotten home before midnight last night and lain awake for hours. He was not in the habit of letting things stress him out. Nor was he used to being rejected so neatly as miss bitch had done. Not by women. He'd thought long and hard about the whole beshitted mess as he stared at the ceiling.

He couldn't get past how beautiful Hiroko was. It was awful, maddening, but there it was. She was _the _most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life. And god, how he wanted her. He didn't just want to fuck her, no. He_ wanted _her, all of her. He wanted her to look at him and talk to him and touch him. He wanted to spend hours just playing with her hair. The wanting of her overrode everything. The sun of her beauty eclipsed every other thought.

Konohamaru considered what she'd done, really bent his mind to it the way he hadn't done in ten years. He always pushed the memory away because it was so painful. He forced himself to look the memory in the eye now.

He remembered telling her as gently as possible that she should turn her attention to someone else. She'd looked at him, said something, then he suddenly couldn't keep his hands off her. He'd been close, so close, to committing a pedophile act.

It was doubtful that anyone understood just how that had made him feel. He'd felt dirty, unclean. More, he'd felt like a monster. She'd turned him into a monster and he'd been powerless to do anything about it. She'd taken his freewill away and for what?

Gaara had come by his place later to try and explain but he hadn't been home. Udon had received the apology and explanation in his stead. When he'd gotten home later that night, he'd locked himself in this very same room. Udon had stood outside the door, conveying all that Gaara had told him.

"She thought you were mad at her," Udon had said through the door. "She thought you didn't like her. She made the Genjutsu up on the spot, Konohamaru. She was just trying to make you like her, nothing else. She didn't intend for the jutsu to do what it did. It's just that her Genjutsus are powerful and it got away from her. She thought you touched her the way you did because you wanted her. She didn't know you were acting under the Genjutsu. She's very sorry, Konohamaru."

He'd told Udon to take the apology and shove it up his ass.

Last night, though, while he'd lain in almost the exact position he had all those years ago, Konohamaru considered.

Working with a new jutsu for the first time was always tricky, often dangerous. It almost never went the way you wanted it to. She'd intended to manipulate his thoughts, yes, but not to force him to have sex. And she'd apologized several times. He believed she was truly sorry for what happened.

Konohamaru felt as if a weight lifted from his mind. Why he was able to see the situation in this new light after all these years, he didn't know, but he welcomed it. Ten years was a long time to carry a grudge. He didn't want that hanging over his head anymore.

He wanted to forgive her.

_You sure you don't just want to get in her pants? _a voice said in his mind.

Well, that too. He wanted to start over with her. Unbidden, the words she'd said so many years ago came to him:_ "I'll never stop loving you. I'm going to save myself for you and wait for you. If I have to wait until I die then that's how long I'll wait."_

Last night she said she hadn't waited for him. Now, when it mattered to him, he found that the knowledge hurt. God, to have a woman like her love him! Well, he was going to show her who he really was, that he was a good person. He would win her love and then…then he could have her. He'd fallen asleep with that thought in his head.

***

Now he nervously let himself into her airy house and closed the door. He could hear her rushing around upstairs. He'd rehearsed what he wanted to say to her but the sight of her in that gaping robe and flimsy night wear had driven the words right from his mind. He tried recalling them now.

***

Hiroko was washed and dressed in three minutes. The thing that delayed her was her hair. It took time to work the long thick mass into a French braid. Once she was done, she ran her eyes quickly over her reflection and decided that it would have to do. She sprinted downstairs.

Konohamaru was standing in the living room, gesturing to a fichus in the corner and muttering words. "What are you doing?" she asked.

He spun at hearing her voice. "Uh, nothing."

Hiroko nodded and moved to the door.

"Wait."

"_What?" _Hadn't he told her she was late?

"I…have something to say." He shifted on his feet as if he were ill-at-ease about something.

"Can't you tell me on the way there?"

"No. Okay here it goes. Hiroko…I realize you were really young when it happened and that I should have listened when you said it was an accident. I forgive you for…the Genjutsu. I can't forget how it made me feel to do something so horrible, but I forgive you."

Hiroko was speechless. He forgave her? After all this time? She couldn't stop the glad grin that spread across her face. She walked to him, stopped right in front of him. "Really?" she breathed.

Konohamaru was amazed to feel how his body reacted to her proximity and her dazzling smile. "Yeah, really."

Hiroko spent some seconds savoring the moment. It didn't mean he could ever love her or change the fact that he wasn't relationship material, but it did her heart good to know she was forgiven. "Thank you, Konohamaru." She gave him a respectful little bow. "Now let's go!"

He didn't know what he'd expected. Had he thought she'd fall into his arms at receiving his forgiveness? He leapt along rooftops behind her wildly jumping braid.

***

Hiroko reported to the captain, handed in her signed contract and listened to what he had to say. He spoke to her cleavage again, displayed to advantage in the white vest of her ANBU gear.

"I'm afraid you'll need to select the members of your squad now. Something's come up and we need information of an extremely sensitive nature right away. Have you had a chance to look over the dossier yet?"

"Yes, sir." Hiroko named five people she thought would be suitable.

"Excellent. You've chosen well. I notice you didn't choose your sister?"

"I don't believe we'd work well together, sir."

"A wise observation. Due to the urgency and importance of this mission we will be sending another unit with yours as backup. Konohamaru's unit, in fact. You all will leave as soon as you've received your tattoo and ninjato."

Hiroko bowed and followed Konohamaru out of the captain's office. She'd barely been back in the village twenty-four hours and already she had a mission. She tried not to feel nervous.

* * *

Kakashi met Naruto with a mountain of work that needed doing. His hours away from his job yesterday had cost him dearly. The blond was relieved to note that Kakashi also seemed up to his neck in paperwork, meetings and reports. Apparently some new Intel had come during the night about Kirigakure and a planned infiltration of Konoha. And that wasn't all. A rumor was spreading through the countryside of a small army marching on Konoha from Kiri. The Hokage's office was abuzz with the information like a kicked anthill.

Naruto dove right in and got to work. Kakashi kept him busy for hours. He read files on the current Mizukage, the past ones, missing-nins from the place. Reports came in of how far away the army was. These reports differed with each telling; the sources were farmers or other noncombatant people. ANBU had yet to successfully locate this supposed army. Until they did, they'd be unable to have an exact count. Kakashi told Naruto to contact ANBU and the Jounins to mobilize anyway and keep the rest of the village on standby. He already had a special unit heading toward Kirigakure to retrieve intelligence. Konoha hovered just below red alert. The result was that things went on in the village as normal while the Hokage building seethed with activity.

***

Towards evening, Kakashi had a Chuunin bring sandwiches for himself and his assistant. Naruto fell on his food like a starving man. Kakashi didn't immediately touch his, still reading the latest report.

"Sir, I just don't understand how this could all spring up out of nowhere," Naruto said around a mouthful.

"Neither do I," Kakashi said. "There is something very strange going on here. On the one hand you have imminent war from Kirigakure. On the other, I'm reading reports that say all in Kiri is peaceful. If that is so then why do I keep getting intelligence of an army? And why can't this army be found?"

Naruto shook his head.

"We'll be working late into the night," Kakashi said. He studied Naruto. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Naruto's note to Sasuke had been driven clean out of his head by all that had taken place today. "No, sir. You can count on me."

Kakashi nodded. He'd overheard the argument last night between his two former students. He'd come in to work this morning intending to give Naruto some time off, but that was impossible now. He needed the man here to help him deal with this mess. Later, when all was settled, he would give Naruto some vacation time. He would make a note of it.

* * *

Sasuke waited. And waited. And waited.

When he saw that the sun was coming up, he stood in his room and stared at his bed. There were thoughts and feelings that took place inside him that he couldn't express. Things he'd been thinking and feeling and keeping to himself for over two years now. If the truth were known, he kept most of it to himself. What he bugged the blonde about had mainly to do with his working habits but the problem was more than that. He'd hoped Naruto would turn around and see how much he was suffering, but he didn't. Sasuke didn't know if Naruto ever would. He only knew that he couldn't go on living like this.

The day passed. Naruto never came home and Sasuke was too fed up to seek him out at the office. Another night passed without word from Naruto. The sun came up on the third day Naruto had been gone. Sasuke's pillow was soaked with tears. It was too much. He'd thought long and hard about his decision. He sought out his children.

***

Aimi was a shapeless ball under her blanket. He sat on the edge of her bed and smoothed a hand over her hair. She woke up immediately. "Papa?"

He smiled. "I'm going away for awhile, princess. Just know that I love you and will always love you no matter what. Give me a hug, sweetness."

Aimi didn't question him. She'd been aware of the frozen hurt inside her Papa for a long time. She didn't know where it came from or why Raiden said it had to do with daddy, but she understood that her Papa going away was connected to the hurt inside of him. She climbed on to his lap and hugged him hard. "Will you be gone long, Papa?"

Sasuke enjoyed the feel of her fat arms, savored the beat of her heart against his. "Would you be sad if I said I might never come back?"

Aimi hugged him harder. "I could find you."

"Yes. You could."

"Can I come?"

"No, sweetie. And I don't want you to think that I don't care about you. I just can't be a good father right now, not while I'm so broken."

"Will you be fixed?"

Sasuke gave a laugh that sounded like a sob. "I don't know. Listen, Aimi, about your attacker…I haven't forgotten about that. I'm going to tell Raiden to keep a lookout. Okay?"

"I can take care of myself."

"Ah, precious. I know you can." He briefly considered staying. He was a monster of selfishness to leave when they didn't know who'd come after his daughter. Well, he'd never been that great of an individual anyway, Sasuke thought coldly. All the good in him came from Naruto. And he didn't have Naruto anymore.

He kissed her hair and sat with her until she fell asleep again. Then he got up and went to Raiden's room.

The place was spotless. Every surface was clean and sparkling, his clothes neatly hung in his closet, his books stowed alphabetically in his bookcase. Raiden was conked out on his bed, sleeping with his mouth open and one hand down the front of his shorts. Sasuke shook his head. He placed a hand on one of his son's bare feet and gazed thoughtfully at it.

Their children were such an odd mixture of him and Naruto. Aimi had his mind, his Sharingan, his hair…but she was thick and solid like Naruto, had the blonde's square-ish face and dense bone structure. Raiden looked like Sasuke for the most part. Same body shape, same grace, same hairstyle…but he was Naruto in miniature in just about everything. Right down to his broad feet with the thick, rounded toes Sasuke saw on his demon every day. He gave the big toe a little tug. He twisted harder, wanting to see how far he could go before the kid woke up.

He had to stop before he took the digit off. Sasuke sighed. A body could stab his son through the heart before he woke up. An idea came to him. Sasuke spoke in a low voice, barely above a whisper. "Raiden, Aimi's in trouble."

Whatever fog clouded the boy's five senses in sleep, his other senses were attuned to real danger. Raiden sat up fluidly, coming awake as if he'd only been pretending. Sasuke could see that the boy's eyes were dazed with slumber still, but a Rasengan materialized in his hand almost before Sasuke could blink. He was impressed.

"Pop? Aimi? Aimi's in trouble you said?" He started to get off his bed, yawning while heading swiftly to his sister's room.

Sasuke blocked him with an arm. "You heard what I said?"

Raiden looked up at him in confusion. Sasuke saw that he was still mostly asleep. "Huh? No. I mean, yeah. I heard something."

Sasuke led him back to the bed. "I just wanted to see if you were on your toes. Aimi's fine. Let me talk to you for a second."

Raiden sat on his bed, propped against his headboard. He stared sleepily at his father's face, noting the dark circles. He wondered if this would be a continuation of the other night's stinging disapproval.

Sasuke looked at his son and remembered when Naruto had told him he was pregnant. He hadn't wanted the baby. He'd almost been insane with revulsion and disgust, but he'd kept the baby for Naruto's sake. Naruto. Always Naruto. And what a son Raiden was.

"Raiden, I'm proud of you," he said to his son's shocked face. "I know I don't always show it and sometimes I'm harsh with you. I'm not a very good dad, I'm afraid. My own dad died when I was very small so I didn't really have anyone to learn from. I'm not good with a lot of social things, but I love you and I'm proud that you're my son. No man could ask for a finer one. I mean that."

Raiden sat up straighter, alarm bells going off in his head. "Pop? What's wrong?!"

Sasuke smiled sadly. "I'm wrong. I don't like doing this to you, but I have to. I have to leave, Raiden. I don't know when I'll be back or if I'll be back. I need you to promise me something, okay?"

Raiden clenched his teeth against the howl of despair threatening to come out. He nodded.

"Promise me you'll look after your sister. She's strong, but she's so delicate, Raiden. Will you do that?"

Raiden nodded again. "Pop, I'm sorry about smoking and drinking. I'll never do it again, I swear to god. I'll be a better son. I really will. Just please don't go."

Sasuke dropped his head briefly. Then he reached out and drew Raiden into a hug. "My baby. None of this is your fault. I know I'm the very worst shit for leaving like this, but I think if I stay I would be even worse. I'm losing it, Raiden. You're right, I do walk around in constant anger. That's not the kind of father I want to be."

"It's better than you leaving us!" Raiden said in a panicked voice. "Anything's better than that!"

"You can find me if you need me."

"But I want you here." Raiden squeezed his papa with all his strength. "I love you, Pop!"

Sasuke swallowed hard. "I love you, too."

***

Nothing Raiden said could dissuade him. He sat on his bed, listening to the distant sound of his father walking slowly down the stairs and out the front door. Almost at once he felt his presence zooming away, out of Konoha, moving at top speed. He sat where he was, numb.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow, so many mixed opinions on Sasuke's sitch. Loving the reviews and the feedback!

I just want to say that the pace of this story will be a lot slower than NB. Other than that...nothing I guess.

Beta: LadyMisaga

* * *

Chapter 3

When Naruto saw the sun coming up and realized he'd been at the office nigh on twenty-four hours, he stopped what he was doing. The sun coming up…it reminded him of something…he'd been with Sasuke yesterday when the sun was-

Sasuke. _Oh, hell._ He'd completely forgotten that he'd promised Sasuke he'd be home early last night.

He staggered into Kakashi's office with his huge stack of files and dropped them awkwardly on the desk. Kakashi needed research from those files immediately, but Naruto hunted up a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled a note for Sasuke to meet him in back of the Hokage monument at noon. A Chuunin barged into the office just as Naruto was signing the note and asked if he had the data yet.

"Not yet," Naruto said.

"Well, hurry up! Hokage-sama can't proceed with the council meeting without that information!"

"I know, I'm on it." Naruto ran a hand through his hair. He looked at the Chuunin. "Do me a favor? Deliver this note to Sasuke at my house?" He held the note out to the kid.

The Chuunin came forward, snatched the note. He was an ambitious little prick who coveted Naruto's job with lethal avarice. "Get that info, Uzumaki."

"Right. I don't need you to tell me to do my job." Naruto was already bent over, going through the first thick file.

The Chuunin stared at Naruto's bent head a moment. Then he left the office. Once outside the door, he used a minor katon and burned the note to ashes.

* * *

Hiroko stood nervously before her new squad. They were all men around her age, give or take a few years. They stared at her with hard eyes, their masks pushed up onto their heads. She was in the lobby at headquarters, Konohamaru and his team, temporarily under her command as well, lounging off to the side. All eyes were on her.

She'd never led a mission in her life. She had no idea where to begin or what to say. If only the captain had stuck her in someone else's squad to learn the ropes of being ANBU before giving her all this responsibility. She nervously consulted the file she'd been given. It stated the details of the mission.

"Um, good morning everyone!" She smiled. They responded with silence. Her smile faltered. "Yes. Um, well, it says we're supposed to obtain intelligence from Kirigakure regarding this invasion. There's mention of an army. Such a bold move must surely come from high up in Kirigakure's governing council, possibly even the Mizukage herself, so we'll be targeting her."

Someone from her squad raised a hand. "Yes?" she asked politely.

The man spoke in a nasally voice. "You expect us to get to the Mizukage? Maybe you don't understand how things are run in ANBU but we will never be able to get to her. The best we can hope for is to run into some Kiri Jounins and take them hostage. We can torture them for information. Trying to go after the Mizukage will probably get us all killed." There were nods of agreement all around.

Some of Hiroko's nerves evaporated. She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone that had eyebrows raising and the people present questioning her sanity. "A mere Jounin is not likely to have the information we seek. Nor do we have time to torture people we know will die before revealing anything. Our best chance lies with the Mizukage and those in her inner circle. We will have no problems reaching her, I assure you. The village will be open to us."

Glances were exchanged. Hiroko felt it was best to go ahead and get started. She didn't have her mask yet, since it was still being made. She adjusted the unfamiliar ninjato on her back as everyone else pulled their masks down. They stood waiting for further orders from her. She didn't issue any. Instead, she turned, walked out of the building and leapt to a rooftop. Her squad and Konohamaru's landed with faint thuds behind her.

Hiroko took off at the speed she'd learned from Naruto and uncle Sasuke. Brief exclamations sounded behind her as her squad struggled to keep up. She grinned. Hopefully she'd earn their respect and trust before this mission was over.

***

They stopped briefly near a stream when they were halfway to their destination. Her squad and Konohamaru's had lagged behind her for half a mile or more the entire time. When they caught up to her at the stream they were visibly winded and sweaty. Hiroko, nearly as fresh as when she'd started, was calmly sitting on a rock and sipping from her water flask. She smiled brightly at them.

That was the beginning of their change in attitude; someone with such stamina was obviously no slouch. Her squad edged closer to her, giving tentative smiles themselves.

Hiroko asked about them, requesting to know something about each of the members of her team that wasn't in the dossier. The men were soon clustered around her, sharing life stories, past missions and their lunch. One of the younger men even brought her a bouquet of wildflowers. Hiroko accepted them with a cry of delight. She tied them at her waist, making the young man blush furiously.

Konohamaru watched in wonder and jealousy as, one by one, the men were all vanquished by Hiroko's smile and ready laughter. When his own team started going nearer, he gave them a scathing look. They dropped their eyes and remained apart from Hiroko and her little 'harem'.

When Hiroko stood up and announced that it was time to continue, her team was ready. One lent his hand to assist her in standing.

As they neared Kirigakure, she slowed them to a walk. "We'll proceed on foot from here," she said cheerfully.

Her team nodded. They were tensed, their heads swiveling to watch for enemies.

There were none. Both ANBU squads spotted several Jounins in trees, behind bushes or otherwise hidden, but they did not attack. The Leaf ninjas stared around them in puzzlement. Finally, when he could stand it no more, Konohamaru called a halt. Hiroko, walking ahead of everyone in the lead, turned to face him. "Is something wrong?" she asked sweetly.

Konohamaru noticed with a shiver that her eyes wore Sharingan. "Yes," he said. "We've spotted several enemies, yet no one is attacking us. I smell a trap."

There was her smile again. Coupled with the Sharingan it was somehow made deadly. "It's not a trap. I have their minds, is all. No one will attack us. Now please, if there's nothing else, let us continue."

Respect for Hiroko climbed a little higher in her team. They exchanged proud glances that such a person was leading them. They followed her as she walked boldly into Kirigakure. Konohamaru, grumbling, brought up the rear.

***

People went about their business as if the foreigners didn't exist. For all the knowledge Konohamaru had of what Hiroko was doing, perhaps they really didn't exist for the Kiri villagers. Just the same, he'd remain as alert as possible. Walking in enemy territory was distinctly uncomfortable.

They went right up to the Mizukage tower. The guards took one look at Hiroko and bowed her and her team on through. Their footsteps echoed through the halls hollowly. Without being told, Hiroko's team closed ranks around her; the only reason they'd made it this far was because of her. Her protection came above all else so her Genjutsu might continue.

The Mizukage was a lush beauty, sitting in an ornate chair and flanked by two sword-bearing young men. She looked up as Hiroko and her team entered and gave a bright smile of welcome. "Hello, friends!"

"Hello!" Hiroko echoed gaily.

"Please, come and sit," the Mizukage said eagerly. She gestured to a table off to the side and moved to sit there herself. Hiroko went. The swordsmen remained by the ornate chair, seeming not to see or hear Hiroko and the group of ANBU men.

The toll of keeping so many minds in check was starting to become heavy. Hiroko wasted no time. "Mizukage, why are you attacking Konoha?"

The young brunette's eyes grew blank for a moment, the vivacity being replaced by vacant incomprehension. Hiroko probed her mind and frowned.

Sensing a problem, one of her team bent to her and whispered. "Hiroko-dono? Is something wrong?"

The new honorific wasn't lost on her, but she didn't have time to feel pleasure at it. "Someone's already tampered with her mind. A powerful Genjutsu user." Hiroko's eyes darted around the room. "He's in this village, whoever he is. I have an image of him from her mind. He's been posing as her lover, manipulating her. Gray hair, glasses. Find him," Hiroko said in a low voice. "But be careful. He's extremely dangerous."

Her team, given something to do at last, nodded vehemently and disappeared. Hiroko turned her attention back to the Mizukage and began the subtle yet time-consuming task of picking through an existing Genjutsu without damaging the mind. Unnoticed by her, Konohamaru remained in order to guard her back.

* * *

Naruto waited behind the Hokage monument for nearly two hours. When it was clear that Sasuke wasn't coming, he returned to the Hokage building intending to tell Kakashi that he needed a couple of hours in order to go home. He was met with a less than pleased Hokage demanding to know where he'd been. There'd been a new report of the army being right outside Land of Grass. He needed Naruto, Gai, Kiba and Neji to go check it out. "If you encounter them, don't hold back," Kakashi said grimly. "Finish them, Naruto."

Naruto bowed, met with the other individuals of this makeshift team and sped from the village.

* * *

Hiroko was done. She erased her presence from the Mizukage's mind and said calmly, "Sleep." The brown-haired leader of Kirigakure put her head down on her arms and fell into an untroubled slumber. She was soon snoring softly. Hiroko studied her with a frown marring her smooth brow.

"Well?" Konohamaru said. "Did you find out anything?"

"Quite a bit," she said quietly. "Come. We must hurry."

Once out in the village, she stopped on the Mizukage's tower steps. She closed her eyes, concentrating. "What are you doing?" Konohamaru said impatiently.

"We don't have time to go looking everywhere for our teams. I am canvassing the minds in the village, searching for them. It's quicker."

Konohamaru shuddered. What she was saying was impossible…yet her eyes flew open barely a second later with a gasp. "They've found him. Hurry!" Then she was gone in a flash, Konohamaru barely able to keep up.

***

They had the man surrounded, had engaged in battle, but the guy was good. Very good. He fought with chakra glowing on his hands. Konohamaru had the fleeting impression that he'd seen the guy before and then Hiroko was striding purposefully into the fray. He ran after her.

Her team was badly injured, but fighting bravely. So was Konohamaru's. Hiroko sent her mind to the man and succeeded in capturing him. He stopped fighting.

"Who are you," she asked. Holding on to his mind was difficult. It felt like trying to hold onto a squirming eel.

Unbelievably, he managed to free himself from her Genjutsu. "I could ask you the same question," he said in an agreeable voice. He straightened from his crouch. "I haven't seen Sharingan on a female in many years. Judging from the way you use it, I'd say you were born with it. You must be Uchiha, but that clan is all wiped out. Who are you?" His black eyes roved lingeringly over her pretty face, her shapely figure.

Hiroko's chakra was severely depleted from enabling their entry into Kirigakure. She grunted as he threw a strong Genjutsu at her, but countered swiftly. His jutsu fell away from her. She was dimly aware of her team regrouping around her, ready to protect her. They knew she was locked in a mental battle with the man. They could feel her chakras pulsing.

Hiroko refrained from using strength, understanding instinctively that this man was very clever. Precision would work better against him. She pulled her mind back a little, letting him believe he was winning. She gathered her chakra, molded it and shot a complicated and inverted Genjutsu at him. She was already layering it again and again as it touched his mind and settled there. He screamed as he realized he was caught. Hiroko sagged briefly, her energy ebbing. Konohamaru caught her under an elbow and steadied her.

The man, whoever he was, lay writhing on the ground, his hands to his head as he screamed in horror. "Bind him," she said to her team. "He's coming back with us." They rushed to obey her.

Hiroko required a few moments to compose herself, but she was soon ready to leave the village. She had just enough chakra left to ensure they slipped out as easily as they'd slipped in. Once clear of the village, she let go of the numerous minds she'd held with a long sigh of relief. Her team clustered around her. "Hiroko-dono?" they asked solicitously. "Are you all right?"

She managed a tired smile. "Yes, I'm fine. I'll recover my strength soon enough. I'm afraid you all will have to keep a lookout for those Jounins we passed earlier. I can't subdue their minds right now."

"Leave it to us, Hiroko-dono," they said with a collective bow.

***

Konohamaru was almost rudely relieved of his proprietary grip on Hiroko's arm. A member of her team possessively took over supporting their leader. The prisoner was handed to Konohamaru's team to be guarded while Hiroko's team took on the roll of lookouts. They traveled in this manner until Konohamaru deigned to ask where they were going. "This isn't the way back to Konoha," he said.

"No, it isn't," Hiroko confirmed. "I know the location of the army. This man has spent some time convincing villagers from here to Grass country that they were seeing the army pass. He's been using Genjutsu on them. The army is actually nowhere near where they're reported to be sighted. I believe he hoped to have Konoha looking one way while the army struck from behind. We're going to Kumogakure. The army is stashed there."

Awed silence greeted this little speech. Konohamaru brought up the question everyone else seemed too stupid to ask. "How are we to neutralize an entire army? Do you even know how many ninjas it consists of?"

Hiroko answered in her pleasant voice. "One thousand rogue shinobi from various nations. Most are from Kirigakure, though. This army wasn't developed over night. And leave the neutralizing to me, please. By the time we reach them, I should be sufficiently recovered to accomplish the task."

He wouldn't let it rest. "Our mission was to gather data and report back to Konoha. We've accomplished our mission. You're disobeying orders by going after this army. We should present our findings to the Hokage and let him decide what to do with it."

"By all means," Hiroko chirped. "Send a message to the Hokage apprising him of the situation, but as I am leader of this expedition, you will do as I say. We're going to head off the army." She glanced over her shoulder at the assortment of men. "Are there any other protests?"

There were none.

Konohamaru just barely kept back a sarcastic remark. No matter how good she was, one little woman with an impressive set of tits would not be able to take on a thousand ninjas. No way.

* * *

"There is no army here," Kiba said for the hundredth time. "I would have smelled something."

"He's right," Neji said. "My Byakugan can find no trace of anyone besides the villagers and other stray people passing through the countryside."

They had combed the Land of Grass thoroughly several times, with no luck. Gai rubbed his chin in thought. "Yosh. Spread out. Each of you take a direction and search the land outside of Grass Country in a fan formation. Scout twenty miles then report back here in," he glanced at his watch. "Three hours. Go."

As ranking Jounin, he had command of the mission. They disappeared, each heading in a separate direction.

* * *

Night fell. Hiroko lifted a hand to halt her team, but before she could speak a shout from one of Konohamaru's men rent the air. She turned to look behind her.

They were grouped around a corpse. The corpse was wearing their prisoner's clothes, but was clearly not the body of the prisoner. This man was elderly. Their prisoner had been youthful, mid-thirties perhaps. Hiroko's eyes narrowed dangerously as she realized that a small and very hard to detect Genjutsu had been used on her. How??

She met the shocked eyes of her team with shame staining her cheeks pink. She saw no disappointment in their eyes, but Hiroko was more than disappointed enough in herself to make up for that lack. "Very well. Our prisoner has gotten away. And considering that I cannot sense him anywhere nearby, he must have escaped from us some time ago. That does not change the fact that his army is waiting to attack Konoha. Let us assume that he's heading that way and means to cut us off. We must hurry."

Suiting action to words, Hiroko turned and used all the speed she was capable of. Her team dashed after her.

* * *

Gai's team was forced to conclude that the reports of the army in Grass Country had been false. He led them back to Konoha with defeat hanging around them like a cloud.

* * *

Hiroko stopped at the top of a rocky mountain. She held up her fist to signify that her team should stop as well. They landed to either side of her and surveyed the scene below.

They were looking at a shallow canyon, swarming with ninjas. The sky was just turning pink in the east. She scanned the milling crowd with both eyes and mind. "I don't sense him nearby. He must have used up most of his chakra with that last Genjutsu that let him escape me." Her lips thinned as her eyes turned red. Her team watched her with morbid fascination. That their bubbly leader displayed such quiet rage was turning every single one of them on. "Yosh," Hiroko continued. "I've never tried it on so many, but the safety of Konoha is at stake. This will drain every last drop of my chakra and I'm not at a hundred percent…but I think I have enough. It has to be enough. It helps that I'm really angry right now."

Hiroko fell silent then. To a man, the ANBU agents felt her chakra swell, splinter off into a thousand shoots, one for every individual in the valley, and fly away from her. They turned to look at the army.

What happened became the stuff of legend. That they were there to witness it, elevated each of them to near hero status, but Hiroko was the real hero. They now understood why she was called the Angel of Death.

Every man in the valley first stiffened, them dropped to the ground dead. Hiroko collapsed in a faint barely a second later. Her face was ashen. One of her team caught her before she could fall into the valley and laid her out on the rocky ground. They looked at each other in confusion. Not understanding what had taken place, they felt the defeat of the army had been somewhat anticlimactic.

It wasn't until later, when the sun was up and Hiroko had regained consciousness, that they understood what she'd done. "I gave them each a fatal aneurysm with my chakra," she explained weakly. "It's a simple thing, really. One already has their chakra in place when their using Genjutsu. It's easy to switch from targeting the senses to targeting the brain itself. I've never done it on so many…are they all dead?"

They gazed down at her in horrified respect. "Yes," one of her team stammered. "We went down and checked a little while ago. Hiroko-dono…"

She looked up at him questioningly from where she lay surrounded by the men.

"You just killed a thousand men without shedding a drop of blood. Single-handedly." His voice shook with admiration. "I am honored to serve you, mistress." He gave her a very deep bow. The others imitated her.

All except Konohamaru. He stood with his arms folded, a frown on his face as he noticed the dark circles under her eyes, the way her hand trembled with fatigue as she covered her face in embarrassment at the adoration of her team and his.

They took turns carrying her back to Konoha.

***

An hour later, their prisoner reached the valley and stood staring in shock at his painstakingly gathered army. It had taken him years…

He bent to examine one of the bodies. He noted the lack of battle signs or external injuries. A quick physical revealed the cause of death. He checked enough bodies to realize they'd all died at the same time, of the same cause, perhaps at the same moment. Their bodies were all cooling at the same rate. Such a thing was impossible…except with Genjutsu. The prisoner straightened from checking one of the corpses and adjusted his glasses as he thought. He'd never heard of Genjutsu being used to such an extent, not even by an Uchiha. And he knew beyond a doubt that it had to be that sun-haired woman he'd fought with. His brain had nearly ruptured at the effort of getting away from her and casting that befuddling jutsu had taken a lot of his remaining chakra. He'd never seen or heard of such a powerful Genjutsu user. Who _was_ she?

Kabuto looked up. He'd noticed the forehead protector looped loosely around her neck, was well-acquainted with Konoha's ANBU. Perhaps it was time he paid Konoha a visit to see just how much he'd missed while he'd been away. He seemed to recall now that he'd heard distant gossip of Itachi having children. But that woman had been an adult. Kabuto had thought any children Itachi may or may not have would be small little chibis yet. Yes. A visit to Konoha was definitely in order. If nothing else, he simply had to kill that bitch for destroying all his carefully laid plans.

* * *

Gai and his team were making their report to a deeply concerned Kakashi when Hiroko's team walked into the office supporting Hiroko herself. Naruto went to her side.

Konohamaru did the talking. Gai's team listened in anger, then surprise, then respect. Finally, every eye in the room except Naruto's turned to Hiroko in wonder. "Gray hair and glasses?" the blonde said. "No…it couldn't be." He went to a file cabinet, sifted through papers until he selected a document and held it up to show Konohamaru. There was a picture in the upper left hand corner of the document. "Is this him?" Naruto asked. "The guy behind everything?"

Konohamaru looked at the picture and nodded curtly. "He got away, though. Hiroko said he's a very strong Genjutsu user."

Naruto handed the document to Kakashi and spoke with a tight voice. "Oh, he is. He's got quite a few moves up his sleeves. No telling how much he's added to his repertoire over the years." Naruto was shaking with more rage than Konohamaru felt the situation called for. What was going on?

"Yakushi Kabuto," Kakashi said quietly. His one visible eye studied the picture. "How well I remember him." He put the document aside and got up to come around his desk. He bent over Hiroko and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hiroko. You have done extremely well. You will receive much honor from the village and council for discovering the army and neutralizing it. I am both humbled and honored to know you." He bowed to her.

Hiroko teared up, turned her face into the nearest male shoulder to hide her embarrassment. The shoulder happened to belong to Konohamaru. He got an arm around her and asked to be allowed to take her home. Kakashi granted them permission.

Once the office was empty save for Kakashi and himself, Naruto only waited a second. "Sir, I should get home too. I've been gone three days."

Kakashi looked up, gave a weary smile. "You and I both. We'll finish up the paperwork and then we can head home."

* * *

Sasuke got five miles outside of Konoha before he stopped. He stood still, the sun filtering down between the trees and over his shaking body. He couldn't do it.

The chasm between him and Naruto was wide and deep. His relationship with him was so far from what it had been, was so painful now, that leaving him was a relief. A natural loner, Sasuke was able to withstand the pain of leaving his children. They were big now, did not need him to take care of them. They could protect themselves far better than he could anyway. And he knew the pain of leaving them would pass with time.

But he couldn't hurt them. Brave though they'd been about it, he knew his deliberately leaving them was hurting them, perhaps in ways they would never recover from. Though he could rip out his own heart by abandoning his family, he couldn't bare to do that to his children. And so, head down, bitter tears of frustration and defeat coursing down his cheeks, Sasuke made his slow way back to the village.

He arrived to find the triplets and Shouta visiting one of their many siblings and Raiden and Aimi home alone. His children were in the living room, looking sadly at a photo of him that Naruto kept on his desk in the den. He stopped at seeing them sitting side by side on the couch.

They looked up at him fearfully, hopefully, tearfully. Sasuke only opened his arms wide.

They rushed to him with hysterical sobs of relief. He squeezed them tightly, burying his red face in their hair. Raiden smelled like a wet dog and Aimi bit him in the ferocity of her happiness but he withstood it. He basked in it. Shitty father though he was they, at least, loved and appreciated him. He wouldn't leave them. He would manage some how. But oh, god, how he hated his life!

***

By the time Naruto came home that afternoon, filthy and exhausted to the point of dementia, Sasuke was in the kitchen cooking. Raiden and Aimi were sitting at the table peeling shrimp and practically vibrating with tension. Naruto had enough wits left to notice the way their eyes skipped timidly back and forth between him and Sasuke's stiff back. Something was going on. Well, it would have to wait until he'd showered and slept. In that order.

He bent down to kiss Raiden's hair. Amazingly, his son allowed it. Now that he'd grown up some the kid usually pulled away from open displays of affection in embarrassment. Aimi received his peck on her cheek without looking up. He moved over to Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't look at him. His face was carefully blank. He chopped vegetables with blinding speed and tossed them into the wok. Naruto laid a hand on his back, bent forward to kiss him.

Sasuke stopped chopping. He gripped the butcher knife in his hand a little tighter. His body became even more rigid, if that were possible. Naruto noticed these things and eased away from him without kissing him. He studied Sasuke's profile a moment before turning away. He caught the nervous glance Raiden and Aimi exchanged. Up to this point, no words had been spoken by anyone.

Fine. Sleeping would have to wait. As soon as he'd showered, he'd find out what the fuck was going on. Naruto went upstairs.

Sasuke leaned his palms on the counter and hung his head. His shoulders slumped and shook as he fought back a sob. He kept his wet eyes turned away from his observant children. After a minute he resumed cooking.

* * *

Much to Konohamaru's annoyance, Hiroko's team insisted on 'helping' him escort her back to her house. At her door, Hiroko turned around and addressed everyone. "I'm sure you all want to get home and rest, so I'll be brief. I think we worked well together on our first mission. You all did magnificently. I'm glad I chose each of you. Tell the captain I'll come to him and make my report later this evening. Thank you all for escorting me." She smiled tiredly and gently shut the door in their faces.

Conversation broke out immediately.

"I'm going to marry her."

"No you're not, but you can attend her wedding to me."

"She wants neither of you boys. She'll accept me, though, as the only real man amongst you." The man doing the speaking was all of twenty-four.

"Bullshit, she'll marry me and no other."

Konohamaru turned away in disgust to walk back to headquarters. Every last one of the woman's team was now hopelessly besotted with her. He couldn't blame them, either. She'd been magnificent herself. She was so easy to be around. Someone with power like hers should be haughty, aloof, but not Hiroko. She seemed to feel her prowess with Genjutsu was nothing out of the ordinary.

He remembered how nervous she'd been at the start of the mission, how prepared her team had been to distrust her and see her as weak. She'd quite effortlessly wooed them all with her charm and grace, her humility. She'd earned their respect with her expertise as a Genjutsu-user of unparalleled ability. Even the way Kabuto had escaped had not been able to tarnish their image of her. And now they were practically killing themselves to be the one to win her heart.

Konohamaru tried to hang on to his resolve to start over with her, but he couldn't remember ever being so jealous. To be fair, she'd smiled at him as well. She'd treated them all the same, but he wanted more than that from her. Had she really gotten over her obsession with him? It was hard not to hate her in self-defense, to not say _fine, if you won't notice me then I won't notice you. _

He made the report to the captain on Hiroko's behalf and asked that she be given a day or two to recover from the effects of wiping out the army. The captain was happy to agree.

* * *

Naruto stood in the shower until the scorching water gradually cooled to freezing temperatures. He leaned his head against the tiled wall, feeling some of his fatigue sluiced away with his days of grime and filth. He closed his eyes as he let his mind drift.

He had to assume Sasuke was pissed that he'd stayed away so long, but really, it wasn't like he'd been having tea and cake on a sunny hillside. The fucking village had been on the brink of war, a fact Mr. Uchiha Sasuke would be told as soon as Naruto went downstairs. Sasuke seemed to be pissed at him for one reason or another all the time. Couldn't the man see he was doing the best he could?

He worked like a dog to support them. Sasuke was given missions occasionally, but the more the village prospered and grew, the more missions were given to Chuunins and Genins. Jounins were kept around for special tasks and village security. Besides, he was working towards his dream of being Hokage. He wasn't out drinking or doing some other typical activities common to those his age. And Sasuke had completely ignored his note, the blond suddenly realized.

He shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. The smell of whatever Sasuke was cooking permeated the house. It hit Naruto's nose when he walked out of the bathroom, making the blond realize he hadn't eaten in more than a day. Forgetting all else for the moment, he hastily wrapped a white towel around his hips and went downstairs.

***

Raiden and Aimi were setting the table. Sasuke was setting the dishes of food between the plates, his eyes downcast. The kids likewise avoided looking directly at him. Naruto ignored this for the moment. He was aware of it, but he chose to eat before addressing whatever had the tension in the house thick enough to cut. He sat at one end of the table and quickly served himself generous helpings of Sasuke's excellent cooking.

They ate in silence. Sasuke and Raiden finished first. Aimi was on her third plate of food, Naruto on his fifth. They both reached for the last pork spring roll. Aimi's quick fingers snatched it out of Naruto's grasp. His eyes narrowed at her. She chewed the spring roll innocently. Naruto spotted the last few spoonfuls of beef stir fry still sitting in its dish and lunged for the serving spoon. Aimi went for it as well, but there Naruto won. He scraped every last snow pea and drop of soy sauce onto his plate. Aimi watched enviously. Raiden and Sasuke watched them both. This war to get the most food was a nightly ritual. There wasn't even any joking about it, the battle carried out in all seriousness.

And like every night, Naruto always out ate his daughter, though it wasn't for lack of trying on her part. They both had monstrous appetites, but Aimi belched into her palm and sat back with a satiated groan long before Naruto plucked the last grain of rice out of the serving dish with his chopsticks and licked his fingers clean.

Without being told, Raiden began stacking their dinner things in the sink. Aimi got up to wash them. Sasuke sat at the table, staring at where his plate had been. Naruto leaned back in his chair comfortably, his full stomach exacerbating his already crushing weariness. He forced himself to remain alert, though.

Now. Now he would find out what this was all about, by damn.

"So," he said casually. "What happened while I was gone?"

Nothing. Silence. Sasuke kept looking at the table, one arm draped on the back of his chair, his other hand resting on the wooden surface of the table. Raiden and Aimi were at the sink, Aimi washing, Raiden drying. Naruto knew they were both listening intently.

"Want to hear about my time away?" Naruto asked with false cheer. He was aggravated almost past endurance. "Konoha was on the brink of war."

Sasuke's eyes flicked at that, but didn't meet Naruto's. Raiden threw a brief look over his shoulder at his dad, but resumed drying the same dish over and over.

"Yeah, and you'll never guess who's behind it. That son of a goat-raped bitch Kabuto."

This time Sasuke's eyes met Naruto's briefly. Then they dropped back to the table. Naruto grit his teeth.

"The ass has apparently been gathering an army. He even went so far as to spend time manipulating the Mizukage into sending a large part of her troops along with the army." Naruto told the entire tale, never losing his energetic tone. He told of being sent to search for the army and of how Hiroko and her team had saved the day. None of these things seemed to get Sasuke's attention, though Aimi had been washing the same glass for the past ten minutes and Raiden was only holding a plate in his hands. They both had their backs to their parents.

Fed up, Naruto asked in a normal voice, "Why did you ignore my note, Sasuke? I got caught up in the crisis, but I hadn't forgotten about you or my promise. Okay, well I did forget for a little while, but afterwards I was thinking about you constantly. I waited for you."

Sasuke at last raised his eyes. They were flat, emotionless. "Did you, now?" he said tonelessly.

Naruto met his stare and realized with a jolt that Sasuke was more than just pissed. The tension grew, spinning out until it surrounded them all, stretched tight, waiting for the first word to break it and release all the violence it was holding back.

Aimi dropped the glass. The tension broke and Sasuke looked away. Naruto took a breath and realized his muscles had been tight with dread. He consciously tried to relax.

Aimi started to pick up the pieces, but Raiden grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the kitchen. Naruto understood. He could feel the way Sasuke's chakra was building very well. He remained in his seat, his gaze steady on Sasuke's face and tried to act normally. "Yeah, I did."

"I never received any note."

"Don't lie," Naruto bit out. "I sent it with a Chuunin telling you to meet me behind the Hokage monument the day after I left."

Sasuke quirked one corner of his mouth in a smile that everything to do with bloodshed. "What makes you think I'm lying? Do I usually lie to you?"

Naruto thought about it. Sasuke wasn't a liar by nature. Whereas he knew that Chuunin to be an insufferable little shit. Okay. That was for later. "I'm sorry, okay? Maybe you didn't get the note, but Sasuke I was really busy, I couldn't come home. You have to understand that."

"I do," Sasuke surprised him by saying. He went on. "I may have a problem with you working long hours out of your misbegotten zealotry, but far be it from me to begrudge you averting a crisis."

Naruto grinned in cautious relief. "Really? I mean you seemed so mad when I got home and the kids were all nervous-"

"I've had a long day too, Naruto." Sasuke unfolded himself from his chair and stood up. "I'm going to bed."

"What…oh…well…" Naruto was nonplussed. Sasuke was going to bed just like that? And what about Kabuto, didn't he want to talk about that?

***

Apparently not. Naruto reached his bedroom and found Sasuke stripping off his pants. His back was to Naruto. He faced the mirror on the dresser as he searched in the top drawer for something to wear to bed.

Naruto remembered what they'd done on the dresser right before he'd left for work. His eyes dropped to Sasuke's naked ass. It was still hard and shapely. Come to think of it, why did Sasuke feel he needed to dress for bed?

Sasuke caught sight of Naruto staring at him in the mirror. The look in those gorgeous blue orbs had him swallowing hard. Naruto's eyes ran up and down the back of Sasuke with slow appreciation, his tongue coming out to lick his lips. He felt the weight of that searing glance as if it were a set of nails raked across his skin. Goosebumps pimpled his flesh. His own eyes took in his demon's muscular body.

Naruto's tanned skin was shown to advantage with only the white towel around his hips. He had one thumb hooked in the waist of the towel, the other hand hanging by his side. Even as Sasuke watched, Naruto's dick rose, tenting the towel in front of his crotch. He raised his eyes to Naruto's face and discovered the blonde was no longer looking at his ass.

Their eyes met, held…time spun out. Desire pulsed between them like a heart beat.

Sasuke dropped his gaze. He took out a pair of sweats and tugged them over his nudity. He slammed the drawer shut and that finished the job of breaking whatever spell had fallen over them. He got into bed and faced the wall, folding his arms across his chest in an unmistakably forbidding posture: he was not to be approached.

Naruto got the message loud and clear. He just wished he understood why he was getting it. He got into bed slowly, drew the covers up to his chin. If Sasuke wasn't mad that he'd been gone for three days then why _was _he mad?


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: One would think that if you're reading this story you must have read my other works. And if you have then you know my stories are riddled with angst. But, going by some reviews I've read, it seems I need to put another warning here. (Ahem):

This chap is really angsty. If this bothers you and you just can't take reading NaruSasu angst then please don't read.

Personally if the author promised a happy ending I just go ahead and enjoy the conflicts, you know? But that's me. I just hate to think my readers are reading something they don't like. Oh well.

So, this chap and next will be mostly narusasu. After that other characters will be explored.

Not affiliated with Flo Rida, his music, his label, etc.

I'm loving the reviews! I see most are pro sasuke while few are pro naruto. Guess I'll wait to see how those opinions change, lol. Onward! Thank you so much for reading!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 4

Raiden woke early. The sky was still a grayish color to the east. The house was hushed, still. He got up and padded to Aimi's room. He found her also awake, sitting in her bed cross-legged. Her hair cascaded around her in a thick black cloud. He sat on her bed with her, taking comfort in her presence.

Aimi hadn't been around when their parents had been fighting before, but Raiden remembered it vividly. His Pop had come back from the dead and Raiden had thought everything would be fine, his family back together at last. Instead, things had been worse than ever. Pop and Dad had been so angry with each other. They were separated for what seemed like a long time to Raiden, before they worked out their differences and got back together again.

He remembered how things had been during that time of separation. He'd lived with his dad at Neji's. He felt sick all the time from missing his daddies and the family they had been. Everything had been all broken. It had hurt him so much that he'd nightly Boomed to Wyatt's in order to experience some kind of relief.

And this was ten times worse.

At least then, the anger had been out in the open. What was going on now between his parents was some kind of hidden, ignored thing that froze the atmosphere of their home. It grew daily. Yesterday it had been like a living, breathing monster in the kitchen with both his fathers there, and it was like Dad couldn't even tell how it was killing Pop. Day by day, the monster ate away a little more of their Pop's insides and Raiden didn't know what to do about it. When Pop had left yesterday, he'd thought _Well, that's it. Things can't possibly get any worse now. _But then he'd come back, and as happy as Raiden was to see him, it also hurt him unbearably. To know his dad would face that cold monster, whatever it was, instead of leaving, was just too much.

But what was it? What was wrong exactly? It couldn't be just that his dad worked all the time, could it?

"I guess now Dad knows something is wrong finally," Aimi said into the trembling stillness. The whole house felt like the air did before a storm.

"Yeah," Raiden whispered. "What do you think will happen?"

"I don't know. But Shouta and the triplets didn't care when we told them Papa had gone yesterday. I think they're used to it because their own dad does it all the time. I wish I could not care."

Raiden tried to cheer her up. "Dad is good at fixing problems. He never fails. He'll fix this, too, you'll see."

Aimi nodded sadly. "Papa's been sad a long time. He gets sad a lot, but not like this. I hate seeing him hurt."

"Me too. You think he'll leave again?"

Aimi shook her head. "No. He's dug his heels in, I can tell. I love him so much, but I wish he hadn't come back for us. I wish he'd stayed away so he could feel better. But then I would have missed him."

Her face fell, but she didn't cry. Aimi never cried. Raiden privately thought she was incapable of the action. After awhile he said, "I don't think it's all Dad's fault, whatever the problem with Pop is. I mean, he works a lot, but he spends time with us when he can, right?"

Aimi nodded. "I don't know what the problem is either, but he's mad at Dad. I think…I think he hates Dad." Aimi's chin trembled then firmed again.

They fell silent, listening to birds begin greeting the new day as the sun came up.

* * *

Naruto made a clone from his position in bed. The clone dressed and sped off to the Hokage's office with a message.

***

Kakashi heard Naruto's request and granted him ten days of paid leave. The clone disappeared.

***

Naruto received the information and turned over to regard Sasuke. The man was spread-eagled on the bed. His stiff rigidity of last night had relaxed into his normal state of sleeping. He debated on whether or not to touch him. The day he'd left for work Sasuke hadn't wanted to be touched, but ended up relenting. Maybe he'd relent again this time. Naruto found he wanted very much to feel Sasuke hugging him close. He missed that.

***

Sasuke came awake without opening his eyes, to feel Naruto nibbling one of his arms deliciously. He groaned, stretched, started to turn toward him.

Naruto.

Home.

With the sun up.

Sasuke opened his eyes and removed his arm from Naruto's mouth. He looked at him. Naruto looked back, a pleasant expression on his face. "Feel like talking?" the blond said quietly.

Sasuke didn't answer. Naruto lowered his eyes to Sasuke's mouth.

"Feel like making love, then?" Naruto asked instead.

Sasuke got up and went to the bathroom. He stayed in there a long time.

But Naruto had the bit in his teeth now. He was 'hip to the sitch' as he sometimes heard Raiden say, and now that he had the time to really notice it, he realized just how fucked up things were. Something was really wrong with Sasuke and the blonde was determined to find out what he'd done to cause this frigid standoff.

* * *

Naruto went down the hall and found his children's bedrooms empty. He heard noise in the kitchen and went to investigate.

He found Raiden and Aimi fighting over the correct way to make waffles in furious, screaming whispers. They stopped and looked at their father guiltily when they saw him standing in the doorway. It was obvious they were trying to be extra good by fixing breakfast. Another reason he wanted this resolved was because of how it was affecting his children.

He smiled at them and beckoned them to him. They dropped the box of eggs they'd been having a tug-of-war over. Naruto winced as they broke all over the floor, but caught his children and lifted one in each arm as they hugged him.

"Mmmmm," he said burying his face in their necks. "This right here is the best breakfast, better than waffles." He pretended to devour them, making them scream with laughter. They wriggled away from him and dashed all over the house, Naruto hot on their tails. He caught Raiden and tossed him bodily onto the couch where the kid bounced. Aimi ran thunderously up the stairs, her heavy footfalls shaking the house. Her piercing shriek hurt the ears but did Naruto's heart good. He chased her everywhere, noting how fast she was for someone so solid. Her hair flew behind her as she descended the stairs again at a leap. Naruto's mouth fell open in amazement as she did a graceful somersault to land on one knee and both hands at the foot of the stairs. Then he jumped after her and tackled her just as she skidded in the egg mess in the kitchen. They collided heavily with the fridge, making the appliance rock alarmingly on its base before Naruto steadied it with a hand. Aimi got away from him again and then he was chasing them both.

Sasuke came down to see Naruto tickling their kids until they were bawling with laughter, Raiden crying tears of hysteria as he begged his dad to stop. Naruto didn't stop until he saw Sasuke standing in the doorway. He sat up and looked at him. Then he gave Raiden and Aimi serious looks.

"You know," Naruto said as if imparting a great secret. "Your Papa is ticklish. I think we should help him start his day the way we have. What do you guys think?"

As one, they turned positively feral eyes on Sasuke. He tensed despite himself. "I'm not playing your stupid little-"

"Attack!" Naruto roared.

Sasuke ran.

The house soon became too confining. Sasuke slipped out a window as Aimi came flying at him, wondering how the hell he'd gotten roped into this nonsense. He leapt along rooftops, chakra giving his jumps extra power. A glance behind him showed Raiden and Aimi hot on his ass, faces grinning but intent. Where was Naruto?

"Hey, gorgeous."

Sasuke cursed, swerved to miss Naruto's outstretched hand at the last second and ran flat out through the village. How the blonde had gotten ahead of him he didn't know, but he kept a sharp lookout from that point on.

***

He lasted three hours. By then they were miles outside the village, Raiden dogging his heels, Aimi right behind him. He could hear Naruto up above in the trees, keeping pace. Despite his best intentions, Sasuke had started to enjoy himself about an hour into the chase.

Naruto dropped like an avalanche on Sasuke's back. Raiden and Aimi added their weight a second later. Sasuke struggled, tried to roll, but Naruto pinned his wrists to the grassy ground and sat on his hips. Raiden sat on his legs, Aimi held Sasuke's head still.

Naruto was panting slightly, sweaty. He stared down at Sasuke with a tentative smile, waiting to see if Sasuke would smile back. He didn't. "Do it," Naruto said.

Sasuke's howling laugh startled birds from the trees as Aimi and Raiden tickled him mercilessly. Naruto held him down, urging his kids on until Sasuke was hoarse and red-faced. Then Naruto told them to stop. Raiden and Aimi stood up at last, breathing hard. Their faces were shining with excitement and pure happiness at having so much fun.

Sasuke was huddled on the forest floor, gasping and shivering as his giggles died away. Naruto turned him over onto his back and straddled him. Sasuke didn't have the energy to protest. He merely gazed up at Naruto as he caught his breath. "Now do you feel like talking?" The blonde said.

He didn't answer him. Naruto took his unresisting hands and pinned them by his dark head. He leaned down until his face was an inch from Sasuke's. "Guess that means you want to do something else then, neh?"

Sasuke's eyes dropped helplessly to Naruto's full lips. His eyes flicked sideways to where Raiden and Aimi were standing, but his children were suddenly nowhere to be found. They'd left, thinking their parents were about to have sex. That cleared Sasuke's mind. He pushed Naruto off of him and got to his feet. Naruto got up as well, dusting himself off.

"I'm not Raiden or Aimi, to have my cares wiped away by a morning of roughhousing," he said scathingly to Naruto. "I don't know why you're home today, but I'll thank you to stop trying to act as if all I need is a tickle and a hug and everything will be fine." He turned to head back to Konoha.

"What do you need, Sasuke?" Naruto's voice halted him briefly.

What did he need? He wished to god he knew. "Just leave me alone, Naruto." He walked off into the trees, leaving the blond to stare after him thoughtfully.

***

Naruto wasn't discouraged. Pissed, determined, a little scared, but not discouraged. He got home to find Sasuke on his way out the door to meet Neji for something. He cheerfully told Sasuke he would see about dinner. He tried to give Sasuke a goodbye kiss, but Sasuke turned his head aside. Raiden and Aimi watched from the hall.

"Dad, are you really going to cook?" Raiden asked dubiously. "Maybe I should get Hanabi or Sumiko to-"

"Nonsense. All I have to do is read a cookbook. Dinner will be fine." Naruto closed the door and went to his study. Sasuke's attitude of resisting all his efforts had made him realize he might need help. "You two don't have missions or school?" He asked as he went to his den.

"It's Sunday," Aimi said.

"Pop told the head of the hunter-nins that he wanted my squad replaced," Raiden answered. "I'm off missions until I get a new team."

"Oh," Naruto said absently. He was busily writing a letter to Gaara. "So you guys have nothing to do today?"

"Nope." They chorused.

"Good. Go clean that mess in the kitchen while I get this sent to your uncle. When I get back we can do something together."

They groaned at having to clean but were soon smiling at the prospect of spending the day with their dad. Raiden nudged Aimi as they grabbed rags. "Told you Dad would fix things."

"It's not fixed yet," Aimi said. "But he's trying. I hope we have more fun like this morning."

"Me too."

* * *

Naruto got his letter sent and headed toward the Hyuuga estate. Neji answered when he rang the bell.

"Sasuke here?" He tried to see past the tall Hyuuga.

"Just left. Wanna come in?" Neji stood aside.

Naruto declined. "You know where he went?"

"He usually heads to the library after he comes here."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Usually? How often does he come here?"

"Well while we're doing this partnership, he comes here almost every day. He stays, we eat lunch, we go over the terms of-"

"Sasuke comes here every day and eats lunch with you? How long has that been going on?"

Neji looked at him oddly. "What, you don't know? Couple of months, I guess. Not sure."

Naruto eyed him. He didn't think Sasuke was cheating on him or Neji would be nervous, but every day? Lunch? What partnership???

He thanked the Hyuuga and left. It was mid-afternoon. He'd enjoyed walking around the village with nothing to do but he should probably head back home now. He'd see Sasuke whenever the man finished at the library. He needed time to think.

* * *

Konohamaru ran a hand over his ponytail before working up the nerve to knock on the door. The sister, Sumiko, answered.

"Oh hi, Konohamaru! Are you here on ANBU business for Hiroko? She's in the kitchen. Come in."

Konohamaru entered as Sumiko closed the door behind him. "Thanks," he said.

"'Ko, visitor!" Sumiko called.

They entered the kitchen to find Hiroko bustling about, flour on her chin and hands, a rolling pin being brandished at a cookbook. "I really wish we had Uncle Gaara's chef. Cooking is not my thing." Hiroko looked over her shoulder to see her guest. "Oh! Konohamaru, hi!" She smiled brightly.

He brought his gaze up from the denim shorts and thin t-shirt. "Hi. Just came by to see how you were doing."

"Oh," she waved a hand dismissively. "Just a small lingering headache. I've been meaning to thank you for getting the captain to give me a few days, but I should be back to work by tomorrow. Tea?" She said all this without looking at him.

"Yes, thanks." He sat at her little table with Sumiko.

Sumiko watched her sister's flustered movements with amusement. Hiroko had, of course, shared Konohamaru's forgiveness with her sisters. The harpies had been full of advice on how to get the most from this delicious development, telling her ways to manipulate Konohamaru into being her slave.

"But you must always leave him high and dry, 'Ko," Asami had advised sagely. "Get him hot for you and then leave him to his many women. Let him burn for you."

Sumiko had been curious enough to ask why. "If he finally returns her love, why should she treat him like that?"

All three harpies had turned to Sumiko with the kind of look one saw on hunting animals. "Because," Asami said. "He spurned her love most grievously and that must never be forgiven. Besides, he never falls in love. Let him have a taste of his own medicine."

Hiroko had laughed. "I could never be as cold-hearted as that, 'Sam. And I like that he's being nice to me. I can't imagine wanting to hurt him."

Asami had narrowed her green eyes dangerously. "So you plan on falling into his arms and letting him make an Uchiha into his next conquest?"

"Nooo," Hiroko had said uneasily. "He is a little too self-assured when it comes to women. I don't want to get hurt. I've seen for myself how he expects women to be happy of his attention. If I have him I want all of him, his body, mind and soul, not just his body."

Asami had nodded in approval. Then she'd turned to Sumiko. "And you. Don't think I didn't notice how you disappeared at the party with Udon. Did you lose it?"

Sumiko blushed furiously. "Lose what?"

Akiko spoke up then. "Your virginity, silly. I hope he was gentle." Akiko smiled wickedly. "Then I hope he was rough. Rough sex is so exciting!"

The harpies nodded in agreement. Sumiko met Hiroko's horrified gaze. "Nothing like that happened! We kissed." She looked away in acute embarrassment.

Akane raised one brown brow. "Kissing. For over an hour?"

Sumiko's face said it all. Hiroko joined in. "Was it your first kiss?"

When the shy young woman nodded, all her sisters melted with a drawn out 'awwww!' Talk had then turned to first kisses among them. Hiroko had, of course, had hers when she'd been ten. The harpies had only just left a short while before Konohamaru showed up, so the conversation was still fresh in Hiroko's mind.

Konohamaru didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Sumiko watched how his eyes followed Hiroko around and smiled to herself.

* * *

Naruto managed to produce a meal that was actually edible. The rice was somewhat underdone, the meat still tough, the vegetables cut unevenly, raggedly, but it was fit for human consumption. Sasuke arrived home and began eating as if Naruto cooking was an everyday event. Naruto sat down, picked up his chopsticks and began eating as well. Raiden and Aimi, having had a truly excellent day with their dad, were relaxed and flushed with happiness. They ate with gusto, talking between themselves of the things they'd done that day.

Sasuke had his eyes fixed firmly on his food, Naruto saw. He didn't let that discourage him. He intended to get to the bottom of whatever Sasuke's problem was tonight. He'd wait until dinner was over and the kids had gone up to bed. He was grateful that the triplets and Shouta had a habit of dining with their siblings most evenings. He didn't need witnesses to whatever argument would follow.

Naruto cleared up the kitchen himself. Raiden asked if he could go to Asuma's. Aimi said Kumiko had invited her over for a sleepover. "I'm going to school with her in the morning," she said. "I'm all packed."

Naruto gave his consent. Sasuke only sipped his _sake_ as he sat at the table. Aimi hugged her daddy. Raiden only grinned, paused briefly near Sasuke's chair then took the stairs two at a time. Aimi soon followed him.

Sasuke got up and made his way to the living room. Naruto waited until the kids thundered out of the house. He threw down the dishtowel and joined Sasuke in the living room.

He found him reading a book. Naruto walked over, plucked the book out of his hands and tossed it down on the coffee table. Sasuke stood, prepared to leave. Naruto planted his hand on Sasuke's chest and shoved him back into the chair. Sasuke hiked one foot into the fork of Naruto's thighs even as he was falling, startling the blonde and making him fall to one knee with a grunt. Sasuke fell into the chair, bounced back up and started to walk calmly away, as if nothing had happened. He didn't even look at Naruto.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's ankle and really let him have it. He swung Sasuke bodily, like one would swing a baseball bat, towards the other side of the room. Sasuke twisted and landed on his feet…then Shunshin-ed. Naruto straightened, all but screaming in rage. He didn't bother trying to look for Sasuke; he could sense the jerk had left the premises. He could be anywhere by now.

He smashed the coffee table to kindling. Then he went up to their room and lay on the bed, fuming. He waited for Sasuke to come home, but he never did.

* * *

Neji opened the gate to find Sasuke. "Hey."

"Hey. Can I come in?"

Neji stood aside. Sasuke walked past and they entered the Hyuuga estate together.

Inside, Sasuke stared around the main room before dropping onto a couch. He rubbed his face wearily. Neji eyed him before taking a seat on an opposite couch. When Sasuke didn't speak, he decided he'd better.

"Had a visit from your man today. Seems he has no idea what you do with your days. I know you and Naruto have been having some issues, but is it that bad?"

Sasuke dragged his hands down far enough to look at Neji bleakly. He said nothing.

"I have to assume it is," Neji said after a moment. "I mean you're here now and I know Naruto is home. I was at the Hokage's office today and was told Naruto has ten days off. Don't you think you should try and talk to him?"

"No," Sasuke said after a short sigh. "I don't. I've tried. I'm sick of him, I can't stand him. I wish he would just fucking die and leave me alone."

Neji was shocked. "Okay aside from those being total schoolyard sentiments, you know you'd be devastated if he died."

Sasuke looked Neji full in the eye. "You're wrong. I'm devastated now. Him being dead would be an end to it. I can't leave. I tried. I can't do that to my kids. I can't talk to him because I've tried that, too. He's impossible. He'll either brush off what I say or rationalize his side of things until it seems like my argument doesn't matter. He's changed, Neji. He's changed so much and I would never have believed it was possible. Not him." Sasuke hung his head. "I've changed, too."

Neji stared at Sasuke's dark hair, trying to think of something to say. "I don't know how I can help."

"You can't. But if I could sleep here tonight…?"

Neji did not relish this idea. Naruto was not someone he wanted barging in here looking for his man. But he couldn't turn Sasuke away either. "Sure. I'll fix up a spare room for you."

"Thanks."

* * *

Naruto spent the next day trying to track Sasuke down, but the man kept evading him. Neji was also mysteriously unavailable. The kids were at school, all except Raiden and Shouta. Those two had gone training. Naruto sat in his kitchen and wondered what to do. How could he fix things with Sasuke if the man kept avoiding him?

The following day was much the same. During dinner, while Naruto, Aimi and the boys were eating, Gaara and Itachi showed up with Yanagi. The triplets rushed to hug their sister as Gaara embraced Naruto.

"I got your letter," Gaara said in Naruto's ear. "You said it was urgent, to do with Sasuke. Itachi is frantic with worry, what is it?"

***

After dinner the kids all went outside to enjoy the evening. Naruto, Itachi and Gaara sat in Naruto's den. Naruto spoke for a long time. Gaara and Itachi listened gravely. When he was done, Naruto concluded by saying, "Itachi, you need to be here for awhile. I can't get through to him, but maybe you can. I need your help too, Gaara, but I don't know if he'll listen to you."

Itachi frowned, thinking. "I'm glad you called us. It sounds like something is really wrong with my brother. I know he hates you working so much. Have you tried spending more time with him?"

"Hello, what do you think I've been trying to do? I'm off work now, but I can't even get to him." Naruto bit back the rest of what he wanted to say.

"Perhaps you waited too long," Itachi said.

Naruto did not answer that. Gaara spoke up. "You say he hangs out with Neji? Perhaps we can talk to him or someone else Sasuke spends time with. And perhaps you should, too."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What for?"

"Advice from friends is usually helpful," Gaara said with a smile. "I'll arrange for us all to get together. I think you've been out of touch with more than your family lately. Your letter was the first I'd heard from you in over a year, Naruto."

Naruto started to protest and stopped. Had it been that long?

***

The following day, after another night with Sasuke inexplicably absent, Naruto found himself dragged to a restaurant with Gaara and Itachi. Naruto bitched the whole time on the way there, saying he wanted to go look for Sasuke. Gaara informed him that Sasuke was currently out of the village, but would return shortly.

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Itachi and I will retrieve him," was all Gaara said.

Naruto didn't have time to answer since he was being shoved into the restaurant. He saw his friends sitting around a large table and thoughts of Sasuke temporarily left his mind. Neji was at that table. He pried his arms loose of Gaara and Itachi's grip to stalk over and slam his palms down on the table, making it rock precariously. Everyone grabbed their drinks as Naruto leaned down into Neji's face.

"What's going on between you and Sasuke?" Naruto said ominously.

Neji unashamedly threw his Byakugan into place, not caring if people thought he was afraid of the blonde. Shit, he was. "Nothing, I swear to you. That night he spent at my house-"

_"What?!"_ Naruto's claws dug deep gouges into the table. Neji slowly got up and backed away from those blazing red eyes.

"He only slept there one night. I don't know where he was last night and nothing happened when he was there, okay?"

Naruto stared hard at Neji. Everyone else remained still, Gaara looking back and forth between the two standing men. When it became apparent that nothing was going to happen he gestured to the few empty chairs at the table and said in a bright voice that Naruto should sit down. Relaxing by minute degrees, Naruto eventually sat. Neji breathed a sigh of relief and resumed his seat.

There were quite a few people present. Chouji was there with Shikamaru. Kiba and Shino had come. There was Neji of course, as well as Lee and Kaito. Gaara, Itachi and Naruto completed the group. Kaito spoke up first.

"So. You're finally starting to notice how much you've been away and what it's doing to the family, huh? 'Bout time." He sipped his drink with a twinkle in his eye.

Naruto looked at him in disbelief. "What is _wrong_ with you people? Why does everyone keep saying that I spend so much time away? God, I don't work that much more than you people and I don't see your spouses avoiding you."

"With all due respect, Naruto, you have no idea what our spouses are doing since you never hang out with us anymore," Kiba said quietly. "And I don't have a spouse."

"Well," Chouji said reasonably. "We're here to help you as Gaara suggested. Why don't you tell us your side of things?"

Naruto glared blue daggers. "What is this, an intervention? You know what, fine. You want my side of it, here it is: I finally have some recognition in this village, am finally working towards my dream and all I get from Sasuke is anger and complaints. I'm home when I can be. I spend time with him and the kids when I have time to spend, but obviously that's not going to be all day, every day! I just don't see what the issue is, I mean he has totally lost his fucking mind, avoiding me over this shit."

There was stunned silence. Everyone stared at Naruto with varying degrees of disbelief. Finally Kaito snorted and broke the stillness.

"Sounds like a good way for me to wake up one morning and find all my Tenketsu closed and an Empty Palm coming at my head. Hanabi would kill me if I left her alone that much and with the kids, no less."

"You don't want to know how troublesome Temari is when she thinks I'm not home enough."

"I don't even want to think of what kind of nightmare Ino would put me in. Plus she's a medic-nin. I could wake up to find myself impotent for life or some shit."

"Hinata is…unpleasant when angry."

"Inner Sakura-san scares me."

"I think I could expect a desert funeral were I to behave in such a manner."

"Sai is evil with that paint brush. There was this one time…" But Kiba seemed unable to go on, the memory too horrific.

Naruto looked to Chouji, hopeful that he had an ally in him at least. Chouji met his eyes. "TenTen sleeps with knives," was all he said. Naruto slumped at the table.

"I don't get it," the blond said after a moment. "What am I doing wrong?"

Again, Kaito started. "First of all, Hanabi hates it when she has to ask me to spend time with her. I'm supposed to know automatically."

Shino picked up where Kaito left off. "Knowing what Hinata wants before she says she wants it is extremely important. You must know your mate."

Chouji went next. "Respect your mate. Show her that she matters, even when she pisses you off."

"Don't shut your man out," Itachi said. "Don't get so caught up in life that you forget to let your man live it with you."

"Never act like your wife's problems are less than yours," Shikamaru said.

"If they want sex, give it to them just as often as you can," Neji intoned.

"Sometimes, if your mate is a quiet one like mine, you forget to listen to them when they do have something to say. Big mistake. Always listen to what your mate says," Kiba added.

"Admit when you're wrong," Lee said.

"And don't take your man for granted," Gaara said. "Ever. Let them know how special they are to you, without waiting to be told."

Naruto looked at them. "But I do those things…don't I? I mean, I thought I was. Sasuke never said anything about all the stuff you guys just mentioned so I guess that isn't the problem. He only complains about me working." He thought about it for a few moments.

The dream of being Hokage was within his grasp. He could taste it, it was that close. It was so close that he ran after it faster and faster, ignoring almost everything else. It was like someone dangling a bone in front of a dog. The dog chased it until it dropped dead, yet the bone remained out of reach. Naruto was confident he would achieve his goal eventually, but at what cost? Had he really given up his family, given up Sasuke, just so he could obtain a title? What did being Hokage even mean to him anymore?

No. He hadn't. He couldn't quite bring himself to believe he'd shut his family out in favor of chasing his dream. He'd been there for them. Not as much as before, but he had. Something else was going on. And it had to do with Sasuke, he was sure of it.

"I know Sasuke," Itachi said. "If he's complaining at all, then what he's going through must be unbearable. He's prideful, Naruto. And him complaining about one thing might very well indicate problems on other levels, things he's not mentioning. You have to know for yourself what he means when he speaks, for he might not actually say it in so many words."

Naruto thought about this. Then he nodded. "Well, I will try. But he won't even let me get near him."

"Let us handle that," Gaara said. "For now, why don't you get caught up with everyone?"

Naruto managed a smile. He really had fallen out of touch with his friends. A few hours passed where they ate heartily, drank unreservedly and laughed long and hard about things that had been going on in their lives. Naruto couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a great afternoon.

* * *

Neji accompanied Gaara and Itachi in looking for Sasuke. "I'm glad you didn't tell Naruto about Sasuke's whereabouts at lunch today," the Kazekage said. They were trudging through the twilit forest on their way to a small bar in the Land of Grass. "That could have complicated things."

"Yeah, well. I promised Sasuke I wouldn't tell, but I don't like lying for him."

They entered the smoky atmosphere of the bar to find that there was music playing and people crowded on the dance floor. The bar was full yet they were able to easily spot Sasuke sitting at the far end. Even from their position by the door, they could see that he was drunk. They walked over to him.

***

Sasuke spotted them coming from the mirror behind the bar. He drained another glass of _sake_, watching through hooded, bloodshot eyes. They shooed the people on the stools next to him away and took up positions around him.

"Thought you promised to keep my whereabouts secret," he slurred to Neji.

Neji winced. "I did. From Naruto. But I'm done lying for you, Sasuke. You need to go home and talk to him, he's worried about you. And I think-"

"You know what I think?" Sasuke said as he turned toward them. "I think you should all fuck off." He got unsteadily off of his stool and made his way to the men's room.

The three men stared after him. Finally, Itachi said he'd go retrieve him. Neji stopped him. "Let me. He might listen to me since he's been spending so much time with me lately."

Itachi and Gaara agreed. Neji waited a few minutes, then went after Sasuke.

Gaara looked at the swaying crowd. "You know, I've never seen you dance, Itachi. Care to?"

Itachi stared at Gaara as if he'd gone insane.

***

The men's room was down a hall cluttered with crates and boxes of beverages. The hall was dim, the one bulb hanging from the ceiling nearly completely blown, so weak was the light. Sasuke came out of the men's room at the end of the hall just as Neji entered it from the main room. They stood at opposite ends of the hall for a moment. Then Neji walked forward.

Sasuke watched as Neji seemed to move in slow motion. The light from the main room surrounded Neji in a nimbus of hazy grey. Maybe it was a combination of the _sake, _the club and the song that was playing, but Sasuke closed the distance between them and grabbed Neji around the waist.

Neji yelped in protest as he nearly fell over a crate trying to extricate himself from Sasuke's hands. He managed to free himself and stumbled backward. Sasuke followed him, crowding him against the peeling wall with his body. They were roughly the same height. Neji searched Sasuke's cloudy eyes in panic. "What the fuck are you doing?" His voice came out higher than he would have liked.

_'My lips like sugar…this candy got you sprung…'_

Sasuke answered by sliding one hand beneath Neji's hair and pulling his mouth in for a bruising kiss.

Neji was stunned enough to allow it for a few seconds. Then the _sake_-flavored tongue delved deeper, so clearly hungry for him. Neji was lost to the power of the kiss for a few crucial seconds. He moaned softly. Sasuke's hands roamed down his body, lifting him against the wall just enough to work his knee between Neji's legs and press their groins together. The erection grinding hotly against him had Neji suddenly remembering his surroundings. And his wife. He broke the kiss and shoved Sasuke away.

Sasuke didn't budge. He was murmuring urgently into Neji's face. "You know if I wasn't with Naruto, it'd be you Neji."

Scared almost senseless, imagining Naruto getting wind of that statement, Neji activated his bloodline limit. "Hakke Hasangeki!"

A shield of sand sprung up in front of Sasuke in the nick of time. It was well that it did, since that move would have crushed every bone in Sasuke's body, likely killing him. Neji turned his head and saw Gaara and Itachi standing at the end of the hall. Sasuke was leaning against the far wall, where he'd caught himself from falling. He straightened now and glared toward Gaara and his brother.

"Neji, thank you, you've done enough," Gaara said flatly. "Itachi bring your brother back to the village. I'm going ahead to make sure Naruto is home. This 'discussion' won't be delayed any longer or I may have to kill someone."

"I'm not speaking to that asshole," Sasuke spat. Itachi appeared suddenly by Sasuke's side. His eyes glowed scarlet in the dim hall. "Yes you are. I won't let you ruin your life without first trying to help you fix it. Talk to him. If afterwards you still feel the same then you can do as you please. But Gaara is right, this can't be delayed any longer."

Sasuke looked at his brother and realized for the first time that he was really there. "I missed you, onii-san."

Itachi smiled faintly. "I missed you as well."

* * *

Sasuke's head cleared a bit during the walk back to the village. He and his brother didn't speak. Sasuke thought of how he'd kissed Neji and what Naruto would say when he told him. He hoped the blonde flew into a jealous rage. He'd been pissed beyond the telling of it when Naruto hadn't come after him after that brief scuffle the other day. He'd hoped they could settle the rift like they'd done back in the day, but Naruto had let him leave.

At the same time, though, he dreaded this confrontation. He knew he would have to lay it all on the table and oh, god, how it was going to hurt.

Sasuke had fucked up. He should have continued to keep his feelings to himself. Instead, he'd gone and alerted Naruto to how wrong things were with him. He knew what had to be done, knew what had to happen tonight when he went home. He'd known it for a long time, he'd just been too cowardly to do it. Like pulling out a kunai imbedded in a muscle. You knew it was going to hurt when you did it, but afterwards, hopefully, when the bleeding stopped it would be better. But while that kunai was in you, it hurt even worse than pulling it out and it festered.

It was just…he didn't know if he could take the pain of pulling out that kunai.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ai, Dios. What can I say? Probably my beta said it best: mid-life crisis. Luckily, things will be fixed. It's just that things had to get worse before they got better, which will be in the next chap. Next chap will also be mainly NaruSasu related. Then on to other things.

Your reviews are wonderful! As hard as it is for me to update 3 stories, featuring 3 separate interpretations of Sasuke's and Naruto's characters, your reviews make it all worth the stress.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 5

Naruto paced up and down in his living room. The kids were all spending the night at Sumiko's. He wrung his hands, stopped, ran them through his hair, stopped and kept pacing.

How was this going to end? What could he say to Sasuke? What was Sasuke going to say to him? He was so nervous and he didn't know why. He had a strong feeling of foreboding and couldn't shake it.

"This is stupid," he said to the empty room. "No use getting worked up until I hear what he has to say. Then I can overreact as needed."

Naruto blew out a breath and tried to dispel the tension in his body. His hands were cold.

He was scared.

* * *

Itachi let the silence dominate half of the trip back to Konoha. When he finally turned to Sasuke it was with a question on his lips. "Do you really care for the Hyuuga that much? To see him as an alternative to Naruto?"

Sasuke's stomach rolled miserably at remembering that kiss. "No. Not really. It's a stupid attraction, but there's no love."

"You said you would be with him if you weren't with Naruto. That sounds like Naruto is an obstacle, something preventing you from being with who you really want." Itachi sounded calm, but Sasuke could hear the concern in his voice.

"It's not like that. I actually wish I could be with someone else, but it's Naruto or no one."

Now Itachi stopped, turning to stare hard at his brother. "If that's so then why do you wish you could be with someone else? Why did you say those things to the Hyuuga? Why did you kiss him, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's face was the picture of remorse and self-loathing. "I don't know why I kissed him. As for the rest…just drop it. Bad enough, this talk coming with Naruto. I don't need you hounding me, too." He turned to continue walking.

Itachi stared after him, very worried about where his brother's mind was.

* * *

Gaara got back first. Naruto rushed into the foyer to see if Sasuke was with him. He tried to look behind Gaara into the night as the redhead shut the door behind himself. "Where's Sasuke? He's coming, right?"

"Yes," Gaara said. Something in his voice, in the look of grim disapproval on his features made Naruto really look at his face.

"What is it? Is Sasuke all right?"

"The bastard is fine. Naruto, I think things are more serious than Sasuke being upset with your working hours."

"What? Why?"

Gaara knew it was better to let Sasuke and Naruto handle as much of their problems as possible, but he didn't think Sasuke would divulge certain information. Gaara's first concern was Naruto. And if Naruto knew the extent of the problem he would then be able to address it with Sasuke. He decided to tell him.

"We saw Sasuke kissing Neji. Words were said that led me to believe they've done more than kiss before. And if Sasuke spent the night at Neji's as the Hyuuga himself mentioned…"

Naruto stared at Gaara, stared through him. Sasuke was cheating on him? Naruto felt something inside him crack…but it held. He didn't break. The weight of that thought, Sasuke cheating on him, put pressure on that crack, making it creak ominously, but Naruto kept it together. He asked through numb lips, "Where's Neji now?"

"I assume he returned home, though not by the path I took."

Naruto nodded and turned away from Gaara. He put a shaking hand to his head, massaging the ache there. "When will they be here?" He felt like throwing up.

"Soon, hopefully. Naruto…"

"Don't, Gaara. Just don't. I'm barely hanging on as it is."

Naruto resumed his pacing, only now, tremors shook through him periodically as he did. Gaara took up a position near the wall, watching his brother with his arms folded across his chest.

***

They both heard the door opening an hour later. Gaara saw Naruto stiffen and arrange his face into a neutral expression. His heart went out to the blonde. Whatever happened tonight, it was bound to be hard. And he would stand by his brother. If Sasuke hurt Naruto anymore than he already was, Gaara would leave Itachi. He would have nothing to do with the Uchiha's, he was that angry at Sasuke. He'd almost killed him with that sand shield earlier, but then he would have had both brothers to fight.

Naruto straightened his shoulders and turned to face the living room archway as Sasuke and Itachi appeared in it. Sasuke and Naruto stared at each other for a moment before Sasuke dropped his eyes.

Itachi moved to take a seat on one side of the room. Gaara took a seat in another corner. They were there to make sure things didn't get out of hand and to lend support to their respective brothers, but they wouldn't interfere.

Naruto stood in the middle of the room. After a second, Sasuke entered and stood against the wall, facing Naruto.

No one spoke for a time.

Finally, Naruto began. He couldn't take the hurting silence anymore.

"Sasuke, what's wrong? Why are you avoiding me?"

Sasuke wished, for the first time in his life, that he could lay down on the floor and kick and scream. Maybe that would alleviate the pain. He didn't immediately answer.

Naruto was getting worked up the longer the silence stretched. "Have I really been gone so much? Did you really need to go to Neji? And before you tell me any of that, I want to know what has you so angry in the first place. Is it just because I work a lot or is it something else? You know we always talk about any serious problems between us."

There. He'd had laid it all on the table. He studied Sasuke, waiting to hear what he would say.

Sasuke studied that amazing face from where he stood. Maybe it was better to leave the kunai in? But no. He couldn't take it anymore. So help him, he just couldn't.

It had crept up on him slowly, he guessed. A slow poison seeping through his feelings for Naruto over the last few years. He'd have been the last person to think he'd find himself at this point in time. He would have said that he and Naruto were the definition of right, the meaning of forever. Always. Unchangeable.

He'd been wrong. Nothing stayed the same and nothing is forever. He tried to put into words the horrible truth he'd been forced to accept, but too cowardly to voice.

"Naruto…I don't know who I am anymore."

Naruto released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He'd been afraid Sasuke wouldn't say anything at all. "What?" he said now. "What do you mean?"

Sasuke took a deep breath. "I mean everything about me is wrapped up in you. It's always about you. You're the big shot assistant and council protégé. You're the one involved with all those new programs in the village. You're the one people are always coming to the house to see. I'm nothing, I have no life. It's like I'm your sidekick and that's it. I'm hopelessly in love with you and you're never here. I don't have you. I don't have your time. I don't have your attention. All I have is your kids and this house and all the long empty days without you."

Naruto struggled not to sigh in relief. Sasuke just wanted him to spend more time at home. The problem was nowhere near as bad as he'd been thinking, though the Neji issue definitely had to be addressed. "Oh, well if you just wanted me home more, then all you had to say-"

Sasuke continued speaking, still staring at Naruto's face. He forced himself to get it all out. "I can't stop loving you. The more you're gone, the more I love you and the more it hurts. And it's like…that's all I have. I've loved you since I met you. But is that all I'm here for? I mean, what is my purpose? What is my life supposed to be, just me standing in the shadows of your accomplishments and loving you helplessly? Well, it seems that's all I'm good for. Supporting you and nothing else."

Naruto tried to understand. "What, are you saying you're…bored?"

Sasuke took a firm mental hold on that kunai and gripped it hard in preparation. "I'm saying I'm thirty years old and have accomplished nothing with my life. I've been your shadow for most of those years and I can't do it anymore, Naruto. I'm either saving you or trailing behind you and I'm lost. Who am I? Really, who am I?"

Itachi stirred at this, but said nothing. His face was alive with raw emotions, empathizing with his brother's pain. Gaara only watched the two men with his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped in front of his mouth.

"Sasuke…" Naruto swallowed hard. Maybe things _were_ as bad as he'd been thinking. Maybe they were a lot worse than he'd been thinking. "You're Sasuke, the man I love, the-"

"I know. And that's not enough anymore."

"What…what are you saying?" Naruto's body tensed in dread.

"I'm saying…" Here came the yank. Sasuke constricted every muscle in his body. "I'm saying I don't want to love you anymore. It's too much. That's all I am, is the man you love. That's all I do, is love you. There has to be more in life for me than that."

Naruto sat at last, stumbling backward until he fell into a chair. Gaara got up and came to him, kneeling by his side. He didn't speak, only put a hand on Naruto's knee and stared pleadingly at his face, letting him know he was here while this Uchiha son of a bitch ripped the soul from his body. Gaara couldn't have spoken then if his life depended on it. Itachi noticed, though, that the cork in Gaara's gourd was gone. He accessed his Sharingan.

"W-wh-wha-" Naruto was having trouble breathing. This wasn't happening. He noticed nothing and no one except Sasuke.

Sasuke grit his teeth and pressed on, trying to ignore the expression on Naruto's face. "I need space, Naruto. Away from you. Away from us. For…for good, I think. I need to be alone, Naruto."

Naruto stiffened his spine to keep himself upright. Gaara's hand tightened on his knee, though he didn't feel it. Deep breaths. Deep, deep breaths, that was the ticket. Okay. Think. Think, dammit! Analyze and simplify the problem. Yes, okay he could do that.

"So." Naruto cleared his throat. "So, if I understand you correctly, you're feeling neglected and abandoned?"

Sasuke didn't answer that. "Naruto…"

"Because if you are, I'll get Kakashi to give me a couple of days off a week. You're right, I should be home more and-"

"Weren't you listening? It's not that, Naruto!"

The crack in him was getting bigger, weakening under the increased pressure. Soon the thing in him would break, Naruto dimly realized. Why was this happening? Why? He tried to keep his mind on what Sasuke was saying.

"Then what is it? Maybe you really are bored? I mean you haven't had a mission in awhile, maybe that's why you feel like you have no purpose. Maybe Itachi can stay, that will help you feel less neglected and directionless and-"

"I want you away from me, Naruto." That shut the rambling blonde up. "All I do is love you harder and deeper and more fiercely each day and it is sucking me dry. I'm not even a man anymore."

"No. Sasuke, don't say that, you know I love you, too, more than anything!"

"I know. Naruto, please, don't make this any harder than it already is."

Naruto had been steadfastlyignoring the majority of what Sasuke had said about needing to be away from him. He couldn't take this. He couldn't, but he forced himself to examine everything Sasuke had said. "All right, you're going through something. You feel like you need time away from me. Why do you think that's the only solution? I mean there has to be a way-"

"No. This is the only way."

Naruto got up and walked forward. "Well, I guess you're in trouble, then, because I'm not letting you go."

"Naruto-"

"No. You listen to me, Uchiha Sasuke. I've loved you just as long and just as hard. We've been through too much for it to end like this, for it to end at all. I'm not letting you get rid of me. We can get through this. Just...just tell me what you need from me. Please, Sasuke. I love you."

Sasuke looked up at Naruto's frantic eyes and yanked the kunai out at last. "I hate you, Naruto. I hate loving you, hate how much I need you, hate how weak I've let myself become so that I could stay by your side. I hate how your touch enslaves me, how I live for your smile, how I'm reborn in your kisses. Where do you end and I begin? I don't even know anymore. I've lost all sense of myself. I'm defined by you and I just can't live like that anymore."

Itachi stood now as well, noticing through his shock that Gaara's sand was leaking out and pooling on the floor.

Numb, all Naruto could think to say was, "But you died for me."

"And I would all over again. It should have ended there. No one should love another as much as I love you, Naruto. Love that powerful destroys. It kills. I'm dying and I can't take another second of it."

"And I don't love you?" The blond shouted, suddenly terrified. "You think I don't feel the exact same way? Don't I show you just what you mean to me?"

"You've always been much stronger than me, Naruto. Inside."

Naruto refused to give up. "I'm not letting you go. We'll figure this out. You want me home? Fine. I'll stay home. Just give me a chance to fix this, Sasuke."

"I'm not a problem you need to fix, Naruto."

"Just give me a chance! You're going to walk out on me, on all we have, all we've built, without giving me a chance? Please, man! I can't lose you, so just please give me a chance to make things right."

"You can't, Naruto. Whatever it is, it's inside me. And anyway, the problem didn't spring up overnight, and it won't be solved overnight. I'm so sorry, Naruto. I should have said something long before now, but…I knew it would hurt us both and…I don't want you to let this stop you from becoming Hokage."

Naruto was thinking furiously of a solution, any solution. Jesus, he was losing Sasuke! Compromise.

"Okay. I don't understand, but okay. You need time. If you really feel that's the answer, then I'll give you time. How much time do you need?"

Sasuke looked at him. "I want you to move out. I don't want to be with you anymore. It's over, Naruto."

Naruto felt the thing break at last. The shards tumbled away inside him to leave emptiness. It had been an integral part of his being, but it was either lose the thing or lose Sasuke and now he'd lost them both. His face relaxed from its agonized expression until it was void of any emotion whatsoever. He stood with his hands down by his sides, where previously they had been held out to Sasuke in supplication.

He stared at Sasuke for a long time, many many soundless minutes. He looked at him, saw him in his entirety. He saw the good and the bad, the things he loved and the things he hated. His mind captured Uchiha Sasuke in his entirety. He thought, calculated and deduced. He arrived at a decision. His eyes were dry, his voice steady as he looked at Sasuke's white face.

"So be it."

Naruto walked slowly towards Sasuke until he was right in front of him. Sasuke held his breath, waiting. But Naruto only blinked, looked away, and left the house by way of the front door.

***

Sasuke started to sag against the wall, but a hand grabbed him by his collar and held him up. Sasuke opened his eyes to see Gaara, with fury all over his normally placid features. A fist of sand the size of an elephant hovered in the air behind him. Itachi had a hand on the wrist Gaara was using to hold Sasuke. Sasuke watched Gaara with dead eyes.

"Whether or not you continue breathing depends on the answer to one question," Gaara said in a voice quivering with rage. "So here it is: How much of what you just told Naruto is true?"

"Gaara," Itachi said warningly. "I can't let you hurt my-"

"Get your hand off of me, Itachi. If your brother answers wrong, you and I are over. I won't be able to look at you or him without killing you both."

Itachi's lips thinned, his Sharingan whirling.

"Most of it," Sasuke said in a low voice. Gaara and Itachi's eyes swung to him.

"Most of it?" Gaara echoed sharply.

"I meant everything I said," Sasuke said as his eyes filled with tears. "But I'd hoped…"

He'd wanted Naruto to get so angry that he grabbed Sasuke and killed him with his lovemaking. And yet he also wanted Naruto to go away and leave him alone. To just leave Uchiha Sasuke alone to live his life as best he could.

And he didn't exactly hate him. Not really. Those words he'd wished he could take back as soon as he'd said them. He hated himself more than he could ever hate Naruto.

Itachi shoved Gaara away to slam his fist with all the strength in his body against the side of Sasuke's head. Sasuke saw it coming and had begun to duck, or his head would have been removed from his shoulders. As it was he was knocked to the floor with enough force to splinter the wood beneath. Sasuke nearly blacked out.

"YOU STUPID, PRIDEFUL PIECE OF SHIT!" Itachi roared down at him. Gaara stood aside, watching.

"I cannot get over your puling cowardice," Itachi said scathingly. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Even now, after all these years, can't you admit that you are nothing without him and accept it??? My god, Sasuke…my god. You say you can't live like this? Very well. You will go to him and tell him you want him still, that though you meant your words, you cannot be without him. You will remedy this mess, Uchiha Sasuke or so help me I will kill you myself."

Sasuke picked himself up slowly. "No. I'm sick of only existing. I want to live and life with him isn't living."

Gaara spoke. "You want him still, Sasuke?"

Sasuke didn't answer that. "It's too late. It's done."

Gaara heard him mutter something about not being able to put a kunai back in. "It's not too late unless you're dead. And where you two are concerned, maybe not even then. Go after him, Sasuke."

"Get out. Both of you." Sasuke wiped blood from his lips.

Gaara ignored him. "You said that all you do is love him more, that you're lost. You don't know where he ends and you begin. You're right, Naruto is stronger than you. Sasuke, there is nothing wrong with losing yourself in another, as long as you can find your way back. Naruto can help you find your way. You are never lost with him, will never be lost. Don't you know that? It's okay to hate him sometimes. Love and Hate are the same, come from the same place. Can't you see that you wouldn't hate him unless you loved him?"

"No, he doesn't," Itachi said in disgust. "He's the type that needs a reason or he ends up exactly as you see him now. When he was younger, he and Naruto were plagued with so much adversity. It was one thing after another, one enemy after another. No Uchiha was made to be idle. And he is idle. Naruto had the right of it, he's bored."

Sasuke swelled in anger at hearing them discuss him as if he wasn't present. And to trivialize his problems!

"He has a point, though, about his life and the lack of meaning it has for him," Gaara said. "If what you say is true and idleness is death to him…"

"Naruto used to be his reason for living, the one who saved him from himself. Now that Naruto is largely not around…" Itachi shrugged. They were both looking at him as if he were some strange specimen. "Sasuke's is a dependant personality. He either needs the crutch of an adversary to lean on or Naruto to lean on. Take both away…"

Gaara nodded sagely. Sasuke was close to killing them both. "What should we do? He's broken my brother's heart. I don't think Naruto will forgive this. Did you see his face?"

Itachi finally turned from staring at Sasuke with a mutter of disgust. "Leave him. He deserves to be alone. All these years and he can't simply say 'be with me, I need you.' He has to go and cook up this melodrama and hurt the man he loves. He's even convinced himself that he hates him."

Sasuke drew his sword, channeling lightning chakra through it as he leapt for Itachi's throat. Gaara and Itachi both turned to see him coming, his eyes red with hatred.

* * *

Naruto made a few stops in the village. This took him about two hours. When he was done, he made his way back to Sasuke's house. Not home. Sasuke's house.

He entered and paused as he took in the scene. The living room was a scorched and blackened mess, furniture smoking. Itachi and Gaara stood to either side of a chair placed between them and facing the door, so that it was the first thing one saw when entering the house.

Sasuke sat in the chair, beat utterly to shit. He looked close to passing out.

Naruto quirked one brow at this sight, but otherwise his face showed nothing. Itachi and Gaara both had their arms folded, looking at Naruto. Veins of acute annoyance throbbed in their foreheads.

It was almost as if they were offering Sasuke to him. Naruto turned and walked up the stairs. He entered his bedroom.

***

Downstairs, Itachi slapped the back of Sasuke's head hard enough to send him headlong from the chair. Sasuke caught himself on his hands, and then turned, ready to pick up the fight again. He met his brother's identical Sharingan.

"I would tell you to get up there and make him take you back," Itachi said. "But Gaara made a good point a few minutes ago. We cannot force your relationship. If he really leaves you, you have no one to blame but yourself. After all, it's what you want, right? Dog," Itachi spat venomously. "Cowardly, traitorous dog. You're not fit to bear the name Uchiha. I will take Naruto's suggestion and remain in the village. I'm resuming command of the clan." He turned to Gaara. "You and I will speak of it later."

Gaara nodded, then made his way upstairs. He found Naruto packing. He watched in silence for awhile, his heart aching.

"I don't know what to say. I didn't expect things to turn out this way, Naruto."

Naruto said nothing, only continued packing two large bags.

"I should leave well enough alone, but…I'm going to say this. I think Sasuke still wants you, Naruto. It's true that hate is a part of any great love…it comes with the territory, but I don't think he truly wants you to leave him. He just can't articulate the depth of his need for you, can't bear to even face it himself."

Naruto closed the first pack.

"Naruto, please. Stop and reconsider. It kills me to see this happening to you."

Naruto closed the second pack.

Gaara sighed. Then he brought up something else, the idea coming to him from Naruto's continued lack of expression. Perhaps…? "If you want him…eliminated…I know he's the father of your children," Gaara said delicately. "But if that's what you wanted…it could be…arranged."

Naruto grabbed the straps of both bags in one thick hand. He faced Gaara at last. "You've been Kazekage too long to even suggest that." He shouldered roughly past Gaara and thumped down the stairs.

***

Sasuke had an icepack to the side of his head. That entire side of his face was purple. He looked up as Naruto entered the kitchen. He and Itachi both watched the blonde as he began stuffing food into one of the packs that still had space.

Gaara came down and also watched Naruto. No one said anything.

Sasuke watched Naruto's jerky movements, trying to read his blank face. He'd just ended their epic relationship and yet Naruto didn't seem angry. He didn't seem anything but methodical as he packed food into every available pocket. He jerked the flaps down over the packs and secured them in place. Only then did he turn to face the three men.

He's really leaving me, Sasuke thought. He wanted to say something, felt his brother staring at him and willing him to do just that, but he couldn't. A clean break was best. He would bleed then he would heal. Without the kunai that was Naruto stuck in his side. Still, he thought he should say something. He opened his mouth to speak.

Naruto beat him to the punch. "Itachi, can my kids stay with you and Gaara? I don't know when we'll be back."

Itachi had no idea what Naruto was talking about but the blue gaze had flicked in Sasuke's direction at the word 'we' and a bud of hope unfurled in his chest. He answered without thinking. "Yes, of course. I don't understand, though, who-"

"Gaara, make sure you keep an eye on Raiden especially, see that he doesn't get into too much trouble. I told him he has to man up while I'm away and behave himself but he is only twelve, so…"

Gaara eyed the packs and began to have an inkling of what Naruto was up to. He held off from cheering. "I will," he said gravely.

"Good," Naruto said. "Good." He turned at last to face Sasuke. He walked right up to him and looked him in the eyes. "You? You're coming with me."

Sasuke stiffened. He was ashamed to realize that his body quivered with excitement. Naruto being commanding and forceful had always been such a killer turn on and-_this wasn't the time for that!!_

"I don't know where you think I'm going-"

A clone appeared beside Naruto. Naruto casually held out a hand, Rasengan forming in it. The clone began prepping Rasenshuriken calmly. Naruto spoke as the jutsu took shape, knocking kitchen appliances everywhere with its wind.

"You are coming with me whether you like it or not. I don't want to hear a word of protest or this thing is going up your ass. We're going away, just the two of us, and we are going to resolve this mess. You don't get to decide where this relationship goes on your own. We're in this together so we'll decide together. But first, you're coming with me, Sasuke. Your shit is packed. Get your ass outside that door."

Sasuke remained where he was in front of the fridge, mutinously daring Naruto to act on his threat.

Quite out of patience and having been through enough for one evening, Naruto let his clone disappear and rammed the Rasenshuriken towards Sasuke's battered face. Sasuke ducked, grabbed one of the bags and left the house. Naruto dispelled his technique just before it hit the wall. The kitchen looked as if a tornado had hit it. Saying nothing to the cringing Gaara and Itachi, Naruto picked up the other pack and left.

Sasuke was waiting outside on the stoop. Naruto walked past him without speaking, settling the pack on his back. After a moment, Sasuke followed him.

* * *

Kabuto had no trouble sneaking into the village through the 'backdoor' he knew about. He'd had to hide his presence as he made some discreet inquiries about a certain well-endowed woman with prodigious Genjutsu abilities. He was told her name was Uchiha Hiroko. He was even directed to her home within the Uchiha compound.

Of less pleasant note was the information that Itachi had recently returned to the village. Just the day before, in fact. Kabuto had hesitated at hearing this news. He did not want to run into that particular Uchiha. Then he reflected that killing Hiroko would satisfy him as well as get back at Itachi. He decided to move forward with his plan.

***

Hiroko enjoyed several visitors to her modest home as Kabuto watched from a hidden place nearby. There was one man Kabuto recognized as one of the men who'd been with her when she'd captured him. He was the last to leave, lingering on her doorstep as he said goodnight.

"So you'll be back at work tomorrow?" Konohamaru wanted to know.

"Mhm." Hiroko was glad of the cover night provided. She could feel herself blushing as he stared at her. Hopefully it wasn't visible. "You really didn't have to come by and check on me every day."

"Oh, well…no big deal." Konohamaru rocked on his heels, uncomfortable. "You had visits from your team yesterday."

Hiroko smiled in remembrance of how boisterous her team was when they weren't on a mission. She'd had a fine time with them during that visit. "Yes. That was so much fun! Especially since they brought food. I can't cook." She gave a small laugh at herself.

Konohamaru bit back his smart reply to say instead, "You should watch out for them. They have some strange ideas about marrying you. If they're harassing you…"

Hiroko waved one delicate hand. "Oh! Yeah they all proposed. That brings my total up to sixty-two proposals. Don't worry, I'm not planning on marrying any of them."

Konohamaru stared. "You've had that many proposals? Why haven't you accepted any of them?"

Hiroko's smile had faltered under the intensity of his gaze. "I-I should probably turn in. I want to get some sleep so I can be at work on time tomorrow." She started to close the door gently.

Konohamaru blocked it with his hand. He stepped closer to her, looming over her. "Hiroko…were you telling the truth about your feelings for me?"

Hiroko chose to lie. "Of course! I don't know why you're so concerned about me and my feelings anyway. I mean, you have all the women you want, don't you?" Her voice was cheerful, but her eyes weren't.

Konohamaru didn't know what to say for a moment. "I…am just worried someone will take advantage of you."

"Why? Do you take advantage of women?"

"No! I take what's freely offered, but I-"

"Well, I could never be with someone who's so cavalier about his relationships. I want to be with someone who loves me desperately. And don't worry about me accepting some stray proposal. I know they're only infatuated. It's cute, really. Anything else?" She looked up at him with her lustrous black eyes.

Konohamaru understood. Somewhere she'd heard the tales of his many women and didn't want to be another notch in his belt. He backed away from the door. Hiroko smiled and shut it softly, turning the lock.

He stood there for a moment more, thinking. Then he left.

Kabuto smiled from his hiding spot and ghosted forward.

***

Masking his chakra, he slipped in through an unlocked downstairs window. His cloak blended with the gray shadows as he explored the layout downstairs soundlessly. He could hear her upstairs, showering. His glasses glinted in the pale moonlight as he smiled. He ran noiselessly up her carpeted stairs.

* * *

Naruto led the way, walking in an unhurried manner, through the village. Sasuke trudged behind, hurting inside and out, utterly defeated in mind, body and spirit. He didn't care what happened now. If a boulder fell from the sky now to end his existence, he would welcome it with silent and unresisting gratitude.

Sasuke saw that they were passing the Hyuuga estate and noticed that many Hyuuga were bustling about in agitation. Every light blazed. A part of the estate was actually destroyed. This piqued his curiosity somewhat. He wondered what could have happened. He heard shouting, caught a few words.

"Both legs broken, unconscious and bleeding badly. Notify Ino immediately-"

Sasuke wondered who'd been injured…until he saw Naruto ignoring the Hyuuga estate altogether…

No. Had he done something to Neji? Sasuke looked back at the estate, trying to catch a glimpse of the injured person. If Neji had been hurt…Sasuke had been the one to initiate that kiss, not Neji….

Naruto stopped walking, his back to Sasuke. "Are you worried about your lover, Sasuke?" His voice was devoid of either inflection or emotion, but Sasuke could feel the violence in the question. Naruto did not turn around to look at him.

"He's not my lover," Sasuke said through swollen lips. "I kissed him. That was all."

"That was all," Naruto stated flatly. "Well then. Perhaps I went overboard on him. Still, maybe now he'll learn to run the other way when he sees you coming in the future. Once his legs heal, that is. You and I might split eventually, but I'll be damned if Neji gets to have you, let's be clear on that. Also? The only reason I haven't ripped you a new one is because you're already beat up. I'll wait a few days until you heal. I'm looking forward to it."

Naruto resumed walking, having said all that without turning around. Sasuke stared after him, torn between a rush of love at Naruto's sharp jealousy and horror that Naruto had hurt Neji so callously. Naruto was never cold-hearted like that. Then he remembered that Naruto apparently had similar events planned for him once he healed enough and he shivered. Naruto was acting very strangely. He continued walking after him, stamping on the urge to look over his shoulder at the Hyuuga estate.

***

They walked past gate security and out of the village in silence. They walked for most of the night, only stopping in the small hours before dawn. Nothing was said between them. Sasuke could sense a cold, all-encompassing anger from Naruto, but the blonde's face didn't show it. He wondered when they would begin 'fixing this mess' as Naruto had put it. His demon didn't seem inclined to talk. Still, the fact that he'd more or less kidnapped Sasuke must mean that he wanted him, right? Sasuke spent a lot of time staring at him, but Naruto never returned the looks. Sasuke was left feeling extremely insecure.

Especially since Naruto rolled himself in his sleeping bag and went to sleep. Alone. Sasuke had half hoped for a few hours of hot, angry sex. He'd have settled for even a few minutes. Even a touch or a glance would have sufficed. He received nothing.

Sasuke waited until Naruto was asleep before getting up and walking silently out of camp. He waited until he was far enough away so that he wouldn't be heard, then broke into a run, traveling at top speed back to Konoha.

Naruto dropped calmly out of a tree ahead of him. Sasuke changed directions, evading him as he called on his chakra to-

Naruto grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into a tree, holding him off the ground easily. His eyes were blue ice as he leaned into Sasuke's gasping face.

"Stop being such a wuss. You're coming with me to this location. If you want to make it there in one piece, I suggest you stop trying to piss me off. Raiden's not here to cart your ass to Wyatt's if I get out of hand. And the way I'm feeling I might well lose control of myself, you know?" He released Sasuke. He looked at him choking on the forest floor. Then he walked calmly back to camp.

The next night, Sasuke had the presence of mind to escape using his Level Two. Naruto couldn't fly. He'd been winging his way steadily over the treetops, the wind in his hair when a Sage Mode Naruto had jumped from the ground, soared, snagged him in the air and punched him back to earth.

After that, Sasuke resigned himself to accompanying Naruto to their unknown destination.

Three days of quiet and Sasuke finally couldn't take it anymore. "Where are we going?"

Silence.

Sasuke stared hatefully at Naruto's back as the blonde only continued to walk. "I don't know how you expect to fix this if you're not talking to me."

Naruto startled him by responding. "And why should I talk to you? You didn't listen when I tried to talk our way to a solution back at the house, did you? I talked and you insisted on your way being the only way. I begged you. Why should I expect anything would be different if I spoke now?"

The man had a point. Sasuke had one last question. He asked it now, while Naruto was speaking. "If you don't plan on talking about this, then how are we going to resolve our problems?"

Naruto had graced him with the only direct look Sasuke received from him during the whole journey. "Oh, I don't know, Sasuke. I'm sure we'll think of something to do." He'd even given Sasuke a tight little smile.

Sasuke saw that smile and shuddered.

* * *

Kabuto did nothing the first night in Hiroko's bedroom. He only stood in a corner and watched her sleep for hours.

Up close and defenseless, Hiroko's beauty struck him anew. He told himself he would watch her for a few minutes, then kill her.

But the minutes had stretched out as Kabuto's eyes followed the rise and fall of her breasts. She slept on her back, her head turned towards him, her hair gathered in a loose tail to her side. It fell over the side of the bed to brush the floor with its bright brilliance. She had one hand on her exposed stomach, one leg bent. Kabuto hadn't been attracted to a female since his adolescent days. He generally preferred older men, but this girl/woman….Hiroko. She reached an invisible hand into him and twisted his guts with desire with her obvious innocence. Her knowledge of Genjutsu and the way she'd defeated him was intriguing, adding to her allure.

That first night, he'd walked up to her bedside after watching her for hours and leaned over her. She smelled of wildflowers. Her delicate pink lips were parted, moist…inviting. His eyes roved greedily over her features as his arousal grew. It pressed against his pants. Kabuto reached a hand into his pants and closed his fist around his length, thumbing his slit and the moisture there. He stuck out his tongue and ran it lightly over Hiroko's lips, sucking very gently-

Hiroko woke with a scream on her wet lips, sitting bolt up right. Her eyes searched around her shadowy bedroom. She reached quickly to her nightstand and turned on the light.

Her room was empty. She could sense no chakra source either in her house or outside it. Yet she'd been sure someone had been in the room with her.

Hiroko sat on her bed, the covers held to her chin, unable to sleep for the rest of the night.

***

The next night, Hiroko had lain awake in her room with the lights blazing. But she'd put in a long day with ANBU and she soon fell asleep, turning the light off right before she did.

Kabuto watched her for a time as he had the previous night. He'd barely gotten away in time, but the rush of danger had been exhilarating. He'd stood on a rooftop a few blocks away and masturbated to the memory of her scream. He came with the taste of her mouth still on his lips.

Now he stood by her bedside for long minutes, looking down at where she was curled defensively around her pillow. He wanted more time with her than he'd had last night. He coated his hand with chakra and lightly touched her forehead, putting her into a deeper sleep. Hiroko sighed lightly, burrowing under her blanket.

Kabuto let his cloak fall to the floor as he slipped fully clothed under the blanket with her. She did not wake up. The warmth of her body was delicious, drawing him in. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling it as he hugged her body to his.

His hand went directly to her thighs, dragging across the heated flesh between them, covered by her thin cotton shorts. Hiroko moaned, shifted on the bed, but did not wake. Kabuto closed his lips over the nipple visible through her thin cami top, wetting the material and sucking the plump bud strongly.

_Hiroko was having a strange dream of being on a mission with her team. One of her team turned to her and pinned her beneath his body. She was alarmed and disgusted, though she couldn't see his face. His hand was between her legs, rubbing through her ANBU pants, making her wet there. The friction against her flesh heated her skin to burning and his mouth was on her breast. She was scared and trying to break free…he was too strong, he wouldn't let her go. He bit her nipple softly and she arched in pleasure despite herself, the moisture between her legs increasing. "Stop, please," she whimpered._

_"I can't. I want you too much, Hiroko."_

_That wasn't the voice of anyone on her team. The voice was familiar, but she couldn't place it, her mind too panicked. The hand slipped down the waistband of her pants and touched her core, a finger pressing between her legs. Her fear spiked even as her pleasure did and she screamed as loudly as she could-_

She leapt from her bed, shrieking and flailing her arms in mad fright, her hair a tangled cloud all around her. Her Sharingan spun wildly, several Genjutsu lined up and ready to launch at the first thing that moved.

No one.

Hiroko knocked her lamp to the floor in her rush to turn it on. She managed to get her room illuminated and sat with the lamp held in her hand like a weapon. Her hair, obscuring her face completely, fanned in front of her mouth in little puffs of movement as she panted. Her room was empty. She could sense no chakra anywhere.

The lamp fell from her trembling fingers as she burst into quiet tears, her skin still crawling with revulsion. She sat in the corner of her bedroom, knees drawn up to her chest, the ceiling and walls lit eerily from the tumbled lamp and waited in terror for dawn to come.

She did not release her Sharingan; the moisture between her thighs and on her shirt was real.

***

On the third night, she didn't sleep until dawn. She fell asleep sitting in her reading chair, a kunai clutched in her fist.

_She didn't dream this time, not exactly. She was in some shadowy realm of her mind that refused to let her leave. It wasn't Genjutsu, she could tell, just as she could tell she'd been deliberately put here instead of wandering here on her own. A figure wearing a cloak walked toward her, embraced her and began kissing her roughly. She fought, pushing against him, moaning in disgust as his tongue entered her mouth. He was too strong for her. She tried with her mind to dispel the shadowy realm, but she couldn't. Her efforts ran into insubstantial walls. She felt his hand between her legs again and this time, he pinched the small nub of her clit, making her sob in fear and unwanted desire. He rubbed the nub between thumb and forefinger, kissing her the whole while and Hiroko felt her body tightening towards something, some kind of release. She fought wildly, but that only seemed to excite him. The release came, shaking her to her core and she screamed, but he was still kissing her and she was so helpless. His hand shifted between her legs, a finger entering her, hurting her. "You're a virgin," he released her mouth to say. "I've never had one. This should be enjoyable." His finger pressed deeper and Hiroko called on all the force of her mind and launched herself at those walls holding her in this place._

She was on her bed when she woke shrieking this time. Her scream cut off abruptly as her eyes fell on the far wall.

Her kunai was embedded in it, holding up her panties.

Hiroko sat staring at it in quaking fear until Konohamaru broke through her door downstairs around 9 am, calling her name frantically. He found her like that, sitting in mute terror, staring at the wall.

* * *

The journey took a little over a week. It would have taken longer had Naruto kept to walking, but he seemed to grow impatient after four days and opted to travel at top speed. Sasuke kept up.

Their destination turned out to be the cabin they'd lived in for a year in Demon Country. Sasuke stared at it in shock.

It had been over ten years since they'd lived there with baby Raiden. It should have been falling to ruins. Instead, it was in top condition, as if newly built. There were other improvements, things he didn't look closely at since Juro and Yukio were coming out of the cabin at hearing their arrival. The fraternal twins met them in the front yard.

"Yo, Uncle Naruto! Did everything you asked," Juro said happily. "We even installed a bathroom and routed the stream so you have running water."

"Yup, and I stocked the fridge- you have electricity now, by the way – with food. Perfectly suitable for living now." Yukio seemed quite proud of himself.

Naruto dropped his pack in the front yard and examined the cabin with his hands on his hips. He turned to the two young men with a smile. "Excellent job, you two. I tried to give you guys enough time to get everything done. I owe you both."

Juro waved a hand. "Eh, don't worry about it. It was a fun challenge. Is Raiden here, by any chance, to fold us back?"

"Afraid not," Naruto said apologetically.

"Guess we'll be traveling back home by more traditional means," Yukio said. "Come on, Juro. Looks like they want to be alone."

The twins shouldered their own packs and left shortly afterward, with a guarded look at their Uncle Sasuke. Naruto entered the cabin and turned to hold the door open for Sasuke. His expression was unreadable.

Sasuke entered. Naruto shut the door behind him and shot the bolt home. He turned to face Sasuke as he leaned against the door, arms folded.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Had other projects to get out of the way, which I have. I'm happy. There's a part in this chapter where you might think Naruto betrayed Sasuke...just keep reading. I know some of you weak-stomached individuals will want to exit the chapter at that point, but don't please.

I've updated my profile from the nonsense it contained to something more substantial.

I humbly thank you for the reviews, a lot of them have me cracking up :D Please keep them coming!

Onward...

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 6

Konohamaru noticed, on Hiroko's first day back, that she seemed distracted. He'd been lurking near the supply room when she'd gone to receive her mask. ANBU units, not currently on assignment or patrol, were often sent to go train at a special section of the training grounds set aside specifically for their use. New recruits especially were sent to train. Konohamaru had been required to patrol that day, but before he'd left HQ, he'd seen Hiroko surrounded by her team. She'd seemed somewhat less ebullient than usual.

The next day Hiroko had been sent on a minor assignment within Fire Country with her team. Konohamaru had privately requested permission from the captain to be allowed to accompany them, nosy about her new attitude. It was given, but Konohamaru's team was told to remain at HQ. During the mission, Hiroko had been efficient yet silent. Her team tried speaking to her, but it was as if she were a different person. She jumped at small noises and flinched whenever anyone tried to touch her. And she kept her Sharingan in place, as if waiting to be attacked. Konohamaru had tried to ask her what was wrong, but she'd only looked at him with those red eyes and white face, and said nothing.

She didn't show up for work the third day. Hiroko's team had wanted to rush right over to her house to see what was wrong, if she were ill, but the captain agreed with Konohamaru that only one person should go. Konohamaru won the honor as an ANBU with seniority.

He'd run all the way to the Uchiha compound. He banged on her door, calling her name loudly. Nothing. He could sense her presence inside. Suddenly terrified that she lay bleeding and unconscious, Konohamaru had drawn back his foot and kicked the door in, yelling for her as he searched the rooms of her house. He'd found her sitting in her bedroom, frozen in terror as she stared at a kunai in the opposite wall. Scanning her room for threats, he reached her side quickly and knelt in front of her on the bed. He reached for her shoulders and only then did she come alive, flailing and shrieking.

"Hiroko!" He shouted into her wild face. "Hiroko, it's me, Konohamaru!" God, what had happened to her??

Hiroko backed away from him, staring at him through her hair as a wild animal stared at a threat. He stood on the other side of her bed, hands held out in a placating I-won't-hurt-you gesture. "Hiroko?" He said softly. "It's me. I won't touch you if you don't want. Just tell me what's wrong. Let me help you."

Her eyes darted to the kunai again, and this time Konohamaru took a closer look at it. It seemed to be holding up a pair of undies. Silk undies, probably hers. He brought his eyes back to her face and her gaze met his. Her face crumbled and she slid to the floor, sobbing as if her heart would break.

Konohamaru felt some of the tension in his body unwind. He went to the kunai and ripped it from the wall, handling her panties with a touch of embarrassment. He held the items in his hands, examining the kunai. What did it mean? From her reaction, he didn't think she'd impaled her own underwear. Which meant someone else? A lover, perhaps. Maybe whoever it was had threatened Hiroko? The thought of her entertaining a lover left him breathless and hurting with jealousy. Who was it? He hadn't been aware she was seeing anyone. And if someone had threatened her, why hadn't she dealt with them? Hiroko was not someone to trifle with.

He approached her warily, crouched on the balls of his feet near her. He didn't try to touch her again, but he held the kunai and underwear out to her. "Hiroko, did someone hurt you? Who is he? You don't have to go through this alone, we'll-"

She'd thrown her arms around his neck and hung on tight, her body positively quaking in fear. The feel of her ripe curves against his chest was wiped from his mind when she whispered in a panicky voice, "Oh god, Konohamaru, I'm so scared! Please help me!"

* * *

Naruto stared at Sasuke and wondered what the man was thinking.

On the way to this cabin, he'd observed him closely, though it had appeared as if he'd ignored him. Sasuke was miserable, of that he was sure. He was uncertain if the misery was due to having to travel with Naruto, or regret over what had been said. The first time Sasuke had tried to escape, he'd thought the man was afraid. He'd soon realized that wasn't the case. Sasuke wasn't afraid; he was proud. He refused to be dragged along on some road trip and ignored. He didn't stop trying to escape after the second attempt in recognition of Naruto's superior strength; he simply didn't want to go through the humiliation of more failed attempts. Naruto knew these things, because regardless of what everyone said, or thought they knew about his relationship, he did know Sasuke. He knew him very well.

And the look on Sasuke's face right now said clearly, _Do your worst. See if I cave. You won't break me._

Naruto sensed some regret in the man… he just didn't know what the regret was for. If he could be sure it was over the things he'd said, this whole process would go a lot easier. There'd be hope for them. But the regret could be over Neji, this forced journey, the fact that Naruto hadn't left, or any number of things. And so he stared at him, wondering what he was thinking.

It had been small comfort, very small, to discover that Sasuke apparently still wanted his body. That kind of confused him. Prior to The Talk (Naruto had taken to viewing that heinous discussion as a proper noun, classifying his life as before The Talk and after. It had been that bad) Sasuke hadn't wanted to touch him. But after The Talk, during the journey over here, he'd caught Sasuke looking at him with that familiar look of sexual longing he got sometimes. A few times, he'd rolled close to Naruto's sleeping bag, trying to pretend he was asleep while doing it. Naruto had pretended to be asleep as well, as various parts of Sasuke's anatomy invariably ended up draped on Naruto. After awhile, Naruto understood that he was expected to lose control of himself at the slightest touch of Sasuke's body and ravish him.

Naruto had almost smiled at the realization. Almost. If the man thought Naruto felt like fucking after being told Sasuke hated him, he was insane. Naruto's insides burned with hurt, horror and the need to lash out at Sasuke for doing this to him. Fuck? Not in the sexual sense. He'd fuck Sasuke all right, but it wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

He still couldn't quite believe the things Sasuke had said. He hated Naruto. Hated loving him. Sasuke was the Sun of Naruto's life, without him he'd die. How could Sasuke feel that way about him? What had he done? To hear Sasuke tell it, nothing. The Uchiha asshole simply woke up one day and decided his life was shit, and it was all Naruto's fault. But to hate him? That was the worst, the very worst part of The Talk. He wanted to cry but couldn't. The hurt was too deep to allow tears. He only stared at Sasuke's determined face now. Expressions crossed it the longer Naruto remained silent. What _was_ the man thinking?

***

Sasuke was thinking that something had to give. He'd waited once Naruto had shut the door, sure the blonde would attack him, and beat him bloody for kissing Neji. He'd made up his mind to endure it, to endure whatever Naruto threw at him, but he wasn't going to be treated as if his issues meant nothing. If Naruto wanted to kill him, fine, Sasuke wouldn't fight back, but he wasn't going to take back what he'd said.

Well, maybe one thing.

He _was _prideful, he knew it, and it galled him to do it, but he would admit that he didn't hate Naruto. Not him specifically. Then, on the heels of that thought, came a suspicion that he should apologize for saying it in the first place. He wanted to say these things, but at the same time, found it difficult to get the words out. Especially since Naruto was looking at him so stonily. When he did open his mouth to speak, what came out wasn't what he'd planned, wasn't even really something he'd been thinking about.

"Your ten-day leave from work was up yesterday," he said to Naruto. "Will you be leaving soon to go back? Is that your plan, to leave me here and think I'll just-"

"I quit," Naruto said emotionlessly.

Sasuke's eyes widened. For a second, the words didn't make sense. Quit? Quit being the Hokage's assistant? "What? You… what?"

Naruto pushed off from the door at last, and bent to pick up his bag. For some perverse reason, Sasuke's eyes fell on the way the muscles in Naruto's forearm rippled when he lifted the heavy bag. Naruto spoke as he walked to the bedroom and began putting his things way. Sasuke gave himself a small mental shake and tried to pay attention.

"Yeah. Quit. When I left the house after you told me to, I went to Kakashi and told him I couldn't work for him anymore. He tried to get me to stay, offered to extend the ten days he gave me to a month, but I said the job had cost me too much. Then I went to Raiden and Aimi and told them you and I needed to go away, and settle some things. I had Raiden fold Yukio and Juro here with their equipment. Then I headed over to Neji's. Incidentally, I saw the Chuunin I gave that note to, telling you to meet me that time? Fucked his ass up good. _He_ won't be recovering. Ever. Nope."

Sasuke stared at Naruto's broad back as the blonde tucked things into drawers. A shiver of apprehensive excitement moved down his spine. It was a vaguely familiar feeling, but he couldn't place it. After a minute, he recalled it was the feeling he got whenever he'd gone up against someone very dangerous.

Naruto was dangerous. Very much so.

He'd spoken about quitting with a nonchalance that told Sasuke the act had done something to the blond. Something unpleasant. Something dark, and ugly, and possibly irreversible. It was disturbing, and Sasuke would come back to that in a second, but it was how he'd sounded when speaking of the Chuunin that had Sasuke shivering. He couldn't see Naruto's face, but he imagined the blonde wore an expression of amusement. Naruto had sounded giddily happy when saying the Chuunin wouldn't be recovering. He imagined a wide, toothy grin stretching the blonde's features. Naruto had never enjoyed hurting people. He didn't think Naruto had killed the Chuunin either, which somehow made it worse. Naruto had done something that would leave the kid suffering for the rest of his life, and his demon was pleased with that fact.

It was the thought of this grinning, bloodthirsty version of Naruto that had caused the shiver. Was he in this cabin with a madman?

Sasuke pushed the thought aside to address what else Naruto had said. "But that was your ticket to becoming Hokage. Not saying you can't become Hokage without that job, but with it you were a shoo-in. When are you going to go back?"

Naruto turned around. He spoke in a bewildered voice.

"Didn't you understand me? I'm not going back."

"But-but I never meant for you to… That wasn't what I-"

Naruto waved a hand. "Whatever. It's done."

Sasuke again recognized that the subject of Naruto quitting must have been tragic for the blonde on some level. The fact that he clearly didn't want to talk about it left Sasuke uneasy, but he was too glad that Naruto was finally conversing with him again to press his luck by insisting on speaking of it. He fell silent, watching as Naruto looked around the bedroom with his hands in his pockets.

Naruto ignored the feelings that talking about quitting had brought up. He stared around the bedroom, suddenly remembering the last time he and Sasuke had made love here. They'd been in released states, flying and fucking at the same time.

And then Naruto had died.

And Sasuke had died to bring him back to life.

He'd given up his life to bring Naruto back from the dead. He'd learned that technique several years before he'd been forced to use it. He had been prepared to die for him long before he'd actually done it. He'd died for Naruto. Died. For Naruto. Without hesitation. How did they go from that to this? Naruto stared at the place on the floor where they'd had their after-sex discussion, remembering. His mind seemed to be on rewind, seeing everything that took place from that day in reverse order.

_That day, the desert, Raiden, Sasuke pregnant, Itachi coming back, the exile, their first time together, the club, him telling Sasuke to stay away from him, those hellish five weeks, the six weeks with Gaara, their first kiss, Naruto's time by the waterfall, their friendship, the kidnapping, the Chuunin exam, the bell training-_

Their first meeting.

Naruto had looked over at Sasuke where he sat in the classroom, once Iruka-sensei had read off the names for Team 7. Sasuke had glanced back at him with a small, hesitant smile. That glance. Naruto held that image in his mind as he asked in a soft, unearthly voice that had the hairs on Sasuke's neck standing up, "Do you really hate me, Sasuke? Really?"

Sasuke had a hand to his open mouth, staring at the captivated expression on Naruto's face. He took a few steps toward Naruto. Then a few more when it became clear the blonde had lost all sense of his surroundings. He walked right up to Naruto, and touched his arm with his fingertips. Naruto didn't react in any way, still staring over Sasuke's shoulder. "No, Demon," Sasuke whispered. "I don't hate you. Sometimes I feel like I do, because it's easier than admitting other things, but I don't hate you. I hate a lot of things in my life, but not you. I-I'm sorry I said that."

Naruto's eyes focused as Sasuke said those words. Before he'd finished, the blue eyes had been looking at him steadily, searching his face. Naruto didn't say anything or comment on the apology. When Sasuke was done, he remained where he was for a moment, then walked away. He left the bedroom, left the cabin. He left Sasuke standing alone.

He didn't come back until the next morning.

***

Naruto walked in the woods for more than an hour. He came to a small patch of grass between trees, lit by the late afternoon sun. He stood in this patch of light, feeling the heat of the sun beat down on him.

Sasuke didn't hate him. He'd heard the sincerity in the words and believed Sasuke meant them. But he also knew Sasuke meant what he'd said in The Talk.

Back at the house when Naruto had felt the thing in him break, it was only as the shards were tumbling away that he realized it was his dreams and hopes he'd lost. He couldn't get them back, he knew that, but maybe he hadn't lost Sasuke completely. Maybe there was a chance for them. He didn't hold out hope for it, being hopeless as he was now, but he recognized that he and Sasuke might be able to mend things if they could get past whatever was really tearing them apart.

He could be okay if he had Sasuke. And if not… well, he'd tried. There were still their two amazing children. All wasn't lost, though much had been. Too much.

He wandered through the forests, feeling the night press with gentle warmth on his skin, thinking of and discarding one strategy after another. Sasuke was hurting, that much was established. Naruto found it easier to think of Sasuke's issues as a wound. A wound, if left untended, would spread and give birth to aches and pains in other parts of the body. Right now, he and Sasuke were dealing with these aches and pains, but they'd yet to come to the real cause of them, the wound from whence they originated. If Sasuke didn't really hate him, then maybe the other things he'd said hadn't necessarily been the truth either. They were real to Sasuke, what _he _believed to be the truth, but that didn't make it so. Sasuke himself had said that his harsh words had been easier to say than admitting other things. Naruto needed to know what those other things were. They both did.

***

Finally, when the sky was turning light in the east, Naruto made his way back to the cabin. He entered to find Sasuke sitting on a chair and apparently waiting for him. Naruto shut the door quietly behind himself. Sasuke stood up, watching him. "What were you doing all this time?" Sasuke asked.

"Thinking. You and I need to talk. Again. And this time I want the real you, not the hurt you." Naruto's tone brooked no argument.

Sasuke had pretty much come to the same conclusions during his solitude. His brother's and Gaara's words of that other night had come back to him. He didn't believe the way he was feeling was all in his head, but perhaps because it _was _all in his head and not shared with others, it had been allowed to feed on itself and escalate into more than what it really was. He nodded now at Naruto's words. "I agree."

Naruto had been tense, not knowing what to expect. He relaxed slightly. "Have you slept?"

Sasuke blinked, perhaps surprised by the milder tone. "No."

"Neither have I. Why don't we get some rest? We can speak when we wake up."

Sasuke nodded again. Then he closed his eyes briefly, as if bracing himself for something. Naruto watched as Sasuke's face settled into determined lines. He wasn't expecting Sasuke to say what came next.

"About what happened with Neji. I was drunk and I was pissed. I did… I did kiss him deliberately, in an effort to hurt you, but I don't love him. I… said some things to him that weren't necessarily true. I know you want to get back at me for that, and you probably should. I think if Gaara hadn't interfered I would… I might have…" But Sasuke couldn't say it. The idea of cheating on Naruto was too horrible to think about, much less voice. He waited for Naruto to go berserk.

Naruto looked at him for a long time. Then he said, "I see. Well, then I guess I should tell you that I had sex with Hana. Happened a few months ago. Kakashi sent me to the Inuzuka compound on an errand, and she was home. She was in heat. The woman snatched me into the apartment, and had me fucking her before I knew what was happening." Naruto shrugged a shoulder, still looking at Sasuke. "It was good. Violent, but good."

He fell silent. Naruto wondered if Sasuke knew his eyes were in Sharingan mode.

Sasuke's heart was trying to rip itself to shreds. His limbs shook, and he knew he was going to kill Naruto where he stood. The hurt wasn't even on this plane of existence, so enormous was the emotion. He couldn't even feel it all, his body and heart too puny to contain pain on such a scale. He blinked slowly. His numb lips parted as he stared at Naruto's matter-of-fact face. "You…?"

"I'm kidding, Sasuke." Naruto's face didn't smile, but it cracked a bit, as if a small smile lurked behind the surface.

Sasuke reasoned that he must be having a stroke. He understood the words and they cleaved through the pain neatly, as a sword parted flesh, but swinging from the extreme of that colossal pain, to the equally monumental relief, was more than he could stand. He tried to speak again, struggling to keep the blackness encroaching at the edges of his vision from swallowing him whole. His heart was pumping furiously, trying to keep up with all the adrenaline. Sasuke's blood pressure was dangerously high just then, hence his impending faint. "You…"

Naruto gave a small nod, understanding what Sasuke was trying to say, even if he couldn't say it. He watched how Sasuke's body shook as he spoke. "Yeah, I lied just now. That pain you were feeling a moment ago? Consider that my payback for kissing Neji. Go near him again, for _anything,_ and I'm not sure what I'll do to you, but he'll be history. Hate to threaten you like that, since we're both adults, but I can't control my jealousy where you're concerned. Deal with it. And as for killing Neji… Well he used to be a friend, but if I have to kill him in order to keep you…" Naruto gave a noncommittal gesture that seemed to say this was an acceptable price to pay. One he would pay without hesitation.

Naruto left Sasuke clutching his chest, and gasping for air. He went into the bedroom, kicked off his shoes and stripped to his underwear. He crawled gratefully between the cool sheets and groaned. Being in a bed felt good. It probably wasn't the best way to start with Sasuke, but it hadn't sucked. The prick deserved that little lie just now. Both lies: he was harsher than he had been, but he wouldn't murder Neji. Castrate him, maybe, but not outright murder.

He was nearly asleep when Sasuke came into the bedroom. He held off from succumbing to slumber, just long enough to see what the Uchiha would do. He didn't sense violence or an increase in his chakra. He sensed Sasuke taking off his clothes, heard his sword being set carefully against the wall by his side of the bed. A cessation of movement for a few seconds, then the mattress depressed as Sasuke got into the bed. Naruto's back was to him. He wondered if Sasuke would approach him for sex.

He sort of wanted it, now that Sasuke had admitted he didn't hate him. Okay, he wanted it a lot, but he didn't want to indulge in it. It would be like putting a clean bandage on that dirty and festering wound. The wound needed to be cleaned first, then bandaged. In other words, he wanted things out in the open and settled between them. He wanted them on the road to recovery before he introduced sex to their relationship again. He wanted it to be more than just a release of tension in their bodies.

Sasuke didn't approach him. His body heat hit Naruto's back. He did speak, however. "That… you're a sick fucker, Naruto."

"Takes one to know one," Naruto yawned.

They slept.

* * *

When they woke it was late afternoon, and they were both starving. They raided the fridge in silence, eating separately, but at the small table in the main room. Nothing was said as they stuffed their mouths with food, and chewed single-mindedly. Once that was done, Sasuke stopped Naruto from leaving the table. Naruto glanced at the hand on his forearm. He raised a brow.

"I think here is as good a place as any for us to speak," Sasuke said quietly. "Unless you'd rather go someplace else?"

Naruto sat back down. "No. Here's good."

Sasuke released Naruto's arm and clasped his hands, looking at them. He thought carefully as he arranged his words. It was so hard to say these things, but they had to be said. He was only thankful Naruto had seen past the surface bullshit he'd spewed back in Konoha, to drag him here and give him another chance, or he may never have realized the real problem.

He decided the best way to say what needed saying, was to be like Naruto: blunt and to the point. Just get it out, and said, and over with.

"I really can't live without you, Naruto," he began. "We've never been separated before, not like we are while you are- were- working for Kakashi. I mean we've been parted before, but not this daily separation, hours and hours apart. We were always together and I need that. I need you. Itachi's right, you saved me from myself back when we were kids. When you saved me from Orochimaru, and we discovered that bond between us…"

Sasuke sighed, and looked at his hands. So hard to go on… So hard to see weakness in himself… Naruto's hand entered his field of vision and grasped his clasped ones. It squeezed encouragingly. Sasuke went on.

"When I died… I thought the bond was gone. The way we would get sick if we were away from each other, I thought that was gone. But it's not. It's still there, and I'm still bonded to you. I still need you so much. And…" Sasuke shut his eyes hard. This was it, the whole crux of the matter. "And when you got the job, and you started staying away more and more, it hurt. A lot. But not as much as seeing that it didn't hurt you too."

Naruto started to protest at this, and stopped. What Sasuke was saying wasn't untrue. He closed his eyes as he realized he wasn't entirely blameless in this after all. He squeezed Sasuke's hand harder. Sasuke turned his hand upward and squeezed back, and that was a start, the beginning of cleaning that ugly wound.

"I guess I sort of ignored it for awhile, telling myself it was okay," Sasuke resumed. "I should have told you how I felt. But it just kept hurting more and more and … I felt like you should have known I was hurting. Then I felt like it would be too humiliating to admit that I needed you so much, as if I was some helpless little wife. I also felt guilty. Here you were achieving your dream, and I was upset because being away from you for a few hours was killing me. After awhile I just sort of got angry at you. It helped erase the hurt. Well… not erase, but it masked it. Feeling angry felt better than hurting. I did try to tell you a few times, though, that I wanted you to be home more. Off and on, for the past couple of years… but maybe I should have been clearer."

"And maybe I should have listened instead of brushing you off," Naruto said huskily. His throat was clogged with unshed tears. "Sasuke, I'm so sorry-"

"No. I shouldn't have kept everything inside until it got out of hand. I should have realized you weren't ignoring me-"

"Sasuke," Naruto said quietly. He opened his eyes and turned his head to really look at him. "You felt like I didn't need you anymore. I shouldn't have thrown myself into my work like that. I just never had so many people believe in me like that before. Kakashi, the council, the village… It's great and wonderful and important… but you're more important than any of that, Sasuke." Naruto frowned fiercely, but he had to say it, had to admit where he was wrong. "You're right… I did let you go. Not… not completely, but… I didn't put you first anymore, and for that, I ask your forgiveness."

Sasuke looked at Naruto steadily. "I don't want you to quit, Naruto. But I need you with me. It hurts when I'm not with you. I don't need you all day, just… more than what we've had for the past few years."

Finally. It was out. Sasuke breathed deeply, feeling the weight of all the accumulated pain roll off of him. He was still hurting, still heart sore, but now he thought he might be okay.

Naruto drew in a shaky breath. When had he stopped hurting at being away from Sasuke? Had he stopped hurting? Maybe not, but the job and all it entailed sucked so much from him… no excuse. Sasuke was right, and he should have known how he'd felt. Well, now he did. They were both to blame. He looked at Sasuke and saw that his man looked better, as if relieved. Naruto felt relief, too, but he was also so damn sorry. "Sasuke… I don't know how to apologize. I-"

"Don't. We both fucked up, the way we usually seem to do in this relationship. The story of our lives. I just hope you can forgive me for putting you through what I did back at the house. Can you?" His eyes searched Naruto's glassy ones.

"If you can forgive me for ignoring your feelings. That won't ever happen again, Sasuke, I swear. I _swear_ to you. Never again."

Sasuke gave a brief, blinding smile. "Seems like we both reacted badly to the situation. Of course I forgive you."

Naruto managed a tremulous smile of his own. He nodded and released Sasuke's hand, scrubbing at the errant tears starting to come now.

"What now?" Sasuke asked after a moment. He felt positively buoyant compared to how he'd been living for so long.

Naruto brought his hands down from his red face. It was hard to face his own culpability in the situation. Letting go of his self-righteous anger, his stern belief that he was right and Sasuke was wrong, was a struggle. Still, he faced it resolutely and was glad he'd quit his job. He studied his nails as he spoke.

"Quitting was the right thing to do. Being Hokage isn't for someone with a family, I'm thinking. It's never-ending work. I understand now why Kakashi is always leaving to go be with Kurenai and the boys. He's not lazy. He's putting his family first. But even if you can balance work and family, being Hokage isn't an easy job. You have to have your successor lined up and ready to step in your place, preferably there and able to help you. It's not a one man job. The Second Hokage was chosen while the First was alive, and the Third chosen while they still lived. My dad was chosen when Sandaime was still kicking. Good thing too, because the Hokage title doesn't come with a guarantee on life. More like the opposite. Hokages usually die young. And to do that, to leave your family…"

"Naruto-" Sasuke said in protest.

"I originally wanted to become Hokage so I could have the acknowledgement of the villagers. So I could protect everyone, and have them love me and recognize me. But I already have all that. I don't really need to be Hokage. What I do need is you. It… hurt me to give it up. I won't lie. It'll probably always hurt. I can live with that. I can live with anything if you're with me." Naruto glanced at Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't know what to say. "I am with you. I'm always here."

Naruto nodded once, slowly, his eyes running over Sasuke's face. "And that's enough for me." And it was, he realized. They'd cleaned the wound, did away with the real issue between them. They weren't all the way healed yet, but now, at least it could happen. Naruto found the resentment he'd harbored at quitting had left. The things he'd said were true. He'd rather spend time with his family and be recognized by them, than try to capture a dream he'd already attained.

An awkward silence settled between them. The problem was resolved, but how did they move on? They each felt uncomfortable at exposing the ugly truths of how far they'd drifted apart. Uncomfortable, yet glad. Now the path was clear for them to find their way back to each other. They just didn't know how to go about doing that. Naruto wondered if maybe now sex would be all right. He felt like slamming Sasuke onto this very table, and fucking him till he screamed… but that felt kind of wrong. Unnatural. Forced. He shifted his legs under the table, squeezing his steely cock between his thighs, wondering just when the erection had sprung up.

Sasuke wondered how the rest of the evening and night would play out. He wanted Naruto to wrap those beefy arms around him and squeeze until he couldn't breathe, but maybe Naruto wasn't ready for that. He could wait. He was so happy to have this behind them that he felt he could wait indefinitely. He patted Naruto's arm and stood up. "I'm going to take a shower. Naruto..."

Naruto glanced up at him.

"I'm glad we finally reached each other."

Naruto smiled crookedly. "Me too."

* * *

Juro and Yukio had done a bang up job on the bathroom. They'd needed to extend the cabin a bit, but there was a spacious shower stall, two shower heads mounted opposite each other, a sink and a toilet. The floor and walls were wooden, but there was a window to let steam out, so the wood wouldn't rot from excess moisture. Sasuke turned on the hot water tap and mixed it with cold water until it was right. He was only wearing his boxers. He slipped out of them and stepped into the criss-crossed spray.

At first he only stood there, letting the water wash away dirt and tension. Then he reached for the bottle of shampoo one of the twins had thoughtfully left, and squirted some into his hands. He reached up to rub it into his scalp, and nearly yelled aloud as he felt another pair of hands joining his, rubbing his hair with him. He realized Naruto had entered the bathroom soundlessly behind him, and had stepped into the shower.

He was still, waiting to see what would happen, but Naruto only massaged the shampoo into his hair. Sasuke lowered his hands and turned around. Naruto was standing in the spray, his boxers soaked and showing his rampant hard-on. He glanced from it to Naruto's face, but the blonde seemed focused on washing Sasuke's hair. After awhile, Sasuke squeezed more shampoo into his hands and began washing Naruto's sunny locks. They stood under the hot, misty water, washing each other's hair and managing to avoid eye contact.

Sasuke had never realized such an ordinary act could be so erotic.

Naruto's hands moved slowly, deliberately, leisurely. Sasuke took his cue from him and also scrubbed gently at Naruto's scalp, in unhurried strokes.

But they weren't really washing each other. Not really. This was something else. Call it the first tentative steps on that path back to each other.

Sasuke's soapy hands slid down Naruto's strong neck, his fingertips kneading and massaging their way down to the broad shoulders. Naruto took a step closer, his thigh brushing Sasuke's as his hands skimmed down the Uchiha's cheeks, catching on his lower lip briefly. The blue eyes looked at that shapely mouth, before following the path his hands were taking down to Sasuke's chest. His tanned hands moved in small loops on the bunched chest muscles, circling the nipples without touching them. Sasuke arched slightly, only a tiny flexing of his ribcage. His mouth opened in a soundless sigh.

Water ran in thin, hot rivulets down muscled limbs, both tanned and pale alike. Breathing that was somewhat heavier than normal fanned the steam billowing through the shower stall. Said stall was a little crowded. Visibility was limited with the steam, but sight wasn't necessary. The touches were felt, providing tactile perception of the other, enhanced by the impaired visual.

Sasuke skimmed his palms over those powerful shoulders as he felt Naruto's heated touch move around to his back, then down his sides. They stopped at his flanks. Sasuke paused, waiting to see if Naruto's hands would move in a crucial direction. They didn't. Sasuke slid one hand up to the whiskered face, cupping one wet cheek as he slid his thumb into Naruto's hot mouth. The digit was sucked strongly, chewed softly. Sasuke's head tilted back, the spray directly in his face as desire had him panting softly. A hand slid between his legs to lift one thigh easily, settling it against one tan hip, as Naruto moved to hold Sasuke against the wall with his body. His cloth-covered erection rubbed agonizingly against Sasuke's, as that thumb slid slowly in and out of his mouth in oral copulation.

Naruto released the thumb to drag his tongue up Sasuke's neck, gathering water in his mouth to spit it softly and warmly over Sasuke's lips in a liquid kiss. His hands found Sasuke's down by their sides, and their fingers laced. He pressed his cock against Sasuke, silent pressure, their chests rubbing in wet heat. Sasuke's head was tilting forward again, his eyes opening, and water dripping off his long, dark lashes. Naruto licked up Sasuke's neck again, this time not stopping until his tongue laved to Sasuke's chin, where water was running off in a small waterfall. He bit the chin, flicking his tongue against it, and Sasuke gasped softly against his nose. Naruto raised one of Sasuke's hands and held it against the wall, staring at it a moment. Sasuke slid his leg down Naruto's, tangling his foot behind the blonde's ankle as he slowly reversed their positions. Now it was Naruto pressed against the wall, Sasuke leaning against him.

He dipped his head towards that tanned face and stopped. Not yet. Naruto's eyes looked at him, running lazily over his face. Sasuke's hand dropped lower, grabbing the material of the red boxers in his fist. He twisted and pulled so the soaked cloth rubbed hard against Naruto's swollen cock. Naruto gasped sharply, his hips coming away from the wall involuntarily. The blonde slapped one hand behind him against the stall, his brows drawn together at the exquisite torture. Sasuke worked the material back and forth awhile, his own cock jumping at seeing Naruto turn his head aside. He leaned down and bit Naruto's exposed cheek, scraping his teeth along his jaw to his ear. He sucked the lobe into his mouth and Naruto's knees went weak, sliding him toward the floor. Sasuke caught him on his own knee, between Naruto's thighs, cupping a hand under his firm ass for added support. Sasuke sucked on the plump lobe for awhile, hearing Naruto pant, feeling the rapid rise and fall of his chest against his own. Naruto's hand came up weakly to push Sasuke away, and ended up only resting on one smooth, pale shoulder. A sigh, shaped around Sasuke's name, escaped his parted lips.

Sasuke stopped. He couldn't go on without getting more serious, and he sensed it wasn't quite time. They stood against each other, their breathing ragged, their erections insisting they continue, and their hearts agreeing… but their minds got in the way.

The water was cooling. After a time, they separated, leaving the heat of each other's bodies as Sasuke shut off the shower. Naruto gave a parting caress to Sasuke's hip as he made his silent way out of the shower stall, out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Sasuke waited a moment, calming his breathing down. He considered jerking off to relieve his tension, and then thought better of it. He wanted it to be with Naruto, not alone in the bathroom.

***

He followed Naruto into the bedroom and found his demon toweling himself dry. Another towel and clothes were laid out on the bed for Sasuke. He smiled at Naruto's thoughtfulness, wondering when they'd decided not to speak. Probably the same time they'd somehow agreed not to rush into making love. He knew the talking and the sex would come at the same time. For now, he enjoyed the taut, sexually tense silence between them. Aware that every movement, every gesture between now and the time they did finally make love, was a sort of prolonged foreplay.

A shiver worked through him. Such an excruciating build up to their joining was going to wreak havoc on his nerves. It was already doing so. He glanced at where Naruto was trying to close his jeans over his wayward erection, and hid his smile. Seemed it was wreaking havoc on Naruto as well; the blond gave up with a short sigh of frustration, leaving his jeans unbuttoned and unzipped, his cock, covered by blue boxers now, poking up through the opening.

Sasuke wondered if the man intended to go around like that. Apparently so.

Naruto turned and caught Sasuke staring at him. The dark eyes gazed boldly at Naruto's bulge. The look on Sasuke's face, that sexy half smile, had Naruto curling his hands into tight fists. Did the man think it was funny? If he'd thought to bring a pair of pants other than jeans-

Sasuke's tongue came out to lick slowly over his lips, his lids lowering as he continued to stare south of Naruto's navel. Naruto's breath caught at the blatant hunger on Sasuke's face. He left the room quickly. Jesus, the man would have him fucking him through the wall, with fangs sinking into his throat, if he kept that up.

_That's obviously what he wants, _a voice said in Naruto's mind. _I don't think junior there is an indication of your opposition to the idea, either, do you?_

Naruto halted, standing in the main room as he considered this. God, that shower… Yes, they both wanted it. Needed it. There was no reason to wait. He turned to go back and drag Sasuke to bed.

Sasuke was sauntering out of the bedroom, a pleased look on his face. He gave Naruto a crafty smirk as he strolled into the kitchen, the picture of ease. What the hell?

Sasuke had to bite his tongue to keep from howling with laughter. He'd seen how Naruto had run away from him, and an idea had come to him. Why not make a little contest out of it, and see who lost their mind first? Beautiful. He'd taken a moment to compose his features, perfectly aware that Naruto had little in the control department when it came to sex. Sasuke expected to win.

Now he glanced over his shoulder to where Naruto stood with a confused look on his face. Sasuke dropped him a saucy wink, flirting outrageously. Naruto frowned ferociously, in complete 'what the fuck' mode. Sasuke couldn't resist grinning. He continued to the kitchen nook, bending over to present his ass as he opened the fridge.

Naruto caught on when Sasuke began making out with a banana. That was the only way to describe how Sasuke slid his mouth over the peeled fruit, and how his tongue twined around it. It made his dick throb painfully, but Naruto tilted his head, silently accepting the challenge. His eyes darkened in desire as they watched Sasuke, imagining his own flesh replacing the lucky banana.

Sasuke slowly slid the banana down his bare torso, leaving a slightly sticky trail, towards his crotch. His fingers 'accidentally' undid the button on his own pants. The banana dipped inside…

Sasuke moaned, licking his lips in an exaggerated motion as one hand skated up the side of his face, fingers threading through his thick hair. He panted, his hand coming back down to put two fingers in his own mouth, as he slowly moved the banana in and out of the front of his shorts.

Naruto had to grab the table for support. His boxers were soaked, his breathing royally fucked. His eyes burned in his head as Sasuke brought his hand down from his mouth to suddenly brutally mash the banana in his shorts. He gave a small yip, as if the fruit squishing around his dick gave him a thrill. A soft growl escaped Naruto at the thought of licking those parts clean of the ruined fruit. He took a step towards Sasuke-

Sasuke straightened and turned to the fridge, as if nothing had happened. He retrieved a can of Coke and turned back to Naruto with an innocent expression. He blinked wide eyes at him as he tipped the can to his lips.

Naruto liked seeing this playful side to Sasuke, especially so recently after seeing him miserable, but how could the man stand there, drinking soda, while the remains of the banana could still be seen above the zipper of his pants? I mean, didn't he know Naruto was _dying_ here???

Yes. Yes, he did. He wanted Naruto to succumb. Naruto sucked in a shaky breath. He managed a smirk of his own and turned nonchalantly away from Sasuke.

Sasuke frowned. So that hadn't worked? Fine. There were other ways.

Naruto flipped the lamp on near one of the main room's two reading chairs. He took up one of the books they'd bought for Raiden years ago, and attempted to appear like he was reading. He rested the book on his erection, digging the hard edge painfully into his flesh in an effort to get it to soften. Damn the Uchiha bastar-

Sasuke took up a position in the other seat. His pants were gone. His shorts were smeared with the banana. Sasuke had a bottle of oil in his hands. He looked at Naruto questioningly, as if to ask if he was bothering him. Naruto returned his eyes to the book.

He got as far as the title, some fable or other, before furtive sounds and movement caught his attention. He risked a peek in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke was rubbing oil sensuously over his arms, smoothing lazily up to his shoulders. The look on Sasuke's face could only be described as sinful. _No one _should be allowed to look like that. It wasn't right. Naruto called upon Kyuubi for strength, but the fox ignored him, likely asleep. He stubbornly stared at the book in his lap, gritting his teeth to keep from looking at Sasuke.

A moan. A whimper. Hands sliding with a soft whisper along well-defined thighs, and dipping under the shorts briefly, to stroke a certain length of flesh. Another soft whine. Yes, Naruto was looking, couldn't _stop _looking. His hand was in his own shorts, clamped around his pleading cock as he watched the erotic show taking place five feet to his right.

Sasuke arched in the chair as if against a lover, one leg stretched straight out in front of him, the other bent towards his chest. He tipped the bottle of oil over himself, spilling the golden liquid over his stomach. It rippled over the shallow valleys of Sasuke's abdominal muscles, catching the lamplight so that it looked like thin runnels of flame were burning his skin. Sasuke certainly moaned as if the oil were hot. His hands caught the liquid before it could slide too far, and rubbed up to his nipples. Sasuke's lip got snagged between his teeth. His bent leg lifted higher and he pushed one hand through the opening in his boxers, the quickest way to his ass. Even through the material, Naruto could see Sasuke's fingers worrying his rectum.

Naruto licked drool from his chin.

The hand did something in those shorts that had Sasuke shuddering. His other hand left his nipple to clutch at the arm of the chair. The hand in the shorts became more animated, and the shorts ripped under the agitated movements. Sasuke's turgid cock popped free, seemingly happy to be out in the air with the rest of the body parts. Naruto felt like the slit was staring at him in joyful recognition. The bell-shaped head seemed, to the blonde, to form a welcoming grin. He actually saw little arms on the cock, held out to him in invitation, saying 'take me, take me.' He even heard a tiny, squeaky voice.

Naruto had lost. He freely admitted it. I mean, what else was he to conclude, if he was having such thoughts? Sasuke had successfully driven him insane. He threw the book aside, taking his hand out of his shorts.

Unfortunately, Sasuke stood at that precise moment and affected a wide yawn. He stretched, his ass arching towards Naruto, who had to wipe drool off his face again. Then Sasuke gave a pure little smile in Naruto's direction, as if unaware of what he'd just been doing. He walked calmly into the dark bedroom.

There was silence. Naruto realized the path had been traveled, and nothing stood between him and Sasuke but the constant need, the insatiable hunger he always had for the man. His towering love. He stood and hooked his hands into the opening in his boxers, and ripped them off of him with a quiet purring of cloth. He stood naked and aroused, looking at the black rectangle of the bedroom doorway.

* * *

Sasuke might have thought it was funny while he'd been doing that shit out there, but when he'd deigned to glance at Naruto, the look on his face had told him it was no laughing matter. The eyes had been wide, red, fixated on his cock with an intensity that was just scary. There were fangs. He'd come in here on shaky legs, to wait. He knew he'd won, but he couldn't take pleasure in it just then. His body was too wired from that look. Had he gone too far?

He hissed as his cock gave a hard pulse at what that would mean. He was shivering with excitement, sitting on the bed, in the dark, the light from the open doorway framing him.

Naruto appeared in the doorway, blocking the light. His features were invisible. Even the color of his skin was reduced to a black shadow, the light at his back making him seem like some dark demon raised from the depths of the earth. Sasuke was suddenly uneasy, needing to see Naruto's face.

The dark figure walked forward soundlessly, shutting the door behind him. The room was plunged into blackness, no light coming in from behind the curtained window, or anywhere else. Sasuke's unease climbed. All sensory input was gone, leaving his imagination to supplement the lack with wild thoughts. He had a sudden vision of Naruto leaping for his throat with fangs bared, ready to tear through his face, turning his scream into a death rattle as he-

Naruto's warm hand, normal and strong, settled on Sasuke's shoulder in the dark. Sasuke gasped in fright, unaware that Naruto had crossed to the bed so quickly. He stiffened, but the hand slid beneath his shoulder to drag him up against a hard, hot, muscular body.

It was Naruto. Just Naruto. The fangs were there, but they didn't bite. They pressed against Sasuke's lips, Naruto's mouth moist and familiar. Sasuke melted against that hard body, yielding.

Naruto smiled. Ah, payback was so sweet!

The kiss was slow, silent, heated. It pushed the limits of Sasuke's control, making him clutch at Naruto's shoulders in need. Naruto did not hurry the kiss, taking his time, moving his head leisurely in the dark. He bent and caught Sasuke beneath the knees, walking to lay him out on the bed, never breaking the kiss.

His knee dropped between Sasuke's thighs and nudged them apart. A willing sigh escaped Sasuke as Naruto broke the kiss to move lower. Sasuke lay spread and panting, listening to the sound of Naruto shifting on the bed. He could feel Naruto's hands braced to either side of his hips, and had an impression of his demon looming over him. His breathing shortened as the seconds lengthened to a minute, and still Naruto didn't touch him.

The hot mouth swallowing his cock unexpectedly had Sasuke shouting. His hand came down to slap at Naruto's head instinctively, but his wrist was caught before it could make contact, and held down on the bed near his hip.

Sasuke covered his face with his other hand, his eyes squeezed shut against the way Naruto gave rapid sucks to the head of his cock.

Naruto was going to have Sasuke screaming for him, so help him god. He'd get even for that stunt in the chair. He hummed on the wide head of Sasuke's cock, tasting bananas, feeling bits of the fruit in his mouth and on his chin.

He used his other hand to wrap around the hard length of Sasuke's arousal, and discovered more of the banana gooped there. He gathered it, coating his hand with it as he continued to suck, and pressed two fingers into Sasuke's already stretched anus. Sasuke issued a choked sound. Naruto swallowed more of Sasuke's cock, working a third finger in. He hooked the fingers upward, scraping across Sasuke's prostate as he sucked so hard on Sasuke's cock that his cheeks became concave with it.

Sasuke arched, yelled, and Naruto took the opportunity, while he was thus distracted, to squeeze a fourth finger in. He heard Sasuke pounding the bed hard with both fists, and his hips bucked strongly. The head of his cock stabbed the back of Naruto's throat, making the blond choke and almost gag before he pressed a forearm down across Sasuke's pelvis, holding him still. He continued sucking, stopping each time he sensed Sasuke was close to coming.

The muscles around Naruto's hand quivered, trying to expel the intrusion of so many fingers. Naruto pressed them deeper, spreading them.

"Huuuuuuhnnng… aii… hoh, god… hoh, _shit…_" Sasuke voice was breathless, strained with pleasure and pain, the only sound in the dark besides Naruto's demonic sucking, and the faintly squishy sounds of the banana, as Naruto moved his broad fingers slowly in and out of Sasuke.

Naruto kept that up, alternating the movement of his head with the movement of his hand. Up… twist, down… in… twist, out…

He didn't increase the pace, only the suction of his mouth when Sasuke swelled against his tongue. Sasuke pushed his hips upward, trembling as he hovered at the edge of release. He held there for a moment and Naruto gave an extra hard suck, yanking him forcibly over that edge. Sasuke bellowed roughly, but not because he'd finally come. No, Naruto had shoved his entire hand in Sasuke's ass at the moment of his orgasm, sending pain sizzling through his climax, enhancing it, making the Uchiha's hips buck up and down hard enough to dislodge his cock, and spray all over Naruto's face.

Naruto didn't stop there. He knelt and dragged Sasuke's undulating hips upward, anchoring them against his broad chest with one arm around his waist. Sasuke was almost upside down, still coming, unable to hold on to anything. Naruto spat what cum had landed in his mouth on Sasuke's tortured hole, and covered the opening with his mouth. He tasted bananas and Sasuke's musky essence. His tongue snaked inside, exploring the wrinkled inner flesh, searching for and retrieving any trace of the fruit. He sucked these findings into his mouth, eating them and Sasuke's ass, with pleasure.

Sasuke heels pressed against Naruto's shoulders, as he tried to free himself. The sucking on his incredibly sore ass was too much, the pleasure and pain making him twist frantically, lunging up to try and pry Naruto's arm from his waist. Another hard suck had him falling back on the bed weakly, sobbing in defeat as he felt his cock become hard again.

Naruto did not stop, sucking on Sasuke's sensitive hole until the taller man had tears running down the sides of his face from the acute pleasure. Only then did he drop Sasuke on the bed with a bounce. He straightened up.

Sasuke sighed in relief, wondering what would happen now. He almost didn't care, nearly insensate from over-stimulation. He turned on his side, cupping his ass tenderly with a shaking hand.

The sudden weight on the bed was the only warning he had. Naruto shoved him to his back and straddled his chest, all in one motion. Sasuke's arms were pinned painfully beneath Naruto's heavy knees as he felt the tanned hands tangle in his hair. They held his head steady as a hot, wet, blunt object bumped Sasuke's lips. The Uchiha tasted pre-cum, smelled Naruto's spicy aroma and opened his mouth willingly.

Naruto's hot flesh filled his mouth quickly, the blonde muttering a groan somewhere in the darkness above his head. He held Sasuke's face still by the fists in his hair as he rocked his hips back and forth. His cock slid slowly in and out of Sasuke's wet mouth. The muffled sounds of saliva moving across flesh were all that could be heard now, along with Naruto's uneven, open-mouthed breathing.

Sasuke could feel Naruto's ass muscles flexing on his chest as the blonde sped his movements up, pushing deeper and deeper into Sasuke's mouth as his control slipped. Naruto had never exhibited this kind of dominance before, and Sasuke found that he liked it. He hummed on the thick cock in his mouth and Naruto jerked, hissing as he came in a sudden rush. He held Sasuke's head still on him, the Uchiha swallowing frantically to get it all. The thick, salty fluid flooded his throat, leaking out of his nose as Naruto refused to let him pull back.

Naruto got up after a final shudder. Sasuke sat up and coughed, wiping his nose and licking the cum from his hand. Naruto moved on the bed and suddenly he was kissing Sasuke, pushing him to his back again, as his hand caught the underside of one knee, and threw Sasuke's leg over his wide shoulder.

Still dark. Still silent.

The penetration was unhurried, a slide of Naruto's thick cock until his balls rested against Sasuke's ass. Sasuke arched at the depth of the penetration, his ass still painful from that hand earlier. He released Naruto's mouth. "_Ohhhhh, fffuuuuuuuck," _he said in a soundless whisper. His hand cupped behind Naruto's neck, holding his forehead against his own. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move, every muscle trembling.

Naruto began a slow rocking of his hips, not really pulling out, just pressing deeper and releasing, humping Sasuke slowly as he turned to suck on the leg by his face. He did that again and again, liking the way Sasuke's hand squeezed his neck with each press. Sasuke quaked beneath him. Naruto began pulling his hips back slightly.

The thrusting picked up slowly over the course of the next hour, gradually increasing in pace and force, until a sharp bark of pleasure from Sasuke joined each slap of Naruto's hips against his. Naruto held Sasuke's leg on his shoulder with one arm, the other forearm braced over Sasuke's head on the bed. His breathing gusted down on Sasuke's face.

Sasuke was dying. No lie. Naruto kept fucking him harder and harder, killing him with that unrelenting cock. Just when he thought Naruto couldn't possibly thrust any harder, a stronger thrust would rip a muffled cry from him, and Sasuke would see stars. And the speed! Sasuke couldn't see, but Naruto's hips had to be blurred at the speed he was using to fuck Sasuke. Naruto pressed against the leg on his shoulder, pushing Sasuke's knee toward the bed as he angled his thrusts, slamming again and again against Sasuke's prostate.

That was it. All sense of self left Sasuke as he finally screamed in unreserved pleasure, giving in to it, welcoming it, loving how Naruto took his control away from him. "Yes!" He screamed hoarsely. "Fuck me, Demon! Fuck me, fuck me! Don't _stop! _Oh, god, don't you ever fucking stop fucking me! Yes! Yes! _Yes!_"

Naruto managed a brief smile at winning, but the guttural screams, the rough words, had him growling, obeying the commands, leaning up on his hand to gain more leverage. He spoke now, too, his voice breathless. "Tell me how much you want it, Uchiha. Tell me how much you want me."

Sasuke tasted blood as an especially vicious thrust had him biting his tongue. "More than anything. I want you more than air, more than life… Fuck me harder, Naruto! Show me how much you want that ass."

Sasuke's words were jarred with each thrust, but Naruto heard, and bit through the skin of Sasuke's leg in the force of his desire, pumping his hips even harder. His dick was starting to hurt from the abuse, but he didn't care, holding back his orgasm, wanting to fuck Sasuke the entire night. "Tell me you love me, Sasuke."

"I love-fuck!- love you, N-Naruto-hooooly, shit! Don't stop doing that!"

"You love only me. Say it."

"Only-only-" Sasuke screamed again, coming against his chest, but Naruto didn't stop.

"Never anyone else," Naruto panted harshly. "Sasuke-"

"Oh, god, never… just you… _je_sus…. Naruto…"

Naruto sobbed out a throaty yell of Sasuke's name as he came hard. His cum flooded Sasuke's ass, spilling onto the bed, and dripping down his sac. And still the eruptions continued, Naruto thrusting doggedly throughout. Sasuke brought his other leg up to wrap around Naruto's shaking body, holding him close until it was over.

* * *

When they woke up, it was morning. They were tangled, sticky, and groggy. Sasuke was face down, Naruto on top of him, Sasuke's ass full of Naruto's soft cock. They'd fallen asleep fucking. Sasuke blinked in the muted sunlight coming in from behind the curtain at the window. Naruto stirred on top of him and Sasuke flexed his back muscles, trying to move the blonde's heavy weight enough to draw a decent breath.

Naruto woke up and wiggled his hips, his cock already hardening, burrowing deeper into Sasuke as it lengthened. Sasuke lay still, feeling the organ grow and swell inside him. "Mmmmm."

"I agree," Naruto yawned. Then he opened his eyes, his cheek against Sasuke's as they stared at the window. "Sasuke?"

"Yeah, Demon?"

"Are we… good?"

"I'd say we're considerably more than that."

"You know what I mean."

"I do. We are."

"Oh. Good." Naruto fidgeted a bit. "About last night… if I was a bit rough…"

"The day I can't take what you dish out is the day I retire as a ninja." Sasuke managed to twist his head enough to look up into Naruto's concerned eyes. "I loved it. Every second."

"Always knew something was wrong with you. I keep saying it."

Sasuke jostled Naruto up and down as he chuckled, the sound rich and carefree. "Yeah, but you love me like that."

"Wouldn't have you any other way."

They lay quietly, watching the sunlight shift as the morning aged toward noon, until Sasuke asked, "How long are we going to be here?"

"I figure a month is good. The kids are okay. Raiden will contact me if there's an emergency, but honestly, what could happen that Gaara and Itachi can't handle?"

"Or Raiden, for that matter," Sasuke added. "You notice how crazy strong the kid is getting?"

"Him and Aimi both. They'll be okay. We can take our time here."

Sasuke grinned, squeezing his ass muscles. Naruto hissed. "Make love to me again, Naruto. For the whole month. Non-stop. Okay?"

"The whole month? Non-stop?"

"Well, if you're too old and weak…"

Naruto bit him, already thrusting vigorously.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I have some issues I'm dealing with. Next few chaps will be dealing with the ppl u see in this chap while Naruto screws Sasuke into oblivion. I appreciate the reviews and wonderful comments you guys have left. Sometimes these are the only bright spots to my day, so I thank u. Considering recent work I've done (I'm with Sasuke/Naruto) this is light reading, nothing deep. My usual shit, in other words. Chapter 8 is being written and hopefully won't take as long to submit as this one took.

Thanks so much for reading....

Onward.

P.S. There's a pick of Itachi's kids up on my deviant art account if u want to know what they looked like. It's of how they were in Bonded, though. I have more pics on the way, showing them as adults.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 7

The night Naruto left with Sasuke, Itachi decided to stay in his own home within the Uchiha compound. He and Gaara had the place to themselves, opting to leave the children with Sumiko for a few days.

He worked with Gaara to open windows and air out the musty rooms, beating pillows and linen to free them of dust. He snapped a bed sheet in the air as he looked across the room at where Gaara was dusting off the mattress. He made his voice casual.

"Would you really have left me, had things gone differently between Naruto and my brother?"

Gaara didn't look at him. "Tempers were high… things were said."

"I know you. You don't say things you don't mean." Itachi tossed the sheet on the bed as he walked up to his lover. "You would have left me," he stated.

A moment of considering silence. "Yes," Gaara said flatly. "And I probably would have come back."

Itachi studied those jade-green eyes. "No, you wouldn't have. Naruto means more to you than I do."

Gaara didn't reply, meeting Itachi's dark eyes unflinchingly.

"Do I mean so little?" Itachi asked in a tone completely foreign to him; he sounded needy, almost childlike.

The redhead softened. "Of course not. You mean more than I can say. But seeing Naruto hurt by your brother, knowing you'd stand by that brother… I don't think I would have been able to stand by you. Not against my own brother. Not with the Uchiha being the cause of his grief. I wouldn't be able to tolerate such a dichotomy in my life." He stroked one hand against the side of Itachi's neck, as if in apology.

Itachi left it at that, though his mind turned with the information for hours afterward. It disturbed him to realize that Gaara's words excited him. That he didn't enjoy an absolute hold on the man, as he'd previously thought. It made his time with him more potent, more precious, the knowledge that Gaara might leave him if provoked too far.

Sometime later, as he lay in bed waiting for sleep to come, his mind turned to his children. He made a point of visiting Konoha whenever he could, but now that his children were grown, they had their own lives. And they did not view his visits as happy occasions the way they used to. Gone were the times when they'd flock to him, crying out about how much they missed him. That had gradually tapered off until Itachi had to hunt them up on his visits if he wanted to see them.

Gaara had explained that they probably were enjoying their independence and did not appreciate the way Itachi barged into their lives, after deciding to live away from them. It didn't mean his children didn't love him. Gaara's words had helped, but they hadn't erased the sting. The times Sasuke would visit Suna with the children, it was never with all of them. Itachi suddenly wanted all of his children around him. Now that he was back in Konoha, he wanted to be a part of their lives again.

Speaking of…

"Gaara."

There was the sound of a yawn from the other side of the bed. "Yes?"

"About my move here. I should have consulted you before making the decision, but I am sure that it is the right decision. I've enjoyed my time in Sunagakure, but I belong in Konoha. I belong with my children. I'm not sure now that leaving them, even for you, was the right decision."

Gaara turned over and wrapped an arm around Itachi's chest. "You followed your heart. And now your heart has led you here."

Itachi shifted, lacing his fingers through Gaara's hair. "My brother…"

"It wasn't what happened with Sasuke tonight. I've noticed you getting restless for some time now. Your visits to Konoha were lasting longer and longer. You take more time to get over your doldrums each time the kids visit us in Suna. You miss them, miss their problems and all the little details of their lives." Gaara moved his head so he could look up into Itachi's troubled face. "Sasuke was just an excuse. I've expected this for a long time."

Itachi thought about this. He supposed it was true. "And… what of us?"

"Well, I think Yanagi should be with her brothers for a time. I will remain here for a while with all of you, then go back to my Kage duties. Yanagi will remain until she wants to come home."

Itachi did not feel that this answered his question. Was Gaara deliberately ignoring it? "Yes… but what about _us?_"

Gaara was silent for so long that Itachi thought the man had fallen asleep. Then he said, "I suppose we will visit each other, as you visited your children."

Itachi held him tighter, moving his lips to Gaara's fragrant hair. "I would miss you unbearably."

Gaara smiled against the bare chest. "So will I. But until Yanagi takes over… or someone is elected in my place…"

"No one will be. You are the strongest. And Yanagi already mimics your skill and jutsu." Itachi suddenly clutched Gaara to him, already feeling the ache he would live with when the man went back to Suna.

Gaara was silent beneath Itachi's rough hands and eager mouth. At first. He liked when Itachi was rough and passionate which, truth be told, was most of the time. There was such hunger in the man. To see how controlled and reserved he was most of the time, one would never imagine how drastically he changed at night, between the sheets.

And no one would believe that the howls and screams and pleading belonged to Suna's aloof Kazekage. Not even those who remembered when he used to visit his harem.

* * *

Hiroko only remained pressed in Konohamaru's solid embrace for a few moments. From where she was, she could see the hole in the wall that the kunai had left. She'd gotten the message loud and clear. _This is how close I can get to you, _her attacker seemed to say. _I can take your kunai from you and, if I want, I can slit your throat next time, instead of just taking your underwear._

Power.

Her night visitor had power over her. He knew it and she knew it.

Hiroko pulled shakily from Konohamaru's comforting arms. She was better than this. She would not let this person reduce her to cowering fear… even though he already had.

Konohamaru let her go reluctantly, one hand lingering on her shoulder. "Tell me," he said quietly. "Tell me what has you so scared, and how I can help."

Yes. She'd said those words, Hiroko realized. But she couldn't expose how vulnerable she'd been, how helpless. Not to Konohamaru or anyone else. He might gloat, might say it served her right, considering what she'd done to him. Just then, it was hard for her to remember that he'd forgiven her. Even if she had remembered, she wouldn't want to share her shame. No. This was between her and whoever dared do this to her.

"Hiroko?" He gently insisted.

Hiroko squared her shoulders and called upon what dignity remained in her. "Can you please get me a glass of water? I'm going to get dressed. I'll come with you to HQ and let the captain know that I'll work overtime today to make up for going in so late."

Konohamaru's heart sank, twisting with regret that she didn't trust him. It hurt him that she would go through this alone, rather than let him help her. Her face was carefully devoid of its earlier panic. He searched her large black eyes before giving a slow, sad nod. "Sure. Hiroko," he said when she'd stood up. "You can trust me, you know. And if someone's threatened you, I'd do everything in my power to stop him, you know that right?"

She offered a small smile, not confirming or denying that someone had threatened her. Konohamaru went to get her water.

* * *

Kenji examined the new explosive device he was designing under a bright light. He held a long, thin, metal instrument in one hand, poking knowledgeably at the device's innards. His grey eyes narrowed against a breeze that blew in through the open windows, swirling the dust accumulated on his work table. His face was tense with concentration. He knew he could get the device's destructive range to double, if only he could figure out-

The door to his workshop opened behind him, and he spoke without turning around.

"Kenta, dude, you have got to stop being late. I sent you for those supplies an hour ago."

"I was hoping to find you both here," Itachi said. "Do you think your twin will be back soon?"

Kenji spun around on his stool. "Dad! Hi… uh, he should have been back by now."

Kenji got up and stood nervously in front of his work table, wiping his grubby hands on his pants. His father always made him feel nervous. He was gone so much of their lives that anytime he was actually around, it was like being in the presence of a stranger. An extremely critical stranger who had the power and right to seriously fuck you up, if he so chose. His father had been in the village for more than a week now and he hadn't bothered to seek him out. Just then, Kenji was very aware of his messy hair and filthy work clothes.

As was the case with most situations that made him uncomfortable, Kenji tried to ease the tension his father's stare was causing by lightening the mood. "So… How long are you in the village for?"

Itachi had been wondering if the boy ever bathed. "Permanently. I've taken up residence in Konoha again, as head of the clan. Which brings me to the reason I'm here. I'd like you and your brother to join me for dinner tonight. Things need to be discussed."

Kenji's mouth usually spoke before his brain had a chance to analyze what was coming out. This happened all the time, not just when he was uncomfortable. So distraught was he at hearing Itachi's words that he blurted, "What?! Why, what did I do? Why are Kenta and I the only ones who have to have dinner with you??"

Twenty years old he might be, but Kenji (along with the rest of his siblings) was often reduced to seeing himself as younger whenever faced with his father's unblinking stare. He realized his mistake almost immediately, but of course, he couldn't take the words back.

Itachi eyed his son impassively. "I'm sorry you see dinner with me as a punishment. You've done nothing wrong. Nor are you the only one. Everyone will attend. I want you there so make sure you and Kenta are present. Dinner begins at seven. I'm sure I don't need to remind you how I feel about tardiness." Itachi raised a brow with this last statement.

"No, sir," Kenji said quietly.

Itachi nodded and left. As soon as the door shut, Kenji hurled his metal probing instrument at it, where it stuck, quivering. "Fuck!"

* * *

Nor was he the only one to respond that way.

"Mmm, just like that," Asami purred. "Rub my clit…"

The medic currently thrusting into her body obeyed her commands most satisfactorily, making the young physician arch as her orgasm approached, her lip caught between her teeth. Her hand grabbed for the support of a shelf behind her, as her limbs began shaking.

Asami glared green fire at whoever wrenched open the supply closet door, exposing her activities with the medic nin. At seeing her father's stony countenance, she shoved the man off of her, hurriedly pulling down her dress. Itachi eyed the medic with red eyes, before saying tersely that she was to be at his house for dinner that evening. He slammed the door on her protest before she could even finish it. After some minutes of silence, the medic said in the dark, "Shall we continue?"

Asami almost suffocated him with a stack of towels.

* * *

Juro and Yukio were home. Unless they had a job to do, they were usually home, sleeping or working on their miniature model of Konoha. They were rarely home and so made a point to relax whenever the opportunity presented itself. When Itachi strode into their bedroom unannounced, they were sleeping. They had single beds, one on each side of their room.

Itachi strode to the one on his right. The blanket covered all but a pair of large feet. He grabbed a corner of the blanket and whisked it off to reveal the muscular, and very naked body of Yukio. The boy lashed out automatically with one foot, somewhat alleviating Itachi's disgust that an assailant could walk right up to them thus. A violent Uchiha was a strong Uchiha, a notion he firmly believed in, despite his preference for peace.

He caught the foot and yanked his son from the bed, causing him to land with a thump on the floor. This woke up Juro, who leapt across the room without getting a good look at his brother's 'attacker'. Itachi staggered under the weight landing on his back, but soon had the boy flung down, just as naked, next to his twin. He stood over them.

"Shameful fighting techniques. You both need to train more and build less. Look at you, sleeping when it's high bright day time. You should have been three hours at the training grounds already." Itachi tsked. "You will both join me for dinner this evening."

"Aw, dad!" Juro whined. "Why? Yukio and I-"

"No excuses. Be there, or I will know the reason why." He turned and left, leaving Juro and Yukio looking at each other in open-mouthed dismay and bitterness.

* * *

Kaito only stared mutely, holding back his thoughts on this intrusion to his day, as he watched his father stroke Hanabi's stomach. It was creepy, the interest he showed. Itachi murmured about how well the newest Uchiha seemed to be growing, asked Hanabi if the baby kicked strongly, and seemed pleased with her affirmative answer. Kaito shuddered.

"You will have dinner with me tonight," his father said to him as he straightened from Hanabi's stomach. Kaito didn't answer. A minor staring match ensued. Seconds stretched to minutes…

Kaito dropped his eyes and nodded.

The door shut behind Itachi as he left, and Miki said, "Daddy, Grandpa owned you!"

Kaito could tell this was going to be one of those supremely shitty days. Who the _fuck _did his dad think he was??? And he did not get owned just now.

* * *

Only Hiroto and Sumiko did not complain. Sumiko, he went to last, after he found Hiroko at ANBU. Itachi spoke to his eldest daughter, noting that there were dark circles under her eyes. Her usual happiness at seeing him, her trademark effervescence, was missing. He rested a hand on her shoulder before departing.

"Are you all right?" His eyes searched her face.

"I'm fine, Daddy. I don't really feel like a big family dinner, though. I was kind of hoping to spend the night alone."

Did her eyes flash, for the briefest millisecond, to red? He was sure of it. "Is something wrong? You seem tense."

She pulled from his hand, hugging her elbows defensively. "I said I'm fine. Look, I'll come to dinner. But I really need to get back to work now."

She turned, her long ponytail whipping the air dangerously. He was left to consider who had earned her wrath. Perhaps he should pity the person. It saddened him that his daughter didn't confide in him. Ah, well, there was the dinner. He would get it out of her then.

* * *

Sumiko was last on his list. She welcomed him with open arms. She was secretly his favorite child, always so obedient. Her intelligence and skill were proper assets to the clan. She kissed his cheek as he entered. He could hear an exorbitant amount of noise coming from the garden behind her house.

Of course she accepted his invitation with delight. She was even considerate enough to ask if she should bring something. He told her that would be all right, though he'd planned on ordering the meal.

"I've come to pick up the children," he said. "They'll be staying with me from now on."

She walked with him to the back of the house, standing with him at the open doorway as Itachi took in the scene.

Aimi and Yanagi were the only girls. Some kind of raging battle of the sexes seemed to be taking place, with the girls on one side and the boys on the other. Jutsu flew helter-skelter and Itachi cast a worried eye at the high wall surrounding the garden. It was unlikely that anyone would witness the raw power taking place, since Sumiko's house was located deep in the Uchiha compound, but it couldn't hurt to be careful.

Shouta and Raiden worked in tandem, one hurling balls of fire, water and lightning, the other, great gouts of earth. The triplets fought with distinctly separate styles. Masaru called forth bugs from the earth, flinging them towards the girls to illicit shrieks of disgust. Ryota used weapons, while Kei stood to one side and aimed carefully calculated and well-placed blows that were, nonetheless, blocked.

Yanagi was Gaara's miniature in every sense of the word. She did not carry a gourd. Rather, her sand was kept in an elegant scroll worn vertically on her slim back. Like her sire, she was an earth and wind type. In honor of this, her aunt Temari had given her a fan, small and held in the palm of one hand, but deadly when used accurately. Yanagi, of course, used it accurately. The small whirlwinds and tornadoes she caused were augmented by her sand.

Aimi. Itachi watched his niece and wondered how it was that his brother had begotten such as she. A certain bloodlust lit her eyes, appreciation of the battle and challenges. Nothing touched her, no hair was out of place, but the ground shook with the force of her chakra, and her smile was tight with pleasure.

Only Raiden was a match for her. Itachi soon realized that those two were fighting each other, while Yanagi handled all the other boys. Occasionally Aimi lent assistance to her female comrade, but essentially Yanagi countered on her own.

Throughout it all, the constant roaring of the boys and shrieking of the girls nearly drowned hearing of all else. The garden, fortunately unplanted, was a wasteland of destruction. Itachi could tell that Raiden and Aimi were holding back, while the others were operating under no such constraints.

"Hi, Uncle Itachi! Want to have a Genjutsu match?"

It was Aimi. She brought his attention to bear on her, as he considered the offer. "Perhaps later," he answered. "I've come to take you all home. Repair Sumiko's garden and be prepared to leave soon."

Itachi turned away at their groans of disappointment. They wanted to continue playing. He smiled to himself. Then he frowned as he remembered Aimi's invitation. He would not engage in a Genjutsu battle against her unless his brother was present as backup, and he was completely focused on her and nothing else.

* * *

Itachi's house within the Uchiha compound, now that it would be lived in full-time, needed quite a bit of work. Juro and Yukio were commissioned to make a few required pieces of furniture, and see to a few installments. When the twins attempted to present their father with a bill for their services, Itachi merely looked at them. Juro and Yukio refused to back down; they would be paid for their work, regardless. However, in the interest of preserving their hides, they carefully left the bill near their father's hand and excused themselves from his presence. When they were gone, Itachi gave a small smile at their audacity. Billing their own father!

Shortly before the appointed hour, Itachi stepped out. He'd been unable to locate Akane.

***

The rest of his children had arrived and were currently lounging about the living room. Gaara was upstairs recovering from a rigorous bout of afternoon sex. Itachi's kids watched sullenly as their father left the house. As soon as the door shut behind him, conversation broke out.

"This is fucking _bullshit,_" Kaito groused. "Like I've got nothing better to do than bow to his demands!"

Asami, still livid over today's encounter, joined in. "And what gives him the right to make demands anyway? He got Gorou fired today, just because he found us in a closet. How dare he butt into our lives like this?!"

"He's not even paying us for all the work we did," Juro hissed. "Fucking cheap skate. I can't wait till he goes back to Suna."

Kenji was almost unrecognizable with his clean hair and face. "Didn't you hear?" He said in a falsely cheerful voice. "Dude's staying in Konoha. Permanently!"

A brief, stunned silence.

"No!"

"Fucking hell!"

"Jesus, _why?_"

"Aww, man!"

"This sucks _ass._"

"Dammit!"

Raiden, Aimi, the triplets and Yanagi did not take part in the discussion. They sat slightly apart from the furious adults, and listened to the conversation with relish.

"I think it's great that Dad's going to be with us," Sumiko spoke shyly.

"Well, I don't really care one way or the other," Hiroko said darkly. "I just wish he wouldn't commandeer my time like this. I have something to do."

"I know, right?!" Akiko spat. "I was set for a mission and Dad tells the captain to assign it to someone else! I mean, holy creeping Jesus, he can't just interfere with our work like that! Fuck!"

"Dad missed us," Hiroto said calmly. "I know I've missed him. I don't see what the big deal is."

Shouta, who'd had plans with his friends tonight, turned to his older brother with a mean look. "That's because you don't have a life."

Hiroto gave a little smile. "And maybe you've forgotten how thoroughly I can kick your ass for that bit of rudeness."

Shouta averted his eyes. Hiroto had a lot of practice dealing with recalcitrant kids. He was a teacher after all.

Kenta spoke up. "Suppose he makes this a regular thing? Family dinner, visiting us at our jobs…"

Not one person had considered this. Faces drooped with horror at the thought. A furious cacophony of renewed conversation broke out, but just then Gaara descended the stairs, and they were forced to be quiet.

* * *

Akane stood in her customary spot across the street from his apartment. It was a narrow, shadowy nook between a building, a tree, and some bushes. From this small space she could watch as he entered his building, count to twenty-eight and then see his light come on in the second floor window on the left. Sometimes she was able to see him moving around through that window, shrugging out of his trench coat, removing his forehead protector. Just doing little things, ordinary things. Eating from a take-out box of food, licking the end of the chopsticks briefly.

She was so hopelessly, dangerously in love with him. It was information so calamitous to her being, desperate and treacherous information, that she kept it hidden. No one knew. Least of all the object of her fiery affections. He would likely kill her if he knew, and certainly she would lose her job. And if she couldn't be near him, she would expire or go on an insane killing spree. And then expire. Ah, but her love killed her daily in its unrequited intensity. She reveled in it, but it hurt. It hurt quite a lot. What she wouldn't give and do to have him return her feelings!

If Asami or Akiko ever found out how much she'd lied to them, they would skin her alive. For starters, she did not get laid every day the way Asami had said, that night at the welcome home party. She never got laid at all. Was she an outrageous flirt? Yes. Did she mess around with men and boys? Definitely. But she was, and would remain, a virgin until such time as her chosen love noticed her, and divested her of her virginity.

A solitary figure walked into her field of vision, coming to stand in front of the apartment building she was watching. With a gasp, Akane sucked her chakra into herself, masking it. She stood perfectly still.

***

Itachi had gone to Akane's job earlier in the day, but no one had been present. He went again now, and was told by one female assistant to check Morino Ibiki's apartment building. She'd given him a cryptic little smirk, leading Itachi to believe there was much she wasn't saying. He'd left quickly; if his daughter was engaged in a relationship with that man…

He arrived at the building and was preparing to enter, when a pulse of familiar chakra that was hurriedly masked, caught his attention. He heard a barely audible gasp and turned to survey the shadows across the street. There.

"Come out, Akane. Now."

Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then the bushes were pushed aggressively apart and his daughter came stalking out, glancing left and right as if afraid someone would see and notice her. Itachi ran his eyes up and down her outfit, momentarily missing her whispered tirade.

The skirt she was wearing barely covered her crotch. She had on some oddly striped socks that came to just above her knees, a loose vest with _nothing _beneath it, and one sleeve that covered her left arm from her knuckles to above her elbow. Several beaded necklaces hung loosely to her midsection. Her brown eyes were lined in black and there was black polish on her nails. Her footwear was a pair of clunky boots that came up her calves in huge silver buckles. She had a tattoo of a Sharingan, of all things, right on the swell of her right breast.

"-no right to follow me here! How _dare _you, what if somebody-" Akane hissed savagely. Itachi cut her off with one raised hand.

"What in the name of god are you wearing? I've never seen you dressed like this. It's hideous." His eyes kept going back to that tattoo. It was an insult, using the Sharingan like that. He was deeply affronted.

Akane looked down at herself and closed her eyes. Well now her day was complete, wasn't it? She'd always been careful to dress like a proper little nobody whenever her dad visited, or she'd visited him. She shut her mouth and crossed her arms over herself. She stared mutinously off to the side, positively throbbing with rage.

Itachi was reminded of why he was here in the first place. "What are you doing outside Morino Ibiki's residence? Are you having sex with him, the way your sister also seems to be sleeping with her co-workers?"

Akane thought it would be a mercy if she could faint right then. Her mind buzzed and crackled with such anger, that white spots danced in her vision. _Who had ratted her out??? _It took everything in her to mutter, "No."

"Then why-"

Akane would die if she had to admit her feelings to her father. She turned on her heel and walked stiffly away. Itachi fell into step beside her, his curiosity piqued most deliciously over her fury. It always interested him to see the things that angered his children. Privately (very, _very _privately) he thought it was funny. He didn't think many things in life were amusing, but whenever his children were seriously upset, it always had this effect on him. He'd been well aware of their wrath as he summoned them today, and had guffawed about it later when he'd been with Gaara. He wondered now just what had upset his petite little daughter. Might as well ask.

"What has angered you?"

"Nothing." This was said with such frosty violence, that Itachi had to bite his tongue for a moment to keep his face straight. Nothing indeed.

"I disagree. Something has clearly upset you. Is it that I said your clothes are hideous? Did I hurt your feelings?"

Akane walked faster, nearly running. Her dad kept up easily. She did not care for the solicitous tone of his voice. "Leave me alone."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I want you present for dinner with the rest of your siblings. Do you love him?"

The question caught her off guard. She stumbled on a rock and had to right herself quickly. She risked a look in his direction.

Itachi was walking quickly to keep up with her strides, but calmly. His eyes looked straight ahead.

Akane didn't answer.

Itachi mulled this possibility over. The man was much older than his daughter, but still in his prime. He was unattached. Itachi seemed to recall that Ibiki had an interest in men, but that was perhaps only a rumor. He didn't know if it was true that the man was bisexual or not, but Itachi could admit to himself that Ibiki would breed strong children. Very strong. Such a superb ninja coupled with his feisty daughter… The children would be warriors of incomparable skill and vitality, of that, Itachi had no doubt. He glanced at Akane's set face and decided he would investigate the matter.

* * *

They arrived at the house, and found that Gaara had seated everyone around the brand new table Itachi had bought just hours ago. It was a huge affair, seating twenty. Just enough seats for all of them. Itachi noticed the less than happy expressions as he took his place at one end of the table. He smiled broadly, causing his children to stare in dread. Gaara, at the other end of the table, only shook his head. Being back in the village with his children was having a strange effect on Itachi. He shifted in his chair, still sore from Itachi's increased appetite.

Everyone served themselves. When the plates were full and everyone eating, Itachi broke the silence. He decided to go in order of their birth.

"Kaito."

Kaito looked up, a dumpling half in his mouth.

"Hanabi tells me this child she carries is the last for you two?"

Kaito nodded.

"Nonsense. Another five, and then you can begin to consider your duty to clan complete."

Kaito choked. Hiroto, who was right next to him, pounded his back. Itachi's attention swung to him. "Hiroto, it is past time you took a wife. There are quite a few women I've selected for you and your brothers, from Suna. I'll expect you to take a look at them and make a decision soon-"

Kenji had had enough. "Hell… no."

The mild clink of silverware stopped. All heads swung to him. Kenji's face was almost grotesque with anger; his brows were lowered so that his grey eyes were shadowed. His mouth was turned down in a grimace of dislike, and his hand was fisted near his plate on the white tablecloth. Itachi wiped his mouth with his napkin, looking at his son with interest. "Excuse me?"

"I said no," Kenji growled. "You can't come here and dictate our lives like this. We don't give fuck one about the clan, and I'm not letting you saddle me up to some broodmare, just to add to your sick fantasy of rebuilding it. Fuck the clan, fuck your women and _fuck you._"

Following this amazing little speech, Kenji got up, threw his napkin down on the table and turned to leave. Itachi reached unhurriedly into his clothing. That was all anybody saw, if they happened to be watching. Raiden was watching because he wanted to know what Uncle Itachi would do. If he'd spoken to either of his fathers like that, Raiden knew he would be taking a dirt nap shortly afterward. Even so, he barely saw Uncle Itachi's hand move, once it reached into his clothes. The hand blurred, there was a sensation of something traveling the length of the table swiftly, and then a loud _tchunk _sound. All eyes swung to Kenji.

His shirt was pinned to the wall with a kunai, just above his shoulder. Kenji stared at it in disbelief, then at where his father was slowly getting up from his chair. His bravado of a moment ago was completely forgotten, as his eyes tracked his father's measured footsteps. Itachi's eyes were still dark, thankfully, but that meant nothing. Kenji considered running.

Everyone else's eyes skipped back and forth between Kenji and their father. Hiroko, though, only stared at the kunai, lost in thought.

Kenji suddenly became aware of the fact that he had younger brothers watching his shame. His bluster and anger came roaring back so that he wrenched his shirt free of the kunai, just as Itachi reached him. His father stretched a hand toward him and Kenji, in his excited state, thought his father was about to hit him. He struck first, plowing one hard fist into his father's jaw.

Someone gasped. Juro and Yukio did a weird high five under the table. Gaara turned in his chair, prepared to get up and intervene.

Itachi's head had been snapped to the side. He kept it there, tasting blood in his mouth as he decided whether or not to respond in kind. He'd been going for the kunai when the blow landed. Abruptly he remembered his son had cursed him on top of hitting him, and the insolence was suddenly not to be borne. Itachi turned his head at the same moment he delivered a stunning backhand blow to his cowering, regretful son… but he did not bother to notice that his son was regretful. Kenji staggered against the wall, and fell to the floor. Itachi turned to the rest of his children.

"I don't care how 'grown' any of you think you are. You each have a duty to this clan, and I will see that it is carried out. Do you understand me?"

They didn't answer. At least, most of them didn't. But Kenta, quietly seething at the treatment of his twin, stood up slowly. Every eye turned to him, noticing how his eyes didn't blink. His voice was unsteady with anger, quite unlike his usually well-modulated tones.

"With all due respect, dad, the clan is not our responsibility. It was destroyed before we were born and through no fault of ours. We shouldn't have to have our lives hijacked because of your sense of duty. That's your cross to bear, not ours. We want to be free to live our lives as we see fit. I, for one, will not be looking at your list of women; I'm gay." Kenta walked to where his twin lay sprawled, and gave him a hand up. He handed Kenji a napkin to stem the blood leaking from his nose, before turning back to his thunderstruck father. "And if you touch Kenji again, I'll fight you."

This time several people gasped. Kenta led his twin out of the house, the door shutting softly behind them. Itachi stood where he was for a moment, before resuming his seat. No one spoke. Gradually, eating recommenced. Itachi waited until the desserts were being served before he spoke again.

"Sumiko, I hear you've begun a relationship with Udon. He is intelligent and an adequate ninja. I approve."

Sumiko blushed in embarrassment, but Itachi wasn't done. He kept his eyes on his plate, eating and speaking with quick efficiency.

"Hiroko, you've received more proposals, I hear. I will look into them, but I strongly urge you to accept someone soon. Asami-"

Asami scrunched down into her chair, dreading what her father would say about her.

"You will cease your promiscuous habits at once," Itachi intoned. He scraped ice-cream from his plate and delicately licked it from his spoon. "And Akiko, I hear you are the same. If your base desires are that strong, I will find husbands for both of you. Juro, Yukio," here Itachi looked up at last.

Juro kept his eyes lowered. Yukio risked a glance at his father.

"Is it true the grocer's daughter carries the child of one of you?"

Juro screeched in indignation. "Shit, no! I've never even-"

Yukio was right behind him. "That bitch is ugly as sin, I would _never_-"

Itachi looked away, smiling slightly. "Of course. I was joking."

Joking? Glances were exchanged amongst Itachi's children. Since when did their father joke? And right after that mess with Kenji and Kenta, too! They'd speculated on just how angry he might be while he'd been silent, but it seemed he'd forgotten all about the encounter.

Gaara studied Itachi from across the table. He didn't believe the encounter had been forgotten at all. He wondered what the man was really thinking.

After that, things relaxed a bit. Itachi spoke to the triplets as cake was served. Raiden and Aimi were questioned and then Shouta spoke up. Soon the rest were forgetting their resentment over their father's domineering ways, and their shock over Kenji and Kenta, long enough to enjoy themselves. Gaara, silent until then, told some funny stories about Itachi in Suna that had them all nearly screaming with laughter.

***

Later, while everyone was in the main room talking, Hanabi brought the children over as her husband had secretly requested. Kaito met her at the door, kissed her cheek and spoke to her briefly.

"It'll be just us tonight at the house. Think you're up for a little fun?" He brushed his lips across hers, fondling one plump breast under her shirt. His children watched curiously.

Hanabi shivered, smiling against his lips. "Aren't I always? Are you sure your father will take the children? We didn't ask him…"

Kaito gave a wolfish grin. "And I don't plan on asking him. He wants to be all in my shit, then he can damn well take my kids whenever I want him to." He bent down and addressed his eldest. "Miki, you and your sisters are my defense against his tyranny. You got your weapon with you?"

Miki solemnly held up her copy of Fox in Socks.

"Excellent. And you have the others, right?"

Miki showed him her collection of Dr. Suess books in her backpack.

"Fabulous. Just like we spoke about, now, okay? You remember what I said?"

Miki nodded seriously. "No merthy."

"That's right, no mercy," Kaito said fiercely. He looked to his other children. "What did you guys bring?"

Mari held up her precious Snickerdoodles recipe. Momo held up a huge bucket of Legos. But Mai, the baby, was the winner. She was pulling a small bag on wheels. Inside were at least ten Barney tapes. Kaito warmly embraced his youngest daughter.

"Mai, sweetness, if that doesn't have him running back to Suna, I don't know what will." He leaned back to look at his four girls. "Remember what I told you?"

"Be as annoying as possible," they chorused.

It was enough to have Kaito wiping tears of pride from his eyes. "All right. Let's go. Hanabi, you wait here for me."

Everyone was in the living room. Some, like Hiroko and the harpies, were preparing to leave. Itachi looked up when Kaito entered with his children. "What's this," he asked.

"Ah, Dad. I'm leaving the girls here for a few days. Hanabi and I could use the time alone. I'll come back for them when I'm ready. Thanks!" And Kaito was gone before Itachi could reply.

***

The rest took their cue from him, and made excuses to leave. Shouta watched enviously, wishing he wasn't stuck staying with his dad. Uncle Sasuke and Naruto were much more lenient. When it was just him, the triplets, Raiden, Aimi, Yanagi and his nieces, Shouta stood up.

"Dad, can I go to my friend's house tonight?"

Itachi looked up from the book his granddaughter had handed him. "What friend? For how long?"

Shouta refrained from rolling his golden brown eyes. They were almost the color of his dirty blond hair, and were currently showing quite a bit of annoyance. "Just a friend."

"A girl?"

Shouta's mouth dropped open and Raiden, sitting to the side, covered his mouth as a bray of laughter escaped him. "N-no!"

"Are you sure? I was wondering if you are sexually active, as the rest of your brothers and sisters seem to be."

Shouta wanted to die of shame. Raiden was screaming into a couch pillow, nearly choking on his laughter. "I'm not… and not all of them are. Juro and Yukio aren't." This was said defensively.

Itachi flipped a page of the book, looking at the odd creature standing next to a fox in blue socks. "Oh? Are you gay like Kenta?"

The noise Raiden was making was joined by howls from the triplets. Shouta's face was tomato red. "Dad! Jesus!"

"Well, are you?"

"No, all right? _God!_"

Itachi closed the book. "Very well. Be home before midnight. And bring this friend to meet me tomorrow."

"What the f-"

Itachi raised one brow. Shouta swallowed his protest and left, throwing a look that promised revenge at Raiden.

***

Raiden chuckled for quite some time after the door slammed behind his irate cousin. Looked like life with Uncle Itachi was going to be quite interesting. Another snort of laughter escaped him.

All in all, he was feeling pretty good. His daddies were handling their issues. Uncle Itachi was proving to be one sick puppy, which would no doubt provide hours of entertainment. Life was good. He got up and went upstairs to his room to change out of the dressy clothes Uncle Gaara had insisted on for dinner.

When he opened his door, he saw a blue man with gills on his face and a monster of a sword on his back, standing next to his bed.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I made a continuity error last chap. Yukio and Juro were supposed to be off in Demon Country repairing that cabin, not back in Konoha. I went back and fixed it.

Thank you so much for the reviews...I appreciate it when people take 2 minutes to comment on what I write. I love hearing your thoughts. Some of you think Akatsuki's back, but have you forgotten the whole graveyard scene in NB? :S Shame. I wouldn't make THAT big an error.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 8

It wasn't the fact that there was someone in his room that frightened him, or the sword, or the mutant look of the guy.

It was the cloak.

He remembered that cloak. The not-person had worn that cloak. Madara had worn that cloak. He and his Dad had been held captive by people in that cloak. His Papa had died because of people in that cloak.

That cloak meant death.

His grey-blue eyes traveled helplessly, feverishly over the jaunty red clouds, trying to find meaning-

No, the person. Him. He was the threat, not the fucking cloak. Raiden was hyperventilating-it was all so long ago, yet so fresh in his mind- focus!

He raised his eyes to the man. He was powerfully built. He stared at Raiden silently, and the boy was sure only a second or two had passed, but it felt like an hour. Automatically, he tried to feel out the man's chakra-

There was none. No chakra. Raiden blinked in confusion and the man was gone.

Raiden figured later that he must have blacked out briefly, while standing in his doorway. That or gone crazy. The man was there, then not, and Raiden was left alone with his thudding heart. There was sweat on his brow and his stomach ached in the aftermath of his fear. He took a shaky step into his room and made an effort to reel his mind in, and gain control of himself.

Breathe. In. Out. In… hold it. Oooouuut.

Better. His mind was working again. He was able, at least, to understand that he'd seen some kind of vision, not an actual person. That had never happened to him before. Raiden sat unsteadily on his bed.

What did it mean? Why had-

Someone was behind him.

Raiden turned with a gasp, and the blue-gilled swordsman was reaching a huge hand toward his face. Raiden leapt backward with a hissed shriek, stumbled, fell, and sensed the man looming over him, turned-

He was gone.

Raiden scrambled to his feet and ran out of his room, slamming the door behind him. He stood in the hall, quivering like a leaf in a strong wind. A high sound, as of a kettle whistling on a stove, came to his ears. After a moment he realized it was his own breathing, screaming in and out of him.

A thump came from the room. Raiden ran.

***

He managed to slow down on the stairs and paste a reasonably normal look on his face. He stood in the hall, deciding on whether to go into the living room or into the kitchen, where he could hear Uncle Gaara cleaning up with Yanagi and Aimi.

Aimi.

Raiden veered left and entered the kitchen. Dishes were stacked everywhere. Yanagi and Aimi were putting leftovers into plastic containers, and finding space for them in the fridge. Uncle Gaara was washing the dishes. Raiden went to the sink, grabbed a towel and began drying.

Gaara turned to thank his nephew for the assistance and stopped. Raiden's face was pale, his eyes large and dark in his face. "Raiden?"

The boy looked at him.

"Are you all right?"

A jerky nod. Gaara considered pressing for more, but Raiden kept his face averted. Frowning, Gaara resumed washing the dishes. He would watch the boy carefully.

The girls chatted amiably between themselves. It made it difficult for Raiden to catch Aimi's eye. When he finally did manage it, she gave him a curious look at his hint that he wanted to talk to her alone. He finally grabbed her hand and led her into the hall.

"What?" Aimi said in exasperation. She studied her brother in the darkened hall. His shoulders were tense and he was breathing heavily. What was wrong with him?

Raiden didn't know how to say it any other way than bluntly. "I… saw something."

Aimi lifted one dark brow as she folder her arms. "What kind of something?"

Raiden shook his head. "A man. I don't know, he was weird… It was kind of like my dreams but… No, it wasn't. I mean, it was so real, but he wasn't there and… Aimi?"

_Dreams. _Aimi's body felt as if it had been dipped in ice. Dream. Why did that make her feel as if she were forgetting something important? And why did she associate it with that morning she'd been attacked? The morning she couldn't remember…

No use. Whatever it was, she couldn't recall it. She looked at where her brother was watching her carefully. "Well, if he wasn't there… Wait, you saw someone? Maybe it was the one who attacked me!"

Raiden seemed to consider this. "No, he wasn't really there, Aimi. It was like a vision. A… picture."

Aimi frowned. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think he can hurt us?"

"They're all dead. The people with those cloaks… They're all dead."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"I… don't know. I guess I just…" _needed some comfort, _Raiden finished in his mind. He looked at his sister and saw that she was watching him worriedly. He forced a smile. "It's nothing. But if you see something like that, tell me okay?"

Aimi nodded, then went back to help in the kitchen. Raiden let her. He heard one of his cousins asking Uncle Itachi to read her a story, and decided he would stay in the living room, where there were people.

* * *

The triplets were sprawled on the floor, having a heated discussion about jutsu. Three of Kaito's girls were playing with the Legos. Miki had insinuated herself onto Uncle Itachi's lap and was looking at the pages of the book he held. Raiden took a seat in an armchair.

_"Fox, socks, box, Knox," _Itachi read.

Raiden chewed one nail as he thought. He could fight. He could escape danger. But there was nothing there to fight. And he couldn't escape his own mind.

_"Socks on Knox, and Knox in box. Fox in socks on box on Knox."_

Why would he be getting visions like this? Of dead people? That was the thing. He was sure that guy, whoever he was, was dead. His dad said all of Akatsuki was dead. Raiden knew first hand how that goddess bitch didn't just allow people out of her hellish domain. So what was this all about?

_"Who sees who sew whose new socks, sir? You see Sue sew Sue's new socks, sir."_

Here Miki interrupted Itachi to say, "Thue is my favorite. Thee how her hair ith? I make my hair like that everyday, thee?"

Raiden saw his uncle study the furious snarl of hair that was, oddly enough, shaped like a triangle on Miki's head. Uncle Itachi murmured something.

Raiden selected another finger, one whose nail wasn't bitten to the quick, to chew as he continued thinking. Uncle Itachi continued reading.

The visions couldn't really hurt him, of that he was sure. Mostly sure. He just had to endure them. If only he knew what they meant! If he could be certain… If he knew those guys were alive, he would assume they were coming. But they weren't. So they couldn't be. Maybe it was just some kind of waking nightmare? He wished his dads were here.

_"Ben bends Bim's broom. Bim bends Ben's broom."_

He was nervous. Not outright scared, not yet… at least, not like he had been in his room. But he was uneasy. Very. He'd never come up against anything he couldn't explain or handle. Not since he'd been really small. And now he felt helpless and inadequate, just as he had then.

Raiden tasted blood and looked at his finger. He'd chewed the nail past the quick. He looked around the room. The triplets had gotten up and left at some point. Mai was asleep with her head pillowed on that pull bag. Mari and Momo were yawning, still playing with the Legos. Uncle Gaara came in and picked Mai up. He told the other two it was time for bed. They got up without a protest. Miki was listening raptly to the story. Raiden listened, too. Anything was better than going up to his room.

_"Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes. Luke Luck takes licks in lakes duck likes."_

Miki interrupted again. "Ith that thomething nithe people do?"

Itachi was studying the picture in the book. "No. I don't believe licking lakes is something nice people do. And I strongly believe this fox would benefit from a katon jutsu administered to his hindquarters."

Miki also studied the picture for awhile. Then Itachi resumed reading. Raiden was sufficiently diverted from his weighty thoughts to feel sorry when the story ended. Miki took the book, surprised her grandfather with a peck to his cheek, and skipped off to the room she'd be sharing with Aimi, Yanagi and her sisters. Raiden was left with his uncle.

Itachi rubbed his cheek absently until he noticed Raiden looking at him. "Raiden? You seem troubled."

"Huh? No."

"Ah. Then I will see you in the morning." Itachi started to get up.

"Uncle Itachi?"

Itachi looked at his nephew. "Yes?"

"Akatsuki's all dead, right? There isn't, maybe, someone that was missed?"

Itachi turned to face Raiden properly. "They're all dead."

"Are you positive? Do you know how they all died?"

Itachi looked at the boy. Raiden was wringing his hands, but he didn't think the kid was aware of it. A look of pleading was on his face. "I killed Kisame and Orochimaru, though he'd left Akatsuki by then. Sakura-san killed Sasori with Chiyo of Sunagakure. Nara Shikamaru killed Hidan. Your fathers killed Kakuzu, Zetsu, Deidara, and Pein. I believe Konan was also done in by your father. You killed Madara."

Raiden was nodding, affirming this information to himself. "Right. Right. So… they won't be coming back, will they?"

Itachi tilted his head to the side. "I have only seen one person come back from the dead. My brother. And that was due to a considerable amount of effort on your part. I don't think it is something that happens regularly. I don't think they're coming back, Raiden. Why?"

Raiden debated telling what he'd seen. But they were dead. Emphatically so. Period. End of discussion. What he'd seen probably meant nothing… except those kinds of things never meant nothing. He took a deep breath. "I saw something in my room. A guy. He had on an Akatsuki cloak and-"

Itachi whirled, and was up the stairs so fast that Raiden was left talking to the empty room. He blinked and dashed up the stairs after his uncle.

He found him in his room, Sharingan glowing as he looked at every corner. "Where?" Itachi said. His voice was low.

Raiden took a moment to appreciate how quickly his uncle had reacted, even though they'd just been discussing how dead Akatsuki was; his uncle was taking no chances and suddenly Raiden felt better. Bands that had been constricting his chest loosened so that he took a nice deep breath. He pointed. "There. He was standing by the bed."

Itachi went to the bed. "Your window wasn't open?"

"No. And I couldn't sense any chakra from him. I don't think he was real. I think it was just a vision or something."

"Or new people could have taken up Akatsuki's mantle," Itachi said dangerously. "What did this man look like?"

Raiden gave the description. Halfway through, Itachi shook his head. "That's Kisame. I killed him myself when he and Zetsu kidnapped you."

They were silent as each became occupied with his own thoughts. Finally, Itachi came to Raiden and laid both hands on his shoulders. He looked his nephew in the eye and noted the boy was getting tall. "Raiden, listen to me. They are dead. They are not coming back. But," and here his hands gave Raiden's shoulders an encouraging squeeze. "If they were alive and they came here… they wouldn't be able to get through the village and come all the way to the house without causing one hell of an uproar. I'd feel their chakra from a distance. Even if they were masking themselves, I'm attuned to them, having worked among them for so long. No one could get at you without me knowing it. Do you understand?"

Raiden blinked back sudden tears. He understood very well. "Yes, Uncle."

"You don't have to be afraid. You're more than a match for any of them, and Gaara and I are no strangers to battle. Aimi herself could take them on, and Yanagi is something of a demon in combat herself. You're not alone. Have you had these visions before?"

Raiden was forced to wipe away one tear. He hadn't realized how afraid he'd been. He shook his head. "No."

Itachi nodded. "Well, I don't know all of your powers or how they work, but perhaps it is nothing. And if not, we are here. All right?"

Raiden nodded. Itachi seemed about to hug him, but then thought better of it. He patted Raiden's neck reassuringly before leaving the room. Raiden breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling his normal state of mind return. Jeez, he'd really wigged out there for a sec. He took a moment to look around the room.

Perfectly normal. He was sharing this room with Shouta and the other boys. There was nothing on either his side of the room, or his cousins'. A laugh gusted out of him and he went to change his clothes, finally.

* * *

The house settled down to sleep. Aimi, Yanagi and Kaito's girls bunked down in a room Itachi had designated The Girls' room. A similar room had been assigned to the boys. Shouta crept into the house at 11:59. Itachi was waiting for him down in the living room. He eyed his son, Shouta gave an apologetic shrug, and Itachi nodded for him to get his ass up to bed. Itachi followed soon afterward.

Gaara was rolled in the sheet, the outline of his body clearly visible in the dark. Itachi was feeling randy. He snatched the sheet, rolling Gaara's sleepy form from it to leave him splayed and spluttering on the bed. Itachi pounced.

He pressed his face between Gaara's pale thighs, inhaling deeply, snuffling against the soft sac and cock. He held the redhead spread as his tongue came out to lick teasingly along these plump offerings, making Gaara tremble on the bed. The globes of his ass were explored thoroughly. Itachi turned Gaara over to give his attention to that well-loved ass properly.

Itachi had long ago come to the conclusion that it was his favorite part of Gaara's anatomy. And it had nothing to do with the secret opening it harbored. He simply loved the miracle of the ass itself. Just looking at it caused him to swallow as desire dried his mouth.

Gaara groaned into his pillow as Itachi began a deliberate exploration. His rough hand splayed warmly on one cheek, rubbing slowly, leisurely, lovingly. Not an inch was left untouched. Itachi kneaded, smoothed, pinched. His hands roved in opposite directions, scratched lightly, slapped playfully. He leaned down and bit gently at the round white flesh, making Gaara jump at the ticklish sensation. Hickies were placed on the twin mounds, causing Gaara to cry out, and then the bruises were kissed. Only when long, long minutes passed, and Itachi was satisfied that he'd fully explored the quivering cheeks, did he part them to see what they hid.

One agonizingly slow lick that traveled from his balls to the base of his spine, and Gaara ripped his pillow in two. The stuffing puffed away from his harsh breaths. His sobbing curse spilled from his lips as Itachi bit his anus, bit directly over his hole hard enough to draw blood. Gaara's fist punched a dent into the head board as those teeth continued to shred his nerves, but he bit back his scream. There were too many children in the house to be making too much noise. God, he couldn't breathe…

Itachi switched to sucking, slurping noisily at the valley between the glorious moons of Gaara's ass. Saliva drenched his face and the flesh beneath his lips, and Itachi freely rubbed his face in it, causing Gaara to gasp and pant. "Itachi! Damn you!"

The hissed cry had Itachi quickly inserting a few fingers to make sure Gaara was ready. He was. They'd had sex that afternoon, and he was still more or less stretched. Itachi quickly positioned himself behind Gaara, sitting on his heels. He guided Gaara backward, until the Kazekage slid down the length of his cock, impaling himself with a sigh. Itachi held him, wrapping his arms around Gaara's chest as he leaned his head between his shoulder blades a moment.

"Ride me, Kazekage."

Gaara liked being called by his title during sex. The bed was a slight hindrance to his movements with the way it bounced, but they managed quite well. Gaara rose and fell on Itachi's length, weak with lust and need. Itachi's cock brushed his prostate each time he pressed downward and he was quickly losing his control. His head fell back on Itachi's shoulder, his mouth open.

Itachi brushed one hand over Gaara's tight little nipples, the other downward over his stiff erection. Gaara was leaking profusely. He sucked strongly on Gaara's shoulder as he pinched one nipple and squeezed his cock. Gaara uttered some kind of oath to the ceiling, riding with increased speed. Itachi matched his movements on Gaara's weeping cock to the man's frenzied riding, feeling both the cock and Gaara's body tense with impending release.

Gaara came silently, biting his lip to keep from bringing down the roof. Itachi pushed him to the bed roughly, flipped him to his back and landed with a thud on top of him. The air left Gaara's lungs, even as he was still coming. Itachi rammed into him, balls deep, in one thrust and Gaara nearly passed out. Itachi guided one of Gaara's legs over his shoulder, and then the other, making sure the Kazekage was good and exposed for his brutal thrusts. He didn't hold back, slamming himself again and again into Gaara's tight passage. Gaara's mouth sagged, his breath stuttering at each impact, his eyes hazy. Itachi leaned down and licked the length of that sexy face, biting one cheek as he increased the force of his thrusts. His hips would be bruised from the repeated impact, but he didn't stop and Gaara didn't ask him to stop. Sweat dripped off of Itachi's face to land on Gaara's as he fucked him hard. Gaara dug his nails into Itachi's ass, feeling it dimple and release, dimple and release with each driving thrust. Itachi shifted and suddenly the head of his cock was hitting Gaara's prostate with each stroke. Gaara tried to arch, to get away from the killing pleasure, but it was impossible in his position. Itachi held him down, and Gaara mewled and whined and keened as pleasure zinged with devastating force throughout his entire body.

"Yes," Itachi hissed. "Cry for me, Gaara. Cry from the pleasure."

Tears _were_ forming in Gaara's eyes, but he kept them squeezed shut. He could scarcely breathe from his doubled up position and Itachi's weight, the weight of those barbaric thrusts. He tried to push against Itachi's shoulders and Itachi knocked his hands aside, pumping faster and harder still. Suddenly another orgasm was there, ready to bury Gaara alive with its intensity, and he cried out in mingled desire and surprise. Then it was happening and he could feel Itachi coming hotly inside him, their shudders shaking the whole bed strongly. Their climaxes lasted for several minutes, until Gaara really was crying in agonized pleasure, sobbing against Itachi's sweaty neck even as the man murmured incoherently against his hair.

Gaara wasn't even aware of falling asleep. One minute he was holding to Itachi as if his life depended on it, the next, all was blackness. Itachi only had strength to lower Gaara's legs to settle around his waist. He kept himself wrapped around the younger man, still lodged inside him as he rolled them to their sides. He was asleep seconds later.

* * *

Raiden listened to the knocking of the headboard, and wondered if the damn thing would break from the furious pounding. He was in bed, on his side, the blanket pulled to his chin. His bedside clock said 1:37 by the time the relentless knocking finally stopped. Almost as bad as his own parents. Sheesh.

He wondered idly what sex was like, and what made people behave like such animals while they were doing it. I mean, his dads almost killed each other while they were at it, and things regularly got broken. Even Hisa. She was a beast whenever she tried to kiss him. Raiden thought, but could not recall, ever wanting to kiss anyone. His squad had talked about sex a lot. He knew the mechanics of it, both straight and gay, but did not ever experience the fever his squad spoke about. For a time, Raiden had studied some of the girls his age and tried to imagine kissing them. He couldn't. Girls, as a species, sort of annoyed him. Except for Aimi. She was okay. Then he'd thought that he might be gay like his parents. He'd tried to imagine kissing some of his friends, and had just about vomited in disgust. Raiden shuddered now, under his blanket. No. That would be a disaster.

After that he'd left the subject alone. Still, sometimes, like right now, he wondered who he'd end up with. He wondered what it was like to be in love, and have those kinds of feelings that made you want to do the things his dads did, and Uncle Itachi and Gaara-

A rattling, clacking noise behind him.

Raiden froze. He didn't turn around. He held his breath and the sound stopped. He looked across the room at where Shouta was sleeping. Cater-corner to him, the triplets were snoring on their pallets. Uncle Itachi said he would fix up another room so the older boys could have a room and the triplets their own room, but for now they were all grouped together. None of them seemed to have heard-

There it was again.

The very alien-ness of the sound had Raiden hunching his shoulders. Finally, when he could stand it no more, he turned around in his bed, a Rasengan suddenly in his hand.

Nothing. There was nothing behind him. The sound came again, as of small objects knocking together rapidly. He sat up in his bed, his breath shortening despite his fierce assertions to himself that he was being silly. He could see no source for the sound and it kept up, increasing until he thought he'd go crazy if he had to listen to that mechanical chittering for another second.

He glanced to his right. The window.

Raiden eased out of bed, padding barefoot to his window to slowly pull back the curtain.

Whoever he was, he was fucking ugly. He floated on the breeze outside Raiden's window, beady eyes glaring malevolently, metal tail whipping the air. His hair, such as it was, was in thin rows going back from his forehead and gathered in a ratty tail. Large areas of his scalp showed, and his body was hunched and bent on itself beneath that red and black cloak. And then, even as Raiden watched, another face became superimposed over the ugly one. It looked like the face of a teen, with his red hair and unlined features. Raiden realized the chittering sound was coming from his hand as it guided… something… to smash through the window and zoom toward him.

Raiden screamed, slamming his Rasengan toward that mad thing as he flung himself out of the way.

"_Oohh_, what the _fuck???_" Shouta moaned in irritation as he scrambled out of bed. He stumbled toward the light switch on the wall. Even as he said and did this, the triplets were waking up. Shouta squinted across the room. "Raiden?"

Masaru rubbed sleep from his eyes, crawling to where Raiden lay panting on the floor. "What's up?" He yawned.

"S-s-somebody… th-there," Raiden pointed at the window.

All four heads looked. The window was intact, the curtain hanging innocently in front of it. For good measure, Shouta strode to the window and pulled the curtain back. "Oh my god!" He gasped.

Raiden sat up, a relieved grin stretching his face. "You see him?!"

Shouta peered avidly out the window. "I see absolutely nothing, you dipshit!" He turned to glare at Raiden. "What's with you, hollering down the house like that?"

Raiden got to his feet. "No, I-" but he couldn't talk about the visions. Not with Shouta looking at him with bleary eyes, and the triplets listening intently. Clearly nothing _had_ been there. He hung his head.

"What, you had a nightmare?" Shouta pressed.

"I don't know. No. Maybe."

Kei was examining the shallow spiral marks on the wall from Raiden's Rasengan. "Must have been pretty real," he said thoughtfully, "for you to use Rasengan. You sure no one was here?"

Shouta and the other two looked at Kei, then at Raiden. "Raiden?" Shouta said more seriously.

Raiden straightened his spine. "Must have been a dream. Sorry, guys."

He made his way back to bed. Kei remained looking at the wall for a few moments, as Shouta studied his younger cousin. Then they too got back into their beds. They were soon asleep.

Raiden did not sleep that night.

* * *

Itachi got up bright and early and met with the council. He sat through the meeting that officially had him reinstated as Uchiha's head of clan. He went over the plans Sasuke had been making with Neji in a number of Uchiha/Hyuuga joint ventures, and met with Neji himself. That man expressed relief that Itachi would now be running things, as he did not want to see Sasuke or Naruto again. Itachi studied the bandaged legs and commiserated with him. After all, what had happened hadn't been Neji's fault. The man seemed to be healing well, thankfully.

He then went to Sumiko's house within the compound and found Udon visiting her. Judging from the flushed look on his daughter's face and the way Udon hurriedly adjusted his pants, they'd been engaged in certain activities. They all sat at the kitchen table and Itachi got right to the point.

"Udon. You are interested in my daughter." It was a statement.

Udon was sitting ramrod straight in his chair, his hands clasped tightly in front of him on the table. Bad enough the man had come by while he'd been in the process of kissing his daughter senseless. Now to have the matter out and up for discussion… "Yes, sir. I am."

"And what is the nature of your interest?"

Sumiko tried to protest. "Daddy…"

Itachi gave her a silencing look. "Well, Udon?"

Udon found it difficult to say this to Itachi when he hadn't even told Sumiko yet, but the man was demanding an answer. Udon was sufficiently afraid of him to obey instantly. "I love her, sir."

Itachi gave a curt nod. "And you, Sumiko? Your feelings?"

Sumiko turned red, but she answered in a steady voice that did Itachi proud. "I love him."

Itachi fixed Udon with a piercing stare. "Is it your intention to marry Sumiko?"

Udon felt a shiver run through him. He hadn't exactly discussed it with Sumiko… Hell, he hadn't even told her he loved her. Why did all these things have to come out like this? He'd planned to woo her gently with flowers and kisses and then, when he was sure she felt the same, propose to her on bended knee. But here her father was, gutting him with those eyes and forcing an answer from him. He could feel Sumiko watching him. "Yes, sir."

Sumiko gasped. Udon looked at her and saw that her face was radiant. Itachi was speaking.

"Good. I figured as much, and so had the marriage contract drawn up while I was at the council today. You will go there and sign them. I will give you a few days to set a date." Itachi stood to leave, then looked at Udon again. "I approve of you. I think you two are well-suited."

Udon stood and bowed very deeply. "You honor me, sir. I will treat your daughter well, and guard her with my life."

Itachi smiled very slightly. "Yes. See that you do. Oh, and any children you have will be considered Uchiha." He waited for Udon's nod. He left then, and Udon and Sumiko stared at each other in shock. Then they ran at each other, Udon catching her up and holding her close.

"You really love me?" He asked softly.

"Since I was a child." Her voice was a whisper against his lips.

"And I've loved you for as long… how deprived of me."

"How smart of you," Sumiko corrected. She hummed in happiness as Udon buried his face in her hair, squeezing her tightly. "You don't mind our children being Uchiha?"

"I come from a large family. I have plenty of brothers and they have children to carry on my father's name. I would be proud to father little Uchihas with you."

_He really is too perfect, _Sumiko thought.

***

Itachi sent a message to one particular individual to meet him in an hour at a dango shop he liked. In the meantime, he went to the house Akiko, Asami and Akane shared. It was early. He didn't think his daughters would be at work yet. At least, not the daughter he sought.

He was right. Akane was home, sipping from a mug of black coffee. Her eyeliner was smudged, her usually glossy brown hair in a tangle down her back. She sat with her legs in the chair, drawn to her chest, as Akiko led Itachi into the brightly lit sitting room. Itachi watched as Akiko slid her ANBU mask down onto her face. She left soon afterward to head for work. Akane was left alone with her father.

Itachi took a seat across from her and studied her. She sipped noisily, her face puffy from sleep. He noticed there was a ring in her navel, from which a small Uchiha fan dangled. Her toenails were painted black with the fan drawn on both big toes. Her body was small and compact, all of 5' 3" in her bare feet, if that. She was wearing a pair of ridiculously short denim cutoffs, and a t-shirt that was ripped and shredded to such an extent, that he wondered how the thing stayed on her back. Her legs were tanned and shapely.

Akane couldn't take the staring anymore. "_What,_" she snapped.

Itachi reached forward, snagged the arm of the chair in one hand and dragged it, with his daughter still in it, towards him. When she was close enough, he grabbed her face in one hand and forced her to look at him. Akane tried to curse, but Itachi dug his fingers into her jaw and silenced her.

"I am heartily sick of my children showing me such disrespect," Itachi said smoothly. His voice was deep and untroubled, but his Sharingan was deadly at this proximity, and Akane stiffened in her seat. Her coffee had spilled all over her when her father had dragged her chair, but she ignored the burning sting. Itachi seemed to approve of her silence. He continued speaking. "All I want to hear from you right now is a yes or a no to the question I will ask. Are you ready? Nod or shake your head."

Akane swallowed. Then she nodded.

"Good. The question is this: Are you or aren't you in love with Morino Ibiki?"

Akane tried to pull her head away. Itachi held onto her face and his Sharingan began slowly whirling, preparing to deal something unpleasant. Akane felt tears of helplessness rise in her eyes at this perceived injustice. At last she nodded. One tear escaped her eye to roll over Itachi's thumb.

He released her. "Are you sure? You could be experiencing infatuation or mere lust."

As he said the words, Itachi considered that this was likely the case. His daughter was seventeen. What did she know of love?

Akane massaged her face as she glowered. "I've had infatuations. And I know what lust is. I love him."

Itachi appeared thoughtful as he asked, "Would you marry him?"

Her heart lurched painfully then settled into its normal rhythms. "I would… if he'd have me. But he won't."

Itachi ignored that. "He is much older. Could you conform to his ways? I'm sure he is not easy to live with. And I have heard rumors of his sexuality."

Akane looked at her father without blinking. "I'm not easy to live with either. I can handle his ways, since I work with him every day. And he's bisexual. I don't mind trying a threesome with him and another man."

That was more information than Itachi had been looking for. He was silent for a time. Then he glanced out the window and realized the hour was almost up. "Very well. I will see what I can do. You are willing to have children, of course?" He asked sternly.

Akane rolled her eyes. "Ugh. No way. And what do you mean you'll see what you can do?" Understanding hit her then and she nearly fell as she hurried to stand up. "You're not going to him, are you?? Daddy, you can't! He'll hate me if he knows about my feelings, you ca-"

Itachi strode purposefully toward the door. Akane wailed after him that he couldn't tell her feelings, but he only smiled. If he knew Morino Ibiki and the level of his intelligence, the man already knew. So naïve, his daughter. She must truly be in love to be so blind.

* * *

Ibiki was waiting in the dango shop, a cup of tea before him. He wondered briefly if this summons by Itachi had anything to do with last night. Usually he only sensed the girl outside his building. Last night he'd sensed the girl and her father both before they'd left.

Ibiki allowed a miniscule smile to curve one corner of his mouth as he thought about his subordinate. She was uncommonly skilled at interrogation and torture. Worse, she derived pleasure from breaking a victim. And worse _yet,_ he enjoyed watching her work. She was efficient, ruthless and thorough. A kunoichi after his own heart, in methods and tactics. She did not waste time nor was she lazy. A proactive and aggressive asset to their branch of ANBU.

He'd noticed her affections for him some months ago. She'd joined about a year previously. Shortly afterward, he became aware of her looking at him more often, bringing him items he needed before he asked for them, and things of that nature. He paid it no mind. Women and girls regularly became infatuated with him. He understood their need to tame him, and be the one to heal his 'damaged' soul. Or whatever it was they told themselves. At the root of it all was his naturally quiet, reserved and intolerant nature to frivolity and foolishness. He knew they termed him as the strong silent type, someone who was clearly suffering from lack of love. They threw themselves at him in droves, in their rabid obsession with being the one to crack his shell.

He ignored them all, solidifying their infatuation until it either drove them crazy or they lost interest out of self-preservation; surely there was something wrong with him if he failed to fall for a single one of the many women who wanted him. They told themselves this to assuage their broken hearts, or convince themselves that it was 'him, and not them'. And then they would invariably drag up his association with a few men and that would be the end of it. Their lust burned bright and hot for a few weeks or so, and then they would turn their sights to someone else.

But not this girl. Akane did not approach him, number one. She studied him from afar. He did not catch wind of her asking about him, or talking about him with girlish sighs or whimpers. Sometimes he would stare at her directly and she would stare back calmly, her heart in her eyes, but her lips stubbornly silent. There was great violence in her, that much he knew. Yet she did not attack the women who threw themselves at him. A few weeks ago when she'd begun watching his building, he'd wondered if she'd approach at last. He did not often find women appealing, sexually, but it had happened in the past. He might be forty-five, but he still had healthy appetites. And his relationship with Gai had ended some time ago. So had his relationship with Anko. He'd been prepared to sample her, if she offered, if only to satisfy his curiosity. She was of legal age, if barely. He wondered what bedding such a person would be like.

Ibiki was not unaware of the number of men and boys that seemed to flock to her and her sisters. He was sure they had all had sex with her. She was a blatantly sexual creature. She did not seem to be attached to any one male. And though she did not lack for company of the opposite sex, she still seemed infatuated with him. More and more curious.

Once, he'd left his clone in his apartment, and circled behind her hiding place to watch her as she watched him. He was a master of human psychology, understood the inner working of the human mind. And yet, as he stood some yards away from her, his chakra carefully masked, he could not figure out why this girl didn't approach him. She was afraid of nothing, of that he was sure. She went after what she wanted in life. She'd had on a pair of black shorts overalls and a tiny, barely there orange t-shirt. Her sable hair had been pulled back into a low tail, and left to curl and wave loosely over one shoulder. Her boots, the same boots she wore nearly every day, had gleamed dully in the faint light from the streetlamps. His eyes had traveled the length of her curvy legs, imagining their firmness, their texture. He had a thing for legs, both on men and women. Hers were muscled but smooth. After an hour, she'd sighed and left, flipping her hair over her shoulder so it jounced on her back as she jogged lightly away.

He couldn't say he was attracted to her. Her clothing was too strange and she was too wild… a lot like Anko, actually. She had control, where Anko generally had none. Anko, even to this day, tended to act before thinking, though she was intelligent and a strong fighter. Akane had a careful way about her approach to work, that Ibiki suspected stemmed from how she was raised. In all else, though, she was as wild as Anko.

An image of the girl's face rose in his mind. All that black gunk on her eyes, her long lashes tinted with blue or green… those odd gloves she wore sometimes… He grimaced. No, he wasn't attracted. But he was very curious. Intrigued, even.

Itachi arrived then, sliding into Ibiki's booth silently. A waitress brought Itachi a plate of dango and a small pot of tea. She asked if Ibiki would like his refreshed and he nodded. The woman left and the men looked at each other without speaking for a few minutes.

Ibiki's tea was brought and only then did Itachi speak. He did not beat around the bush, for which the older man was profoundly grateful. He hated idle chatter.

"My daughter, Akane, has an interest in you. If you are agreeable, she would have you for a husband." Itachi sipped from his tea.

Ibiki did not at first respond, watching as Itachi bit into a dango. "You would approve of this match?" He could not recall ever being proposed to. No, he'd never been approached for marriage. Women lusted after him, true, but they feared him too much to seek marriage. And he'd never liked the idea of matrimony. For the most part, he couldn't be bothered with all that marriage entailed. The sharing and talking and invasion of mind and space… It was why he generally ignored women. They were too damned needy.

"I would," Itachi said slowly, "provided you agreed to a few things."

Now Ibiki sipped from his tea as well. "Such as?"

"Such as children. _Uchiha _children. And a firm hand where my daughter is concerned."

So. He was to forgo the continuation of his family name in favor of rebuilding the Uchiha clan. This concerned him. If he were to bother to get married, it would only be to make sure his line continued. Well, he supposed he would be able to impregnate the girl with enough children to support both family names. After all, once she was his wife, Itachi had no say in the matter. Still… "She's very young. I'm old enough to be her father."

"True. But I don't feel you're too old. Do you?"

Ibiki grunted, polishing off his tea. He set the cup aside and sat forward, eyeing Itachi seriously. "I'm not a romantic man. If your daughter is expecting flowers and love…"

Itachi thought about it. His daughter no doubt would like for Ibiki to return her feelings. And he wanted his children to experience what he had with Gaara. Perhaps love would come in time. "She might be. But if you treat her well, I daresay she would accept friendship, if nothing else."

"I accept, then. I'm not getting any younger and a man needs heirs."

Itachi opened his mouth to protest. "Your children will be-"

"Will be mine and Akane's. One or two may well be Uchiha. I will not forsake the continuance of my line for your clan. Understood?"

Itachi's lips thinned. Then he gave a curt nod. "I have the contract ready with the council. I will have Akane meet you there to sign the papers. Contact me when the date is set."

Ibiki watched, somewhat shocked at the abruptness of the deal, as Itachi got up and left the shop. He sat where he was, mulling over this change in his life.

* * *

"WHAT!!! He _agreed?!?!?_ Tell… ME… _EVERYTHING!!!" _Akane screamed at the top of her lungs.

Itachi studied his nails. "I told him you wished to marry him. He agreed. You are to go to the council building and sign the marriage contract with him."

Akane staggered away from her father's horribly inadequate explanation, and leaned against the wall. Her hand clutched at her chest as she fought to draw breath.

"Yes, before I forget. Ibiki warns that he is not a romantic man, so don't expect love and romance from him. I believe he agreed so that he might sire heirs on you, but I'm sure he'll grow fond of you in time. There must be something there for him to have agreed in the first place, even if he does only want heirs. He would not have accepted just anyone, of that I am sure." He turned from inspecting his nails at hearing a dull thud. "Akane?"

Akane had fainted in the hall.

***

As it happened, Udon, Sumiko, Ibiki and Akane ended up at the council together. The girls screeched (Sumiko in a subdued and decorous manner) at learning they were both to be married. The bright idea came to them to have a joint wedding at the end of one month. Sumiko looked to Udon for approval and he gave an accepting nod. His wide smile matched hers.

Akane had been nervous at seeing Ibiki. She'd put on a conservative summer dress and her usual boots to come to the council building. She'd hoped he'd have something nice to say to her, but he only gave her a cursory glance and proceeded to sign his name in his cramped handwriting. She signed hers with a flourish and then Sumiko had walked in. Now, Akane looked to Ibiki to see what he thought of the idea of a joint wedding in one month.

He said nothing. He gave an imperceptible nod, though, and that was enough. He waited while Sumiko and Akane hugged and jumped and talked non-stop, as they all exited the council building.

"I mean, I didn't even know you and Ibiki-senpai were a thing," Sumiko was whispering furiously. "Wait till I tell everyone, oh my god, I-"

"Akane."

Both women stiffened at hearing the deep voice. Ibiki waited off to one side, looking at Akane. Sumiko said she'd catch her later and hurried away with Udon on her arm. Akane quelled the butterflies in her stomach and walked over to her fiancé. She stood meeting his gaze. "Yeah?"

"We should talk. Walk with me."

She fell into step beside him, noting how his 6' 3" frame towered over her. He was silent until he came to his building. With a jolt, she realized they were going inside. She hesitated a moment before following him up the stairs and to his door. She watched as he took out his keys and let himself in. He didn't hold the door for her.

Once inside, he dropped the keys on a side table and turned to lean against the door. She swallowed nervously as they stared at each other.

* * *

Itachi was well-satisfied with today's business. He only had one more stop to make.

Kenta was at the work table this time, examining a rock sample under a microscope. He looked up when the shop door opened. Kenji was in the back room. He came out when he, too, heard the front door open. Both brothers stared at their visitor.

"Hello, boys." It was afternoon, the light in the shop starting to dim, but even so, they were able to see Itachi's unpleasant grin. "I believe we have some unsettled matters to discuss."

Itachi closed and locked the door behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! And **Hatake Tsughi**, thanks for giving thought-provoking comments. I'll be sure not to overlook trademark jutsus in the future :D

A pic of Naru and Sasu from Irresistible is up on my DA page for those, interested...

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 9

Raiden wasn't doing so well. Throughout the morning he'd been waiting for one of those visions to strike, expecting it… but one never came. Instead of relieving him, it wound his nerves tighter and tighter until he felt as brittle as glass. No one seemed to notice though, as they went about their usual tasks.

Itachi had come home around mid afternoon looking unnaturally content. He proceeded to tell them how his day went as they sat down to lunch. It was only the girls, Raiden and Gaara, since Shouta and the triplets had escaped to spend the day with their friends. Itachi stopped at saying he'd visited Kenta and Kenji to look at Raiden.

"Anymore of what we discussed last night?" He asked his silent nephew.

Raiden looked up from contemplation of his plate to tell his uncle no, and saw the wall behind him peeling away in layers of paper. Sound seemed to fall away as the face of a woman appeared beneath the layers. She looked at him with an utter lack of emotion, her yellowish eyes impersonal and somehow beautiful.

"Raiden?"

Raiden came back to himself with a start, and saw that Uncle Itachi was standing next to his chair, shaking his shoulder. Uncle Gaara was standing, leaning with his hands on the table and the girls were looking at him with curiosity and fear. He looked back to the wall and saw that it was just a wall. Itachi gave him a gentle shake this time.

"Did it happen again just now?" He asked quietly.

Raiden nodded slowly, feeling ashamed and exposed and not understanding why.

"What did this one look like?"

Raiden's lips were dry as he spoke in a hoarse whisper. "A woman. Some kind of origami freak."

"Konan," Itachi said. His voice held an emotion Raiden couldn't identify and didn't care to analyze. He stared dumbly at his plate, at his uneaten food. Itachi's hand was still on his shoulder. Raiden figured he might as well get it all out.

"And last night… there was someone outside the window. An old-looking guy and a young one. The young one used a puppet."

"Sasori?" Gaara asked Itachi. The older man nodded grimly.

"What's happening to me?" Raiden asked. "Why am I seeing these people if they're dead?"

Itachi heard how his nephew's voice cracked, and laid a hand in his thick hair. "I don't know. I wish I did."

Raiden could feel Aimi looking at him. His cousins had lost interest and Yanagi seemed unconcerned. Raiden suddenly wanted to be out of the house, feeling the air and walls pressing in on him. "Can I be excused?"

"Of course," Gaara said.

Raiden got up and nearly ran in his haste to be away from the confining house. He breathed a sigh of relief once the wind and sun hit his face. What had he stayed cooped up in the house for? The outdoors was just what the doctor ordered. He decided to head over to Asuma's.

***

Itachi stared thoughtfully at the door his nephew had so recently exited from. He dimly heard one of his granddaughters say something about watching a tape, heard the others clearing up from lunch, but his mind was on his nephew. Should he contact the boy's parents? No. He would need Raiden or Aimi to do it, since he didn't know where they were, and he didn't want to interrupt them. They needed this time to get their relationship back on track. He just felt so powerless. He was sure Naruto and his brother, familiar with Raiden and the nature of his abilities, would be able to help the boy. The idea that his nephew was suffering through Itachi's lack of knowledge… Itachi turned from studying the door and located Gaara.

He was in the main room, putting a tape on for Mai. Itachi went to ask if Gaara would speak with him a moment and collapsed as he stepped, barefoot, on a small object that sent a bolt of pain up his leg. He turned to examine what he'd stepped on.

A blue oblong piece of plastic, smaller than his finger. What-

"Be careful, Grandpa," Momo said sweetly. "Don't step on the Legos!"

A sickeningly goofy voice singing about nonsense swelled in the room and Itachi stared at the huge, fat, purple… thing dancing across the TV screen. Mai seemed to dance along with it.

Itachi gestured for Gaara to come with him and they made it to the hall where the singing was slightly muted.

"I don't know what to do about him," Itachi stated in a low voice.

Gaara didn't ask who they were speaking about. "Neither do I. What do you think these visions mean?"

"I don't know. If they lived, I would assume they were coming."

Gaara rubbed a finger across his lips in thought. "What if they are?"

Itachi had been studying the finger, feeling a certain heat settle on his skin. "How?"

"Never mind how. What if they were? We can never understand Raiden or the power surrounding him. In all that we don't understand, might it not be possible that they pose some threat?"

The heat left as Itachi considered this. "Akatsuki, back?"

Gaara nodded.

Itachi turned and presented him with his profile as he folded his arms. "Let us assume that they were coming back. They'd captured all but the Bijuu Naruto carries. They were after Raiden. And Aimi would be coveted just as much. My brother's entire family would be in danger." He turned to look at Gaara. "But they. Are. Dead. Dead, Gaara."

Gaara sighed. He looked toward the house door where knocking sounded. "We need to know what those visions mean. And I think we need to have an in-depth talk with Raiden when he gets back."

Itachi agreed with a shake of his head as Gaara answered the door. It was Sumiko and Udon.

* * *

"Have you taken leave of your senses?" Itachi asked in a dangerously low voice. "One month? It is too soon, you barely know each other."

Sumiko only smiled winningly. "It's perfect. Why wait when we love each other and want to be together?"

Gaara, Itachi, Sumiko and Udon were in one of the empty rooms on the ground floor. It was dusty and empty of furniture. Itachi eyed his daughter shrewdly. "Are you carrying new life? Is that the reason for this haste?"

Sumiko covered her reddening face with her hands as Udon nervously pushed his glasses up. "No, sir," he stammered. "We haven't… there isn't…"

Itachi's lips tightened. "There has been no sex?"

Sumiko turned from her father with a mortified moan. Udon patted her shoulder comfortingly while managing a jerky nod.

"Still. One month is too soon. I only had the contracts drawn up and signed to get things started, not so you could engage in this madness. Choose another date. A later date."

"Oh, but Daddy," Sumiko wailed. "Akane and I are having a joint wedding and-"

"_What?" _Itachi hissed severely.

* * *

Across the village, Ibiki was engaged in a similar conversation.

"Are all of the Uchiha unbalanced?" He asked Akane with mild curiosity.

Akane bristled. Ibiki fancied he could actually see her ponytail growing bushy with indignation. "Don't you insult my family! What do you know? You don't know anything about us!"

"And would that work the other way? Do you know anything about me?"

Akane flipped the ponytail haughtily in a practiced move. "Yes. I know you."

Ibiki studied her. "You know my work habits. You know nothing about me. What _I _don't know is why your father is in such a hurry to marry you off, and why you agreed to such a hasty wedding."

"You agreed to it, too."

"An Uchiha is quite a catch for someone like myself. The contract was there, I signed. But I had planned on taking time to know each other. I agreed to the wedding because it is only a ceremony. I can choose to live apart from you after the wedding until I feel I know you better."

Akane's eyes widened. "Live apart?"

"Yes. Preferably, I'd like to postpone the wedding for a year. If I am to live with someone, I would like harmony in my house. But if you insist on having the wedding so soon, I see no choice but to continue afterwards as if it didn't take place."

"Then why'd you agree?" Akane demanded.

"You seemed to want it very much."

Akane tilted her head to the side. "So let me get this straight. You only want to marry me because of my name and the fact that you want kids?"

"I agreed to marry you for those reasons and because you seem to have an interest in me, yes," Ibiki corrected. "I said nothing of wanting."

Akane was not easily daunted by this statement, Ibiki saw. His respect for her climbed a notch. He saw how her chin firmed with resolve at hearing that he didn't necessarily want her, and decided to ask something that had been puzzling him.

"Of all the women to become infatuated with me, you're the only one to request marriage. Why? And why were you so set on making the wedding so soon, when you know perfectly well that I do not return the attraction?"

She didn't know how to answer. At the council building, she'd been so excited to be marrying the man she loved, that she hadn't stopped to consider all that it meant or if he had feelings for her. Part of her assumed he did or he wouldn't have agreed to marry her. But now, hearing from his own lips that he only wanted a baby machine, she felt some of her enthusiasm wane a bit.

But only a bit.

True, at the house she'd pleaded with her father not to divulge her feelings…but now that the contract was signed, and her fiancé was asking, she decided to be upfront about it. Akane looked Ibiki in the eye. "I'm not really sentimental. I have fun with guys and all, but it's not real. Not the real me. So I'm only going to say this once, just to have it out of the way between us, okay?"

Ibiki gave a small nod, wondering what she'd say.

"I'm in love with you. I love how you're serious and don't take bullshit. I love how strong you are and how beautiful. I love how you ignore women, but came to watch me stalking you that time. Yeah, I knew about that," she said when his eyes widened. "I waited to see if you'd say something or just stand behind me, thinking I didn't sense you. I love your whole minimalist attitude, since it means I can potentially fuck you up royally if I want. And I love your scars. Your scars really turn me on." Here her eyes roved over his face.

Ibiki was speechless. Completely speechless. Beautiful? Fuck him up??? His _scars? _Before he could un-stick his tongue from the roof of his mouth, she went on.

"As to why I agreed to the early date, well… I can't wait to be married to you so we can start having fun." She gave a shrug and a lopsided grin.

Morino Ibiki reigned in his shock. "You will not be manipulating me with your insanity or 'fucking me up', whatever that term means to you in this case. I'll accept that you feel such an irrational emotion as love, but know now that I do not return the sentiment. What fun you expect to have with me I cannot imagine, but understand this." Ibiki took a few steps closer to her. "Whatever relationships you have going with other men, stops now. I will not be cuckolded."

Akane snorted. "Whenever you take the time to find out –and I hope it's soon- you'll find I'm untouched. Well, a virgin, at any rate. But I'll lay off the guys, if you want. It was only a game anyway."

Ibiki blinked. "You're a virgin?"

"Yup."

"I see."

"And about this whole getting to know each other thing. I don't plan on living apart from your sexy body, so what do you say we get started? You can take me out on a date tonight."

Already the girl sought to control him. He could find no reason to deny the request. Wild as she was, she had sense and it was the intelligent thing to do at this point in time. "Very well. We will meet at this location." He gave her an address.

"Why can't you come pick me up at my place like a gentleman?"

Ibiki held his door open for her. "I am a ninja, not a gentleman. Meet me or sit at home, as you like."

Akane walked forward. She paused at the doorway, looking up at him. "How about a kiss?"

Ibiki refrained from recoiling. Kissing. He could remember doing it perhaps twice, but it was generally one of those things he never did, seeing it as an expression of emotions he did not ever feel around people. "No."

"Why?"

Ibiki could see her interest was piqued to an unholy degree. He gave her the truth. "I can not express feelings I don't have for you. Besides, I find it distasteful."

"Oh. Well, I have feelings for you. Can I kiss you? Maybe you'll like the way I do it."

Did nothing faze the chit??? "I do not advise it."

"We're engaged. Consider it part of the 'getting to know me' process. If you won't kiss me, how will you have sex with me?"

Unbeknownst to Ibiki, he mimicked Akane's own father back in his ignorant days, with his next statement. "One hardly has anything to do with the other."

Akane twisted her mouth thoughtfully, cocking one hip. She gave a decisive nod. "I'm going to kiss you."

He didn't object, merely stared at her. Akane took this for assent. She stepped up to him and stood on tip toe, throwing her arms behind her for balance. She planted a firm, close-lipped kiss on his mouth before thumping back to her heels. Then she left, without looking to see what his reaction was.

Ibiki closed his door with a muttered oath of relief. He could appreciate now how much of herself she'd held back at the job. Had he known what being the focus of her attentions would be like, he might have reconsidered accepting Itachi's proposal. He'd known she was wild, but this was too much. She was like an avalanche, crushing all in her path with her unabashed outlook on life. God, the things she had said to him! He did not think there was a man who knew his name that would dare tell him to his face that they planned to 'fuck him up'. What did that mean, anyway? What was she planning? And she thought him beautiful? No woman had dared say half the things she'd said. Ibiki concluded that his young fiancé was disturbed, seriously so, to be aroused at the sight of his scars. Not even the possibility of them giving testimony to his strength, supported this idea.

Her kiss had been chaste. He'd been slightly disappointed. A girl of her wanton behavior, he'd expected something less… clinical. He quickly reminded himself that he didn't like kissing. Ibiki groaned inwardly at remembering he had a date with the hellion later.

* * *

Asuma wasn't home. Hiroshi refused to see him, yelling something about Raiden's dad hurting his uncle. Shouta couldn't be found. Raiden ended up walking towards the training grounds with Choukichi at his side.

Raiden studied his friend from the corner of his eye as they walked, Choukichi steadily eating from a bag of chips. His hair was dark brown like his mother's, but thick and spiky like his dad's. His eyes were a light tan color, also like his dad's, but large like his mother's. He was stout, quite as stout as Aimi. As if this thought went from Raiden to the boy beside him, Choukichi turned to him with a smile.

"How's Aimi?"

"Fine. Why?"

"She was in the hospital recently. I was just wondering, is all."

"Oh. Well, she's fine."

Choukichi nodded happily. "She's a strong girl."

"I guess. You like her?"

Choukicki made his face carefully blank. "Of course."

"No, I mean _like her, _like her."

Choukichi ate another chip. "Why. Has she said something?"

"Not really. But I notice how you look at her."

"I'm not the only one," the Akimichi heir said defensively.

"No, but you're the one I'm talking to now. Do you think about her? Like…" Raiden ran a hand through his hair, suddenly unable to voice it. He amended what he was going to say. "Well, not her. But do you think about kissing girls?"

Thoughtful silence greeted this. Raiden liked Asuma a lot, and Shouta's friends, but Choukichi was cool to hang with because he didn't make fun of the serious stuff. "Sometimes."

"Oh. Have you? Kissed anyone?"

A glance and a blush. "Once. This girl at the academy."

"How was it?"

"Hot. It made me feel hot."

"Did it make you feel all… wild and junk? Like you wanted to have sex?"

This was given careful consideration. "Wild? No. But my prick tingled."

Raiden was envious. His prick never tingled. He had an understanding that this was a precursor to puberty and sex. "Did it get hard?"

"Kind of. Yeah."

"Choukichi… You ever see a girl naked? Or… you know. Touched her someplace?"

They had reached the training grounds, and by unspoken agreement, continued walking until they reached the trees. They were ambling now through the undergrowth, woodland sounds around them.

After some minutes of silence, Choukichi said no, he'd never done either of those things. "Have you?" He asked Raiden.

"No."

"All the girls want you. Lucky swine."

"Can't imagine why."

"'Can't imagine why,'" Choukichi mimicked in a whiney voice. "Look at you, you're the handsomest boy around, with Hiroshi second and Asuma third."

Raiden had heard this before, but since he couldn't see it himself, he chose to ignore it. Abruptly, he changed the subject. "You ever get nightmares?"

"Not often."

"What about … seeing stuff when you're awake. That's not there."

"No. They have a word for that. It's called going crazy."

Raiden hated hearing his thoughts echoed like that, but really, wasn't it the truth? Wasn't he losing his ever-loving mind, seeing dead people?

"Let's play the tossing game," Choukichi said. Raiden was glad of the suggestion. It took his mind off of his problems.

The tossing game was simple. It involved Raiden grabbing a boy (or girl) by the forearms, swinging them bodily around three times and then letting go. The fun was in seeing how far the person flew. They usually played it when all the boys were present, but two players were more than enough. Raiden was always the one doing the tossing since he was the strongest. Occasional injuries such as crashing face first into trees, or coming down on one's head, added a delicious element of risk to game, one each player embraced wholeheartedly.

* * *

Akane got home and was met at the door by Akiko and Asami. Their arms were folded. Each had one foot tapping. Their Sharingan was in place.

"You have a ton of explaining to do," Asami said scathingly.

"I already got us three gallons of Double Chocolate Chunk ice-cream," Akiko sniffed. "Grab your tub and meet us in the garden. Traitorous bitch," she added for good measure.

Akane stripped off her summer dress, leaving her denim cutoffs and a sports bra. She dutifully found her gallon of ice-cream in the freezer, got a spoon and went to meet her sisters in the backyard. She was looking forward to the heated argument that was sure to follow. These 'discussions' over ice-cream were a bonding exercise for them, almost a weekly occurrence. A guilty pleasure mixed with cathartic fighting. What could be better? Externalizing their clashing differences with catty remarks, vicious name-calling and sly innuendo increased the enjoyment of the ice-cream appreciably, and vice versa. It was one of their favorite pastimes. The compulsive need to abuse themselves with toxic amounts of ice cream and each other's acerbic tempers, likely stemmed from each girl's excessively violent nature.

* * *

Itachi rolled off of Gaara's back and looked at the clock. Nearly five. Almost time for dinner. Well, he'd worked up a good appetite. He sighed, satiated and content. He stared at the ceiling, letting his mind wander.

"I cannot help but wonder," Gaara's muffled voice intoned, "if it is your intention to incapacitate me to the point where I'm unable to return to Suna."

"Nonsense." Itachi turned and draped an arm across Gaara's back. The man was on his stomach, face turned away from Itachi.

"I've never known you to need sex more than once or twice a day, possibly three times a week. Now five times a day, every day?" Gaara turned his head to look at Itachi. "I'm not sure how much longer I'll survive."

Gaara's words recalled something to Itachi. "I went to see Kenta and Kenji today, as I mentioned earlier. Before I… demanded their respect, they had the nerve to suggest that if I wanted the clan rebuilt so badly, that I do it myself."

"Which you have already done," Gaara said with a puzzled frown.

"No. They meant if I wanted to keep rebuilding it. They said you should perform Sexy no Jutsu and I should impregnate you. The way Raiden and Aimi were conceived."

Gaara sat bolt upright, sucking air sharply through his nose. "_And??"_

"And what?" Itachi asked idly. "Their insolence is boundless. I corrected them sharply, as I'd intended to do."

"Corrected…" Gaara narrowed his eyes.

Itachi looked away, as if the subject was of little consequence. "They are unmarked, don't worry. I barely touched them. But I believe they'll be quite proper now."

Gaara made a mental note to check on those two soon. It was only later that he realize Itachi hadn't said he found the Sexy no Jutsu idea abhorrent.

***

Downstairs, Raiden was helping Sumiko cook dinner. Udon had taken Kaito's girls to the park. Shouta was in the main room with the triplets. Yanagi was supposedly giving Aimi one of her stupid makeovers upstairs.

"Hand me the colander," Sumiko asked.

"Where is it?"

"In that bottom cabinet there."

Raiden went to the cabinet, opened it and just managed to keep in his cry at seeing the not-person staring at him from the shadowy depths. Raiden closed the cabinet quickly, slamming the door.

"You didn't see it?" Sumiko asked from behind him.

Raiden wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. "No."

Sumiko went to the cabinet herself and found what she needed. She instructed Raiden to dice the vegetables for her, while she handled the meat. Raiden nodded and reached for one of the knives in the butcher block.

The sound of a large blade swinging through the air came to Raiden, and he turned. The guy was decked out in black and white, a three-pronged scythe coming at his head.

"Raiden!"

He snapped his head around. "Huh?"

"What are you doing?!" Sumiko's face showed alarm as she stared at her younger cousin.

Raiden looked down at his hand and saw that he had a Death Sphere swirling and ready. The knife was embedded in the wall, where the scythe guy had been. He slowly let his chakra dissipate.

It was too much. He could handle anything that came at him. But not this. Not this unrelenting attack on his mind. Every nerve in his body was drawn to the breaking point. He felt strained and tense and scared, almost to the point of wetting himself. He'd seen some dude with snakes coming out of his mouth, when he'd been with Choukichi today. He'd tried to help Sumiko in an effort to forget the visions, but nothing worked. Not going out, not playing, not doing boring cooking shit, and not telling his uncle. The visions would keep on coming until they drove him totally bananas and then… then he didn't know what, but he didn't think it would be pretty.

"Raiden?" Sumiko came towards him. He left the kitchen before he had to explain himself and went into the living room. An arm-wrestling match was going on between Shouta and Masaru. The ten-year-old wasn't winning, but he wasn't losing either, which had Shouta cursing.

Raiden sat in a chair, dangling one leg over the stuffed arm. He hadn't slept or been able to eat. He was dizzy. Right behind Shouta another man materialized. He just shimmered out of thin air and Raiden thought, _I'm not going to fight it. If they hurt me, then at least I'll know they're real. _

It was the one with the swirly eyes. He remembered him from before. When he was a baby. He came toward Raiden now, and suddenly more of the swirly-eyed people were behind him, all approaching Raiden with stately grace. As if they belonged in Itachi's house, stalking his nephew.

Raiden glanced at his cousins. They saw nothing, felt nothing. They continued to play and shout, but the sound was muted now. Fading away until all Raiden heard was the soft footfalls of those guys on the carpet, the gentle swish of their cloaks. They did not look away from him, and he didn't look away from them. His eyes rose to maintain eye-contact, the nearer they drew. When they were right in front of him they stopped. The one in the lead reached a hand toward him.

_I won't feel anything, _Raiden thought dreamily. _His hand will pass through me like air and the vision will go away. All I have to do is tough it out._

The hand stopped right before it closed over his throat. It hovered below his chin, not touching him yet. Raiden searched those inhuman eyes and asked a simple question.

"Are you real?"

Pein answered without inflection. "Very real. And we will kill you."

The hand closed on Raiden's throat with lethal force and began to squeeze.

* * *

"What the hell??" Shouta whirled at hearing Raiden's hoarse scream. The boy was kicking and yelling in the chair, apparently asleep. He seemed to be clutching his throat, trying to pull something away. His face first turned red, then blue and he started choking.

"Oh God," Shouta yelled. He ran for his cousin, trying to pull his hands down from his neck. It was like trying to pull a tree, the boy's hands wouldn't budge. Raiden was cursing through his blue lips, saying he was going to kill someone first. His eyes flew open and they were red, slit-pupiled and furious. His chakra began leaking out of him.

Masaru was there, trying to help. He pulled on one hand, while Shouta pulled on the other. Aimi and Yanagi came down the stairs then, to see what all the noise was about. Yanagi gasped as one of her brothers was knocked backward hard enough to crash into the coffee table. Aimi saw her own brother struggling… and remembered that morning she'd been hurt.

She remembered everything.

She hadn't been attacked. It had been Raiden. Raiden had had a nightmare he couldn't wake from. She'd gone to get her daddy, had come back and Raiden had killed him, had killed almost everyone… and then she'd turned time backward.

It came to her in one bright flash, the sight of Raiden's chakra and Shouta struggling to wake him while holding him down, triggering it. She was frightened all over again as she realized all that she'd forgotten, and the possible significance. Her eyes changed, she drew air into her lungs and turned to look up the stairs behind her.

* * *

Itachi was nuzzling Gaara's shoulder, his hand slipping appreciatively along the silky skin of Gaara's ass. He heard the noise downstairs, but it was dim. He thought the kids were rough-housing and playing as they sometimes did. The noise would be perfect cover for another round with-

**"UNCLE ITACHI!!!"**

The scream shook the entire house, vibrated against his ear drums and rattled the furniture. Itachi was up, a cloak thrown around him, and down the stairs before the windows stopped shaking. He had no idea who the inhumanly loud voice belonged to, but he obeyed it nonetheless. Gaara was hardly any slower in following him.

***

Itachi entered the main room to witness a scene of chaos. Raiden was standing, his cousins cowering behind pieces of furniture as he hurled Death Spheres left and right, his red eyes seeing phantoms that weren't there. Sumiko crouched to one side with Yanagi. Only Aimi stood in the middle of the room, her chakra surrounding her. Raiden's deadly spheres did not penetrate her protection. Aimi's face was determined, her yellow eyes crinkled shut as she opened her mouth to yell for her uncle again.

Itachi strode to Raiden, dodging a sphere. He hit him hard with a Genjutsu and was about to put him to sleep, when Aimi spoke urgently from behind him.

"No, don't! Don't make him go to sleep or be unconscious! It'll be worse. Just make him stop. Please hurry, Uncle Itachi!" Aimi was so scared. Truthfully, she should have thought of Genjutsu first herself, but… well, she didn't do too well under stress.

Itachi changed what he was about to do. He moved closer to where Raiden was crouched, snarling and transforming. His wings unfolded from his back and took up most of the space in the destroyed living room. Itachi got him in a choke hold, Gaara latching on to his wrists. Itachi worked quickly, knowing how fast Raiden could call forth those inimitable techniques. At this proximity, neither he nor Gaara would stand a chance. He bracketed Raiden's forehead with one hand and shot a sharp pulse of chakra into the boy's head.

Raiden's brain synapses were shorted out long enough for him to go limp. He wasn't unconscious, but he was in a brief vegetative state. Itachi supported Raiden's flaccid body, dragging him to the one piece of furniture that had miraculously remained intact. Gaara attempted to fold Raiden's wings so the boy could fit on the couch. Aimi came over to her brother and burst into full blown dry-eyed hysterics, collapsing onto his chest and wailing as if the boy had died. Itachi dragged her back and handed her to Gaara. Gaara took the trembling girl and backed away. Yanagi, her brothers, Shouta and Sumiko joined him and then stood aside, as Itachi lifted Raiden's lids to inspect his pupils.

After a few minutes, Raiden gasped and jerked on the couch. His eyes focused as he came back to himself. Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been afraid he'd put too much chakra into the boy's brain. The jutsu wore off by itself after a few minutes if done correctly, but if done too recklessly…

Raiden's face stiffened as he tried not to cry. He looked at his uncle, at the concern on his face and lost his private battle. He turned away, toward the back of the couch, and hid his face as the sobs came.

Itachi looked over his shoulder and nodded for Gaara to take everyone out of the room. Aimi refused to leave. Itachi allowed her to stay as he turned back to his nephew, and grasped his shaking shoulder.

"Raiden… come, look at me. It's done now, over. Pull yourself together."

Itachi's gentle but brisk approach helped, oddly enough. Raiden hiccupped his way back to control as he made his body return to normal. He rolled and sat up on the couch. He wiped his face with the heels of his hands and took a shuddery breath. Finally he looked up at his uncle.

"I want my dad. I want him now. I can't take this, I can't take being scared all the time and seeing those people. I thought they weren't real, but they touched me and I couldn't stop it. I-"

"Silence," Itachi said quietly. Raiden was silent. Itachi looked around the room. He could clearly see outside through the holes in the walls. Wires dangled, wooden beams were exposed… His house would need serious repairs. He looked back to his nephew. "Is it getting worse?"

"Yes. I see them everywhere, all the time now." He told the descriptions of the Akatsuki members he'd seen, and saw his uncle frown at hearing about the snake guy. "I don't know what to do."

Neither did Itachi. Aimi spoke up, reminding both uncle and brother that she was present.

"I think this is connected to that morning I was hurt. I remember. All of it."

They looked at her.

"Raiden was having a nightmare, worse than what was happening now. No one could wake him up, not even Daddy. Raiden's chakra went wild… It-it killed Daddy and Papa and Shouta… He would have killed us all. I had to do it, I had to reverse it."

Aimi wrung her hands. Her eyes were far away. Her face was drawn, pale. Itachi stood slowly. Raiden stared in horrified fascination, sure he'd heard wrong.

"What do you mean, Sasuke was killed," Itachi said dangerously. "Speak sense! My son and brother are alive, as is your fa-"

"Time. I turned back time to reverse it. I had to. I had to do it, Uncle Itachi! I couldn't let them be dead. Never. Oh, please, never that."

Itachi, stunned, stared at his niece. Her eyes were dark blue again, but at that moment he was keenly aware that neither she nor her brother were normal. Raiden came past Itachi's still figure and stood in front of his sister.

"Aimi? Oh my god. Swear it… swear that's the truth… I would n-never hurt D-Dad or Pops… that… you… no." Raiden covered his face with his hands. "Jesus, no no no. Please no."

Itachi spoke through nerveless lips. "Aimi, your fathers never mentioned your ability to manipulate time. Are you sure you-"

"They don't know. I never told. I only did it once before and… well, I didn't think they would like hearing about it. I swear it's the truth."

Itachi sat down heavily on the couch. His eyes ran aimlessly over the destruction, his mind trying to grasp what he'd heard. It couldn't. He could not understand it, and so he pushed it aside to focus on facts. "You have this ability. Very well. You've used it to bring back the dead. I will talk about that later. I think what needs to be addressed is what Raiden dreamed about. I sense this dream was significant in some way?"

"The dreams… those kind of dreams tell me when something bad is going to happen. To my family," Raiden said from behind his hands.

"But then we must know what the dream was," Itachi said urgently. "Can you remember?"

Raiden shook his head, his face still in his hands. Aimi went to him and hugged him. He hugged her back, profoundly grateful for the solid support of her stocky body. His tremors calmed as he buried his face in her thick hair. He squeezed her hard, liking how her meaty arms squeezed him back. Her fat was comforting and unyielding and filled his arms nicely. He sighed harshly in relief, weak with terror and trying desperately to keep it together.

"He can't remember, Uncle Itachi. I put us back before the dream happened. So now it's like it never took place." Aimi reached up to stroke her brother's sweaty hair.

Itachi could understand that. Reversing time must create an alternate timeline, in this instance, one where the dream, and so the deaths, never took place. God, Sasuke. But no, he was alive.

"Aimi, you must tell your parents of this," Itachi rasped. His voice was gone, the shock of it all suddenly too much. "When they get back. I will not disturb them now, not even for this. They need this time alone. Can you go back and see the dream, Aimi?"

She shook her head sadly against Raiden's shoulder. "I can't go back just myself. I can only take everyone and everything back. Even if I could, I don't think I could go back to that moment and see his dream. Only Raiden could."

Itachi nodded thoughtfully. "What we need is an understanding of these visions and this dream. There must be a _reason _for this. If only there was someone learned in this phenomena-"

Raiden picked his head up. "There is. I mean… I know someone who gets visions all the time and understands them and everything." His voice held hope and a touch of excitement.

Aimi frowned, not knowing who he could be talking about. Itachi said, "Who?"

"Phoebe. Phoebe Halliwell."

Aimi gasped and did a little hop. She was smiling. Itachi looked blank. "Who is this person?"

"Wyatt's aunt. I bet she could help me," Raiden said. "It's her forte. If anyone could tell me why I was having these visions, or help me get that dream back, it's her. I have to go to her."

Itachi gave it careful reflection. They needed answers. Immediately. He didn't know how much longer the boy could suffer the visions. Already his face showed strain. Naruto entrusted the care of his children to him and Gaara. He would do his best. The thought of contacting his brother and Naruto to handle this occurred to him… but they'd been on the brink of separating permanently, and if their relationship could be salvaged, they needed this time alone. Itachi rubbed his forehead, where an ache was developing.

"All right. Perhaps this Fee-Bee can help. But I dislike the idea of sending you to another world alone."

Raiden just barely kept from rolling his eyes. "Um. I've kind of been doing it since I was born. I think I'll be okay." He felt tons better now that help was in sight.

"Even so, someone should go with you," Itachi insisted.

"Ooh, me!" Aimi raised her hand and jumped up and down. "Me, please! I want to go!"

Itachi shook his head. "No. I need you here in case something goes wrong, and I need you to bring us back."

"Nothing will go wrong-" Raiden interjected.

"I'm needed here to oversee my clan," Itachi muttered to himself. "Who can I send?"

Raiden and Aimi looked at each other.

* * *

Akane arrived on time and still found Ibiki waiting for her. The man was wearing the same clothes he always wore. She plopped herself down on the small iron work chair and looked around. They were at some kind of café. Trees and bushes were artfully placed so that each small round table seemed to be secluded from the other tables seeded around the garden. Each table had two chairs, a large umbrella shading the table's inhabitants and one candle. It was evening now, but the umbrella was open, lending to the close, intimate atmosphere. She finally turned to look at the man across from her.

Ibiki had been plagued with thoughts of her and the brutish force of her personality. He'd experienced a certain amount of dread, mixed with anticipation, for this 'date'. She came dressed in a frilly blouse and one of her ridiculously short skirts. That gunk was around her eyes and her lashes seemed tinged with purple. The same color as her blouse. The boots were gone and replaced with sandals. Ibiki spent a few seconds taking in her shapely little feet, noting the black polish and the Uchiha fan on her toes. He liked her feet and legs.

"In the future," he began, "you will refrain from wearing that garbage on your face. I prefer you natural. And your clothing is too provocative." He sat back and waited for her to protest. She would learn he was not someone to disobey.

Akane propped her chin idly in her hand. "I'll ditch the heavy make-up. As for my clothes, that sounds like you're jealous. But that would be impossible, since you don't have feelings for me. And I saw the way you checked my legs out. If you plan on living apart from me, the least you can allow yourself is the sight of my legs. You like?" She kicked one leg up leisurely, giving a tantalizing view of her white panties as she crossed the leg over the other.

Ibiki's face didn't change. "I will not have you disrespecting me by showing your body to other men like this."

Akane thought about that. "I don't see why you're so interested in what men see of me." She didn't add that he had no right to display jealousy, since all he wanted her for was babies. She figured once they were married officially, it would be time enough to tell him that she had no intention of having kids.

"I'm interested in my wife bringing shame on my head. One would only dress the way you do to bring attention to herself. Which implies that she doesn't care what her husband thinks or feels, if she desires the attention of other men so much."

"Actually, I dress this way because it makes me feel good… but lets go with your assessment for the time being," Akane said lazily. She shifted her legs, noting how his eyes dropped to them briefly; the table was glass and quite see-through. "If I'm dressing this way to draw the attention of other men, then I must be starved for attention, right? It would then fall to you, as my husband, to give me the attention I'm seeking. If I were completely besotted with you, and receiving the attention I so desperately crave, might I not dress more conservatively?"

Ibiki wrinkled his nose. "Aren't you already besotted? You said you loved me."

_He's got balls, to bring that up, _Akane thought approvingly. "Maybe you equate love with stupidity, but I don't. It's actually a painful, debilitating thing. I try not to think about it. I can't help it or control it, so I tend to ignore it. Well?"

She was fascinating in the way she thought. "Well what?"

"Do you agree to my proposal?"

"You mentioned no proposal."

"Sure I did. The proposal was that if you pay attention to me, I would then dress to your liking."

She was awful. Worse, a thousand times worse, than Anko could ever hope to be. And he found himself considering it, much to his disgust. If bringing her on these dates ensured she kept herself covered, then it was a small price to pay. "By attention, you mean more of these outings? How often?"

Akane smiled sweetly. "Oh no, not at all. These dates are for us to get to know each other. Quite separate from the attention thing. By attention, I mean interest. Compliments, presents… touching."

Ibiki narrowed his small eyes. "Touching?"

"Mmhm. Kissing, fondling… I mean, I'm an innocent little virgin. I can't be expected to let you mount me like some animal in the woods, if I don't feel comfortable with your touch." She lowered her lashes demurely.

"I see."

"Do you?"

"Yes. I see that you think me one of your idiotic boy toys, someone easily manipulated."

"Hardly." Akane stretched, then fanned herself. "Kind of warm out tonight, don't you think? I think I'll take my blouse off."

Ibiki sneered. "And I think I will tell your father this wedding can't go forward. I will go to the council tomorrow and have the contract terminated."

Akane paused in the act of unbuttoning her blouse. Perhaps she'd gone too far. She left her blouse as it was, the first two buttons undone to show the beginning of her modest cleavage. "I don't think I'm hot after all. But I'm serious about the attention."

Ibiki did not comment as a waitress came and asked if they'd like to order. Akane said she wanted tea. Ibiki ordered coffee. He did not care for this attention she wanted from him. He decided to get on with the business of getting to know her.

"What is important to you in life?" He asked.

Akane appeared to think. As she did so, she reached into the small purse in her lap and took out a napkin. She wet it with the water the waitress had brought and proceeded to clean off her make-up. "Well, contrary to what my dad thinks, my family is important to me. Doing well at my job is important to me, and being a strong kunoichi. And you. You're important to me. What's important to you?"

Ibiki thought this was perhaps the only time he'd seen her face devoid of make-up. Her eyes were large and a velvety brown. Her skin was smooth and fine. He liked her face, liked the way her naturally dark lashes made small sweeping motions when she blinked. "Loyalty. Courage. Honor. This village. Serving this village to the best of my ability."

Akane threw her soiled napkin into a nearby waste basket. "Do you think I'll be important to you someday?"

Ibiki preferred not to answer that. Their hot beverages arrived and they sipped in silence for awhile. Since she'd been considerate enough to remove her make-up for him, he decided he would respond in kind by paying her a compliment. "Your face is pleasing to me."

Akane, already inwardly trembling with excitement over this date, felt her insides warm at his words. "Thank you. Yours is pleasing to me, too."

"Women do not generally find me handsome."

"Why do you think they flock to you in droves, then?"

"They think to rescue me from my solitary existence, and nurture me."

Akane laughed. "So true! But seriously, you know you're gorgeous, right?"

Her laugh was pleasant, not too loud. Her teeth were small, white and even. "No."

"Well, I think you are." She stared at him frankly, liking the way his swarthy face darkened in discomfort.

She asked him questions, to which he gave single-word answers, until he said he had to leave. He walked her back to her house.

***

Ibiki had learned quite a bit about her this evening. As he walked by her side, he rearranged his mental profile of her.

She was brutally honest, something that appealed to him greatly. She did not shy away from expressing either what she felt or thought, another thing that pleased him. He suspected she was a loyal individual. She was strong in mind and spirit. She expected him to treat her as a woman. That was worrying, but her sense of fairness made up for it. She was willing to accept his demands, to a point, which was more than he'd hoped for. And she was intelligent.

All in all, he thought she would do quite nicely for a wife. And she was probably the only woman twisted enough to accept him as he was and think him beautiful. He wondered if she was eager to bed him. The fact that she loved him seemed to support this notion. That was an unnerving thought. He'd never bedded a virgin. He didn't actually have much experience where women were concerned. He'd been wiling to have her when he thought she was sexually experienced, but now…

He glanced at where she was keeping pace with him. Every time he reminded himself that this vibrant creature was in love with him, it made his hair want to stand up, if he'd had hair. Had he ever been loved? He'd certainly never loved anyone. He remembered her request for attention. Compliments, presents and touching. He'd already paid her a compliment. He did not have anything to give her, but he supposed he could touch her. Just to be fair.

***

Akane didn't mind the silence. She did wonder what he was thinking, though. He walked stolidly beside her, his face blank and staring straight ahead. She'd concluded that he didn't have experience with emotions, probably what made him so formidable in his line of work. He held everything tightly within himself. She would pay him lots of compliments, seeing how uncomfortable he was with them. She didn't think people complimented him often. She wondered what his self-image was like. Maybe he-

His hand coming out of his pocket to grasp hers surprised her enough so that she uttered a small gasp. She glanced at where their hands were joined then up at his face. He was staring straight ahead still. She smiled widely anyway, touched that he was trying to please her.

Ibiki's hand was rough and scarred, but she held it tightly. Somehow the simple act was very intimate. She squeezed his hand gently as they neared her house in the compound. He did not say anything but he squeezed back. At her door, she stopped and turned to face him. He looked down at her, his face in shadows.

"I had a great time tonight," she said brightly. "When can I see you again?"

"Won't you be at work tomorrow?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Well, when can we have another date?"

"Tomorrow… if you wish." Her smile caught the moonlight, he noticed. Her soft hand was still in his. It made his breathing slightly labored. He let go of her.

Akane let her smile fade as she said, "It's customary to kiss at the end of a date, you know. I kissed you earlier today. I think it's your turn to kiss me, now."

Ibiki hesitated. He didn't want to seem ungracious. Swallowing his dislike, he pecked her perfunctorily on the cheek, and turned to leave. She clutched his arm and stopped him.

Akane had to grab the back of his thick neck, and haul herself up in order to reach his mouth. His eyes widened in alarm, his lips parted to give her a withering set-down, but she didn't give him a chance. Her mouth met his in a warm, moist kiss that had his arm sliding around her waist in shock.

Her lips were soft. He saw that her eyes were closed, her lashes brushing his face, but her lips were so soft. They sucked on his bottom lip gently, sending unwanted shivers down his spine. Her tongue licked the seam of his lips slowly, and he grunted in aversion. At first. The more she did it, though, the more his body heated and his mouth tingled. He parted his lips and closed them again on hers, mimicking what she was doing. When had he closed his eyes? He was aware of nothing but the sensation of her mouth, her clean smell, her light weight against his body. He dropped one hand to skim up her thigh, and found her leg just as smooth as he'd known it would be… His breathing froze in his chest as his cock stirred sluggishly, almost reluctantly. Her tongue touched his teeth as her small hand squeezed the back of his neck. Her legs tightened around him, making him aware of the burning heat between her thighs, where it pressed to his stomach. There was no reluctance in his cock now. His hands were rubbing past her thighs to her hips.

"Akane!"

They pulled apart in surprise, Itachi's voice cutting through their dazed thoughts. Ibiki dropped her unceremoniously on her feet, as he saw the younger man come striding purposefully up the road. Akane cursed, straightening her clothes as she turned to face her father.

"I'm glad you're home," Itachi said when he'd reached them. He seemed to notice Ibiki standing there and gave him a curt nod. If he'd seen them kissing, and Akane was sure that he had, he did not mention it. "You, Asami and Akiko are coming with me. We have a mission."

Akane forgot her anger at being interrupted. "A mission? Tonight? Where to?"

"I can't discuss it now. Quickly, pack your things. We'll be gone a few days."

That got her full attention. "Days! No! I mean…" she looked at Ibiki. "I'm about to be married. I don't want to be gone for days, I have too much planning to do for the wedding, and Ibiki and I have a date tomorrow. We-"

Itachi turned to look at the silent man. "A few days won't hurt. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Now get inside and pack!" He turned and let himself into her house, already calling for her sisters.

Akane stared hatefully after her father, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Ibiki turned her to face him. "Be careful," was all he said. He left her there, walking swiftly back to his apartment.

* * *

Raiden packed his bag quickly, with Aimi watching from the doorway. "You'll say hi to Piper for me?" She sniffed miserably. Still no tears from her.

"Yes."

Raiden was ready to go and shouldered past her. She followed him back down to the living room where Juro and Yukio were assessing the damage.

"Sheee-it, Raiden! We'll have to rebuild half the house," Yukio whistled. He waded through rubble to take a measurement.

Itachi came bustling into the house then, the harpies in tow, all three of them grumbling and complaining.

"If you would just tell us where we're going," Akiko hissed, "It wouldn't be so bad. And who assigned us this mission, anyway?"

"I did," Itachi said absently. He noticed that Raiden had his bag on his back, and nodded in approval. His own bag was on his shoulder. He took off his cloak now to reveal clothing none of his children had ever seen him in. He gathered Raiden and the Harpies to him and spoke briskly.

"Right. Now that we're all together, I can speak. We are going to another world, one where Raiden's friend lives. He will transport us there. There is vital information we need from one of this friend's relatives. Once we have the information we will return. Any questions?"

Asami had been studying the sight of her father in jeans and a t-shirt. "Another world? Why didn't you say so! That's brilliant. I always wanted to see where Raiden Booms to! We haven't been anywhere since that hell dimension." Akiko was in agreement. Only Akane seemed sad.

Juro squawked in indignation. "How come they get to go to another world, while we have to stay here and work??"

"Because I said so," Itachi tossed over one shoulder. "Raiden, whenever you're ready."

Juro and Yukio looked at each other darkly.

Raiden nodded and called up his chakra. "Bye, Aimi!"

Itachi and the harpies each laid a hand Raiden. His chakra swelled, black and dense. Then it was gone with the familiar hollow booming sound.

Aimi turned to ask Juro and Yukio if she could help, but they were gone too.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Mostly a short filler chap before I get to the good stuff.

Ppl, when Akatsuki comes back for sure, in the flesh, you'll know. I hope every enjoyed/is enjoying their holidays. For me, it's harder to write when my family is not off at work so I'll be happy when vacation is over.

I really appreciate the reviews. **Ellisama** left me such a wonderful, informative and constructive review. Thanks, everyone, for continuing to read and encourage me even when I don't feel like writing.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 10

They materialized in an alley situated in a block of abandoned warehouses. Everyone, with the exception of Itachi and Raiden, promptly threw up. And with Itachi it was a near thing. A very near thing.

Yukio staggered woozily to the brick wall on his left and leaned a palm there, supporting his weight as his stomach heaved again. Juro squatted on the balls of his feet, trying to keep from hurling a second time by clamping his teeth shut. This only ensured that he sprayed from his nose, rather than his mouth.

Asami whirled and managed to do her puking in an alley corner. She didn't do this in an effort to keep herself clean; she just couldn't bare the thought of having anyone see her engaged in such an activity. Akane leaned her hands on her knees and did it where she stood. Akiko threw up, swallowed, then really let loose, splattering the back of Itachi's shirt with the warm chunks.

Raiden noticed their discomfort absently. His attention was on his surroundings. Something wasn't right. Abruptly he spun around, glaring. "You!" He pointed at one of the twins.

"Huh?" Juro mumbled. He closed his eyes, turned his head and let fly on the arm of his shirt.

"Don't 'huh' me. I felt something knock into me just as I was Booming. That was you and Yukio, right?"

Yukio pushed off from the wall, dragging the back of his hand across his mouth. "We just wanted to come along."

Raiden stalked up to him. "Well congratulations, you made me land someplace other than where I'd planned. _Assholes."_

"Sorry," Juro muttered. He stood up shakily.

"Sorry?" Itachi said in an unsteady voice. "You could have seriously jeopardized this mission." He strode toward them, neatly avoiding pools of vomit and cuffed each boy soundly. Yukio blocked the first punch and received his in the stomach instead, doubling him up all over again.

"Jeez, Dad," he whined weakly.

"Send them back," Itachi ordered his nephew.

"No, please," Juro said plaintively. "Please let us stay! We'll do anything!"

"You're going back and that's final."

"We'll fix your house for free," Yukio offered desperately.

Itachi paused. "Very well." Then, perhaps feeling he'd been too lenient, he gave each boy another blow. Juro held his head where his blow landed, and muttered miserably.

Raiden rolled his eyes. "Stay here, all of you. I need to check out where we are and I don't want you guys mixing with people until I've had a chance to explain a few things." He jogged down the alley and disappeared around a corner.

***

Akiko spat. She adjusted her short denim jacket as she looked around. It was night, and there were strange sounds. She huddled closer to her father's back.

"God," Asami said. "That was awful. I hope we don't have to do too much Booming while we're here."

Itachi shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably, Akiko's vomit cooling on his back. "I don't know for certain, but I think Raiden only uses Booming to travel between worlds. All other traveling is done by means of folding. He-"

There was a loud click behind them. They turned and found a filthy man with tanned skin pointing some kind of metal object at them. Both object and man were studied curiously.

"Can we help you?" Juro asked finally.

Angel had been cruising the alley, looking for a place to crash. Instead, he'd lucked out. Bunch of _gringos_, tourists by the looks of them, and looking like the very definition of lost. Angel licked his lips in pleasure.

"Well, for starters I'll take that green-eyed_ guapa_ right there. Then you can gimme what's in your pockets." He did something to the object in his hand that made it click again.

They looked at each other, then at the man. Asami had to be the 'guapa'. It came to them slowly that they were being robbed.

"Aw, isn't this world polite!" Akane said feelingly. "They actually ask you to hand over your possessions, all formal and stuff. Back home we'd have been attacked and that's that."

Angel's eyes widened. He waved his gun. "_Mira!_ Whatchoo think this is, _cabrona_?! Hand over your shit! Now!"

Yukio glanced at his father. Itachi merely looked at the man, not seeing a reason to attack unless approached violently. Taking his cue from his father, he turned back to the man and shrugged. "Uh… no." Honestly, couldn't the man see he was outnumbered?

One of the buff boys moved toward him and Angel squeezed the trigger reflexively. He was already nervous, thinking about just leaving these _putas_; they showed a disquieting lack of fear of his gun. When one of them moved, he acted without thinking.

They all stared from the man's surprised face to the suddenly smoking object. The thing had made a loud sound, but had done nothing more. Itachi and his children wondered belatedly if it was a weapon of some kind. Weapons were not simply held out for the enemy to take, so it hadn't occurred to them before. They continued to wonder about this possibility until Yukio said, "Ow," quietly.

They turned to see the front of his shirt turning red near his left shoulder. Yukio himself looked down in bewilderment at the growing stain. Then he looked up at the object.

Juro saw his twin bleeding and went to the man. He grabbed his head and twisted it sharply just as the object went off again. The man dropped like a rag doll, dead. Juro went to Yukio to inspect the damage. Asami was already there, Mystical Palm in place.

"I can't heal it," she said after a moment. "There's something inside. I don't have my tools. A kunai is too big. Does it hurt very much?"

Yukio frowned. "Yeah. What was that thing he had?"

Itachi had walked over to the man and picked up the metal object. He was glad Juro had dealt with him.

***

Raiden came running back, saw some guy laid out in the alley and moaned as he closed the distance.

"Oh, god," he said breathlessly. He looked from the man to his uncle and cousins. "I leave for five minutes and somebody's dead?" His voice squeaked on the last word.

Itachi spoke calmly, seeing no cause for alarm. "He injured Yukio with this thing. I might have let him live, but I can't find fault with Juro for handling the man the way he did. We are in enemy territory, after all."

Raiden was almost beyond speech. He snatched the gun. "Jesus, one of you has been shot? We just got here!" He stormed over to Yukio, held his hand up, and a small misshapen object came out of the older boy's chest with a liquid squelch. Yukio grunted, then stared at the bloody object in Raiden's hand.

"What is that?" Juro inquired. He reached for it.

"A bullet." Raiden wiped the blood the bullet had left on his hand onto his jeans, as Yukio took the slug Juro was inspecting. "You're lucky he didn't shoot you in the head or heart. You'd have been dead instantly."

Itachi murmured at this and was doubly glad Juro had killed the man. Asami healed the wound as Raiden addressed them all.

"Okay, this is bad but it could be worse. At least nobody saw." Raiden looked around carefully, then made a waving away motion. The man disappeared. "But we have to be careful, all right? This place isn't like our world. You can't go around killing people or doing any of the things you normally do."

"Like what?" Akiko wanted to know.

"Like no using your chakra for anything, not even the smallest thing. No Sharingan. No showing your weapons. They have laws here and they are very, very strict. Doing any of those things could get us put away. Then I'd have to break us out and that would cause so much trouble… ugh. If anyone saw me using my powers here, it'd be a national security mess. I'd probably be considered an alien… which… I am, I guess." Raiden seemed lost in thought for a few moments. Then he shook his head and resumed. "We can only use our chakra around Wyatt's family, and only if no one else is around. Got it?"

Everyone nodded that they got it.

"Okay. I checked and we're still in San Francisco, thank god. I was afraid we'd ended up in some other state. We're all the way across town from Wyatt's, but we can take a bus or a cab, whichever we come to first. I just need to call and make sure it's okay to go over with all of you." Raiden adjusted his bag on his back. "We'll need to find a pay phone."

Itachi nodded his head, his chin in his hand. "We must find a phone. Then get a bus or a cab."

"Will we be splitting up to find this phone?" Akane wondered.

"Maybe somebody has a phone and we can confiscate it. Like the scrolls in the Chuunin exam," Juro offered.

"Yes," Itachi said. "We must know what the phone looks like, then. What of a bus? And cab? While someone finds a phone, another should look for either of those things."

"He said we can't get to Wyatt's without one, right?" Akiko said. "Wonder what they are?"

"I don't know," Itachi said, deep in thought. "But it's possible we may need to take them from someone as well. And since we can't use our chakra, we must rely on Taijutsu." Itachi narrowed his eyes as he inhaled. "This mission promises to be difficult and we haven't even located Fee-Bee yet."

There were serious nods of agreement to this. Raiden stood there, arms folded, as he listened. He didn't laugh. When he saw that they were done, he spoke.

"You guys? This world has technology that we don't. We're not taking anything from anyone. A phone is something that let's you talk to people who are far away. Pay phones are dwindling all over the country, but I'm sure we'll find one if we just walk around. Cabs and buses, and other vehicles, are means of transportation."

"Transportation?" Yukio said experimentally.

"Yes. They're machines that take people far distances."

Glances were exchanged. Eyebrows were raised. "What's wrong with using one's own feet," Asami asked.

"Only if the distance is short. Otherwise, people need to use machines," Raiden said.

"How short?" Juro asked.

"Minutes. Serious walking of an hour or more is done for exercise or sport."

"You're _joking,_" Asami gasped. "Unless it's a few minutes, people don't walk anywhere?"

"No," Raiden answered. He went on to explain. "People are on a schedule in this world. They need to get places quickly and they need machines to do it. We could walk to Wyatt's but it would take us most of the night. Showing up so late would be rude. So is just folding there. Piper asked that I call first to make sure she's home in the future and not just materialize in their house. Whenever I visit here, I try to obey the rules. If Juro and Yukio hadn't knocked me off course, we'd have been in the basement of an old building a few blocks from Wyatt's house. There's a phone right on the corner where I could have called from."

Itachi's brows were drawn together as he tried to follow the conversation. "But… why can't you call them, then fold us there from an empty building? We could skip this transportation procedure."

"Because," Raiden said patiently. "I don't like using my powers here unless I absolutely have to. You never know if someone's watching. Someone's always got a camera phone, or some other shit. This world has billions of people, millions in this city alone. It's not like back home. Someone is always watching."

After cleaning the majority of the vomit off of them with a wave of his hand, Raiden motioned for them to follow him out of the alley as he continued speaking. "Wyatt and I were reckless when we were younger. It caused no end of problems, stuff his mom and aunts had to fix with magic. I've learned my lesson. No powers here unless it's a life or death sitch. You're going to see a lot of things that are strange and new but for god's sake don't ask me about any of it until we get to Wyatt's house. If anyone hears you asking about totally normal junk, they'll think you're crazy. Just stick with me, do what I do and let me do all the talking. Okay?"

Everyone nodded. A lot of the words Raiden had used in his lengthy explanation were incomprehensible, but they kept their questions to themselves; the mission was now afoot. Raiden said to speak of their ignorance was dangerous and so there were only a few squeaks of fright and wonder when they exited the alley to face a street with big machines rolling back and forth. There were bright lights of many colors, signs, sounds, smells… the acrid smell of this world had jarred their senses earlier, but now they could see that part of the reason for that smell was the machines. There were people in them, as Raiden had said, apparently controlling them. Juro and Yukio stared upward, mouths open, at the tallest buildings they'd ever seen. They stared the hardest at everything, wondering how these things were made, how the machines were powered…

Raiden was leaving them. Itachi and his children shut their gaping mouths and hurried to catch up.

People spoke to them, offered to sell them things. Raiden ignored them and so did the rest of the group, though they inspected the wares avidly as they passed the vendors. Juro and Yukio only had eyes for structures, objects. Asami studied the men with interest. Akiko studied the women and Akane kept her eyes on her cousin. She wanted this mission done so she could get back to playing with Ibiki.

Itachi, however, noticed that no one seemed to carry a weapon. The road was crowded with people, yet no one looked at each other or seemed aware of one another, each wrapped in their own thoughts or talking on small devices held to their ears. Occasionally, he saw two or three people walking together, engaged in conversation, but they gave off the same vibe: these people were not combat-oriented.

***

They walked. Whenever the road intersected the place where the machines rolled, they stopped to make sure it was safe to cross. Raiden explained, in a barely audible mutter, that people could get run over by the cars or trucks, and that would kill them. Those that were listening wondered what kind of inept bastard would be slow enough not to dodge the oncoming vehicles, but their opinions were kept to themselves. They learned that what they walked on was the 'sidewalk' and where the cars were was the 'street'. Apparently people were so stupid here that they needed a light with a picture of a walking man to tell them when it was safe to cross the street and when to stop.

Raiden stopped before a metal oblong booth and swung his pack off his shoulders. At their curious looks, he said briefly, "Phone." Their expressions cleared as they moved forward. "No, don't you all try and come in here! Jeez, can't you see there's no space?"

Raiden took a small leather something from the bag and flipped it open. He removed a piece of paper with numbers on it. They watched as he dug coins from his back pocket and put them in a slot in the phone. He punched numbers.

Raiden was sweating. Maybe the rest of his group hadn't noticed, but he certainly saw how people swerved to avoid them. He knew they were a sight with their vomity and (in Yukio's case) bloody clothes, but it was more than that. It was clear, even to these people, that the individuals with Raiden were dangerous. It was in Itachi's eyes, in the way the harpies prowled, in the way Juro and Yukio were more muscular than most of the people they passed. Raiden knew how to blend in to Wyatt's world by now. He knew how to put an innocent, unthreatening look on his face, to walk the way they walked. His family didn't. It was only a matter of time before some happy asshole reported them to a cop for suspicious behavior, probably terrorist behavior. He was keenly aware that they were out in the open with no documentation or anything that would identify them. He never got into these kinds of problems when he was on his own, since he never spent much time outside of Wyatt's house. And if he did, he and Wyatt were always careful. He made up his mind to fold them to Piper's house from some abandoned place, once he spoke to her. He didn't think they'd be able to make it across town without incident.

No answer at the house. He got Leo's voicemail. Piper finally picked up on the third ring when he dialed her cell phone.

"Raiden! Wow, honey, it's been ages!"

Raiden grinned nervously on his end of the line, watching as a policeman rounded a corner, strolling along his beat and minding his business. Soon he would look this way and Raiden was sure something about his group would cause the man to come over. "Ah, yeah it has. Listen, Piper, I'm sorry to intrude, but I kind of need help. Like, urgently? Can I come over?"

"Oh, sweetie, you know we're always happy to have you, but we're not home. We're out at dinner with Paige and her family. We'll be home in about an hour, though. All right?"

Raiden switched the phone to his other ear. The cop had just spotted Asami staring at a businessman. She stared hard, measuring the broad shoulders in the overcoat with her eyes. The cop tilted his head as he studied the people with Asami and found them all huddled in a group, staring at various things. Suspicious behavior. The cop began sauntering over.

"Uh, yeah. Guess I'll have to take the bus after all. Piper, I have some family with me, is that okay?" Raiden winced at the shrill tone Piper adopted.

"Family! We'd _love _to meet some of your family finally! I've been saying it for years! Bring them right over, we'll meet you at the manor in an hour." She hung up, even as she was telling whoever was with her that Raiden had family along on this visit.

Raiden shoved his way out of the booth and walked briskly to the corner, where a bus stop was located. "Come on," he threw tensely over his shoulder. That cop was getting closer.

They stood with him at the stop. There were other people, of many colors and ages, also waiting. Itachi saw how Raiden glanced behind him. "Is there danger?" He asked quietly.

"What? No. God, where's the bus?" Raiden peered down the street. The bus was two long bocks away.

The cop had been stopped by a man asking for directions. The cop gave them, but never took his eyes off Asami and her group. The bus snored along, rumbling toward them slowly as it went through an intersection.

Juro looked at a youth to his left. He had some kind of thing in his hands. His thumbs worked it frantically, manipulating the images on the tiny screen. It was noisy. "What is that?" He asked the pimply teen.

The kid looked up at him, noted the muscles, and curbed his initial comment somewhat. "What, you never saw a PSP?"

Juro shook his head. Raiden glanced at his cousin and tried to signal him to mind his business, but the kid was making noises of surprise. He handed Juro the PSP, showing him how it worked. Yukio crowded the kid on the other side.

A bum shuffled up to Itachi. "Hey, man, you gotta dollar? I hafta get down to my sister, she's in the hospital. A dollar man, thas all I need. Bus fare. A dollar?"

Itachi ignored the man, as he'd been instructed. He was happy to note that the other people waiting for the bus ignored him, too. However, the bum saw Raiden reaching into his bag for coins as the bus pulled up, and got a glimpse of the contents. He seemed to become excited at the rolled bundles of green paper. Itachi saw the man's eyes shift craftily, before he darted his hand out and snatched at the bag. Itachi reacted instinctively.

Raiden didn't relinquish his bag, but by then his uncle had struck. His hand zipped out and chopped at the back of the bum's neck, even as the other people were boarding the bus. The man cried out as he went down and Raiden could see the cop sprinting over.

"On the bus," he cried. "Now!"

They got on quickly, the bus pulling away as the cop jogged up to inspect the bum. Raiden dropped coins into some kind of receiving machine as his family watched, before threading his way through the standing people towards the back. He peered awkwardly between bodies, out the window, trying to see if the cop was still back there. He seemed to be talking to the bum.

***

Itachi's children held on to the metal railing above their heads, the swaying motion of the bus completely unfamiliar. They kept their balance. Trained ninja did not fall so easily. The kid with the PSP maneuvered so he was close to Juro and Yukio. He looked at them keenly.

"So, like, where you guys from?" He asked conversationally.

"We're not supposed to say," Yukio said.

"Oh? Why not?"

"Might get in trouble," Juro contributed.

"What kind of trouble?" The kid asked eagerly. "We talking government trouble here?"

Yukio recalled a phrase Raiden had mentioned. "National security."

"Holy shit!" The kid breathed. By now other people were turning their heads to listen. Raiden finally lost sight of the cop and caught part of the conversation.

"Yeah, we're trying to blend in, but it's our first time here," Juro said. "Everything's all weird and new."

"First time in the Bay area?" The kid asked.

"Or your first time in California," a portly woman inquired.

"They sort of have an accent," another man said. "Maybe it's their first time in the states. Where are you boys from?"

Raiden said loudly that they were getting off. He pushed past people to exit the rear doors. "Bye!" Juro and Yukio called. They waved to the smiling people.

* * *

He couldn't do it. He would have to fold them. Public transportation was out of the question. He stalked, using his keen senses to determine which building had the fewest people in it. He came to a narrow apartment building and put his hand on the knob. He unlocked it telepathically, and ushered them all inside.

Raiden ignored the elevator and went for the stairs. By now his cousins and uncle were hip to his furious mood, and had stopped talking among themselves as they'd been doing since they'd left the bus. They were silent as they ran up the stairs behind him.

He stopped on the fourth floor in the stairwell, ear cocked. Five apartments, three of them currently unoccupied. He let himself into the main hall, Itachi and crew moving silently behind him. Entering an apartment posed no more difficulty than entering the building had. He shut the door quietly behind Akiko, the last to enter, and turned to face them.

"What part of 'keep your fucking mouths shut' don't you idiots understand," Raiden hissed. He was enraged, his eyes red with it. Juro and Yukio, the focus of that crimson stare, tried not to cringe. The rest merely looked on, torn between watching Raiden and looking at the strange things in the apartment. "Do you have any idea of the amount of trouble we could get into here? Why the hell would you mention national security? You don't even know what that is! Are you trying to have the feds called on us? Huh?"

Juro and Yukio, and the rest of them for that matter, had no idea what Raiden was talking about. He could see it, and had no way to explain it to them. He sighed in disgust and held out his hand. "We're folding."

They each laid a hand on his outstretched arm. The sensation of moving from one place to another was barely perceptible. One minute they were standing in a shabby living room, the next they were in a windowless concrete room.

"We're where I originally planned for us to end up," Raiden explained. "We'll wait here awhile before heading over to Wyatt's."

* * *

Wyatt leaped out of the van before it had fully pulled into the drive. He looked around, but Raiden was nowhere to be seen. "Man! I told you to drive faster, dad! He probably left."

Paige pulled up behind the van in her car as Leo unlocked the manor. She and Henry got out with their three children. They all trooped inside, Wyatt still complaining about how much time they'd taken to get home. Chris started teasing him, saying Raiden was his girlfriend. That got Paige's kids laughing and before five minutes had passed all the kids were yelling in a huge argument, the adults shouting at them to be quiet.

The doorbell rang. Immediate silence fell.

"There, you see?" Piper said importantly. She smoothed her skirt fussily as she went to open the door. "Raiden would never come here without seeing you, Wyatt." She opened the door, a welcoming smile in place for Raiden's relatives.

Wyatt only saw him. He was standing at the head of a small group of people, taller, broader and more mature than he'd ever seen him. For some reason, Wyatt felt like the bottom suddenly dropped out of his stomach. Those blue-gray eyes, always so full of fun and now so serious, arrowed to him and held there.

Wyatt could hear his own heartbeat in the seconds that ticked by.

Then Raiden offered a small smile, one Wyatt had never seen on his friend's face before.

"Hi, Wyatt. Long time no see."

* * *

A/N: #2 0.o I hate putting stuff down here. Feels so wrong. Anyways...

_gringos - _strangers, foreigners, white people

_Guapa - _depends on the context it was used in, but in this case means 'pretty girl'

_mira - _look

_cabrona - _bitch

_putas - _bitches


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hi readers! A few things:

There's this site called the The SasuNaru Awards (sasunaruawards(dot)webs(dot)com). If you haven't checked it out, I strongly urge you to. Someone has already nominated my fic Bonded for their awards, I'm so honored! But yeah go, see, join. A lot of authors and readers are already there.

I learned, from one of the forums there, that it's polite to answer each review u get, so I guess I'll be doing that from now on. I wonder if I should go back and answer all previous reviews for my stories?? Hmm.

Thanks so much for reading and commenting!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 11

And the voice was deeper.

It certainly had been awhile. Four years, to be exact. Wyatt had wished many times that he had a way to contact Raiden, instead of simply waiting until he dropped by. He'd wished he had the power to go to Raiden's world so often that it was a constant, low-grade ache, one he managed to ignore most of the time. But now, with Raiden standing right in front of him, it all came rushing back. He'd missed him. A lot.

Wyatt grinned. "Yeah. Too long."

He walked forward just as Raiden did the same, and they met in the foyer. By unspoken agreement, they didn't hug. They both felt the need for it, but felt entirely too uncomfortable doing it at their advanced years. They clasped forearms, playfully punching each other on the shoulder as Itachi stumbled through introductions behind them.

***

"Hi, I'm Piper, Wyatt's mother," Piper said with forced cheer. Her eyes ran over the bloody shirt on one big boy, the vomit stains on all their clothes. She correctly deduced that Raiden's relatives were just as prone to trouble as he was.

Itachi bowed low. "Piper-san. I am Uchiha Itachi, Raiden's uncle. Your son saved my life and that of my brother, some time ago."

Piper was startled at such courtesy from this strange, stoic man. A gorgeous man, but strange nonetheless. She bowed awkwardly in return. "Oh… well. He… does that."

Leo, Paige, Henry and the rest of the children all stood to the side. They cringed backward a bit as Itachi's kids marched forward as one, and introduced themselves each with a small bow, the way they used to do when they were younger.

"Asami, medic-nin."

"Akiko, kick-ass ANBU agent."

"Akane, specialist in the Torture and Interrogation unit of ANBU."

"Yukio… uh, Chuunin."

"Juro, his twin."

Piper made faces at her sister behind her hand. Paige caught on and gave a meaningful look at her husband. Henry swallowed, nodded, and stepped forward with her.

"Paige Matthews, White-lighter, witch, mother and wife."

"Henry Mitchell, parole officer, husband. Uh, father. Good to meet you."

They each bowed. Leo introduced himself and Piper introduced the children. There was silent staring from all parties involved until Piper commented that Yukio was bleeding.

"Oh, no. I was… shot… but my sister healed it." He stumbled over the unfamiliar terminology.

"Shot!" Paige exclaimed. "Let me see that wound." She went to him and held her glowing palm to his shoulder, much to Asami's annoyance. "Well it's mostly healed, but not completely. There. Is that better?"

Yukio rotated his shoulder, pulling his shirt aside to examine his unblemished skin. "Yeah! Wow, Asami, she's better than you!"

Asami glared malevolently at Paige. Paige merely smiled tightly, not fazed in the slightest by some teen brat's attitude.

Raiden had turned around at Paige's exclamation. Piper came to him now and fussed over him, hugging him to her and pressing his head down into her chest. Raiden stifled a groan of disgust at how her soft arms felt. He did not like women hugging him, at least, not women like Piper. She was just so _helpless _and physically weak, it made him want to hit her. He always felt ashamed of these thoughts, but couldn't help them.

"Look how big you've gotten," Piper said. "You're a little taller than Wyatt, now!"

Raiden grit his teeth as Piper pinched his cheek. She shook his head back and forth by the hunk of meat in her hand. "Piper, is Phoebe around?"

"No, she's at a journalism convention with Coop and the girls in Colorado. Why?"

Raiden pulled himself from her clutches. Itachi and his cousins were standing by the door. Paige and the others were standing off to the side. Everyone was looking at him. "I need her help. She's the expert in visions. I… kind of need her right now, Piper. Would it be all right if I went to her? I could call her first, I still have her number." He started to take his wallet out of his bag.

Piper laid a hand on his arm. "Oh. No, honey, why don't you wait. This convention is important to her job. She'll be back in a few days… can your problem wait that long?"

Itachi caught Raiden's worried eye. He gave a small nod. "I guess," Raiden said glumly. He'd been so hoping to have answers right away.

"Great!" Piper enthused. "Well, in the mean time, why don't I fix you and your family something to eat? I bet you're all hungry."

Piper's answer for all uncomfortable situations was food. She didn't have to speak to Leo or Paige to know they thought Raiden's family just as scary and abnormal as she did. She beckoned frantically for Paige to join her in the kitchen, leaving Leo and Henry to deal with Raiden's relatives.

Wyatt approached Raiden. "Wanna come up to my room? We can talk if you want…"

Raiden nodded. He was grateful for Wyatt's understanding. When he'd first come in and seen his friend standing there, he'd been shocked at how different Wyatt looked. He'd felt hesitant, thinking perhaps Wyatt had changed.

But he hadn't. He still knew, without being told, when Raiden needed a good listener. Raiden was upset that he couldn't talk to Phoebe right away, but he suddenly didn't care about that. Wyatt was enough. Wyatt always made him feel better.

***

Wyatt led the way up to his room. Raiden took a moment to note the changes. There were posters of sports stars, a few books dealing with magic, and the kunai Raiden had given him on his last visit. The kunai was in a custom-made stand, displayed on the top shelf of a bookcase full of miniature action figures. The rest of the room was untidy, clothes strewn around. Wyatt waved a hand and the mess was orbed away, things reappearing in their proper place. "Mom would take my powers if she saw me doing that," Wyatt said sheepishly. "No magic for personal gain."

Raiden grinned sympathetically. "As many times as I've done stuff, I bet my parents wish they could take my powers away sometimes." He went and sat on the neatly made single bed.

Wyatt joined him after a moment, looking at how Raiden leaned his elbows on his knees, studying his dirty hands. Raiden didn't say anything for a long time, only picking at the dirt under his nails. Wyatt said quietly, "I'm listening."

Oddly, Raiden wasn't thinking about his problems just then. Wyatt's voice, and those two simple words, was soothing. Wyatt's voice was deeper, not changed yet, but older. Raiden looked at him, cataloguing the way the hair had darkened from blond to brown, how the sky-blue eyes were curious, and the brows above them heavier. _I wonder if I've changed a lot, too, _he thought. _I guess I have. _

So much had happened since he'd last seen Wyatt. His last visit had been to share the news that he'd been given his own squad. They'd celebrated by taking a trip to New York City. Alone. He was pretty sure his face was in every police station in the borough of Manhattan, and that incident in Queens… good times. Dangerous, wildly exciting, good times.

"I don't know where to start." Raiden whispered. One of Wyatt's clean hands came to rest near his knee. No touching. He wondered if they would ever feel comfortable touching again, or if that, too, had changed.

"Start with why you're here. What happened?"

"Right." Raiden took a breath, held it, and blew it out slowly. "You remember that group I told you about? With all the people who wanted my Dad dead? Who kidnapped me a couple of times?"

"The ones who killed your Papa?" Wyatt frowned.

"Yeah. Well. I've been getting these visions of them. While I'm awake. I don't know what it means, since they're all dead, but I see them all the time. It's…" Raiden swallowed, dropped his eyes to his clasped hands. "It's driving me crazy. I can't sleep, I can't eat. I'm so scared all the time, and I can't make it stop. The visions. They just keep coming and coming."

Wyatt looked at Raiden's profile, thinking. "Do you go into a trance when the visions come?"

Raiden considered this briefly. "No. It happens suddenly, while I'm doing stuff or when I'm not."

"Do certain things trigger them? Like touching something?"

"No."

"And… in the visions, what are the people doing? Do they say anything? What do they want?"

"They don't do anything, really, except try to get me. I sort of fell asleep earlier and they touched me. They… they want to kill me, I think. But they're dead. I would believe they're coming if it weren't for the fact that they're dead."

Wyatt's eyes widened. "Death means nothing. Entities come back from the dead, Raiden, you yourself know that for a fact."

Raiden ran a hand through his hair. "No. You don't understand. It's not like here. This bitch goddess named Izanami rules the dead. She does not let souls leave. Ever. She didn't even want to let my Pops leave, but I… sort of forced the issue. People don't just come back from the dead in my world."

Wyatt had a lot of experience with evil and supernatural beings. You could say it was the family business. "Raiden. Do you hear yourself? If you took your papa against some goddess's will, don't you think she'd retaliate?" He stood up, pacing his room as his mind worked.

Raiden watched him, this new thought scaring him worse than the visions had. "You think this is her? Izanami?"

Wyatt turned to face Raiden, worrying his lip with his teeth. "Think about it. You only ever get dreams or visions when there's going to be trouble for your family, right?"

Raiden nodded.

"Those people are all dead. Right?"

Another nod.

"Izanami rules the dead in your dimension, so she rules those people. You pissed her off. She'd want to get back at you. Didn't you say you traded someone's soul for your papa's?"

"Yeah. Madara's."

"I'll bet you anything his soul was the one that came up with the idea of getting her to send him and his friends back. It's the only thing that makes sense. Why would those particular people, out of all the dead souls she has, be chosen for a second chance at life?"

Raiden was cold. Frozen. His face felt like a block of ice and his lips were numb. "But… that would mean it's all my fault. If they come back from the dead, it's all my fault. Uncle Itachi said they'd come after Aimi, too, if they find out about her. She can't do Ninjutsu, but she's still really powerful. More than me, she turned back time because I… I…" Raiden's voice faltered and his eyes grew glassy with shock, dread and hopelessness.

Wyatt came over and sat next to his friend again. "What about your parents? Maybe they can-"

"They're off trying to fix their relationship. It got really bad… my Pops left. He came right back but… it's like what you said. Divorce? I think they were about to get divorced… even though they're not married. Things have been bad for a couple of years between them. Now they're finally fixing their problems and I can't bug them with this stuff."

"So they don't know what's happening to you?"

"No."

"Well, this is kind of important, don't you think?" Wyatt was being ripped apart by the anguished, tortured look on Raiden's face.

"We don't… we don't know for sure what you said is the way it is. Maybe it's not. Maybe it's something else. I don't want to interrupt them and then find out it's all bullshit. Anyways, I have uncle Itachi. He's weird and not as understanding, but he'll die protecting me if he- if he has to." Raiden's voice wobbled a bit at the end and Wyatt threw caution and pride to the winds. He flung his arms around his friend and hung on tightly.

Raiden uttered a cry of relief and misery at feeling Wyatt's arms around him. He turned on the bed and hugged back hard, making Wyatt wince as his ribs creaked, but neither boy let go. Wyatt could feel Raiden trembling violently and squeezed harder. "It's okay," Wyatt said fiercely against Raiden's cheek. "I won't let anything happen to you either. But Raiden, I'm sure it's just like I said. You're in danger." And Wyatt couldn't stand the thought of his friend in such danger, especially seeing as how Raiden was so terrified of these people.

Raiden nodded, his chin digging into Wyatt's shoulder. "I know you got my back. But I'll be there, and you'll be here."

Wyatt pulled back and looked at Raiden's open face. "About that. I… kind of decided the last time you visited that I'd go back with you when you came again. I'm tired of you only coming here. And… I've been experimenting with magic, trying to find a spell strong enough to get me to your world. I haven't yet, but I can go a couple of worlds over. Take me with you, Raiden. Please. You stayed away years this time and I can't take it." He gave a hopeful little grin and pulled a bag from under his bed. "Look, I've been packed for four years, just waiting for you to come back so I could go with you."

Raiden didn't even think about it. He probably should have. He probably should have stopped to consider what would happen, how their parents would react, but he was twelve. He was scared, beset and here was Wyatt offering to come back with him. All Raiden said was, "How long do you want to stay?"

"As long as I can."

"What about your mom?"

"I'll tell her, but she can't stop me. At least… you'll take me even if she forbids it, right?" Wyatt asked nervously. "Now that I think about it, she and her sisters might be able to stop me, but for sure they can't stop you."

"I'm taking you."

"Good."

Wyatt stared at Raiden. There were changes. Raiden's body displayed muscles that would make the seniors at Wyatt's school envious. He'd seen Raiden's dad. His friend wasn't anywhere near as bulky as that, but he was heading in that direction, Wyatt could tell. His friend didn't look like any twelve-year-olds on earth, not with those callused hands and killer's eyes. Sometimes Wyatt would think about the fact that Raiden had been killing people nearly all his life, and wonder how such a person could be his best friend. Wyatt hated violence, was secretly bullied at school for his lunch money, and didn't know the first thing about defending himself without magic. His own body was thin and extremely weak compared to Raiden's.

He focused on his friend's eyes. Wyatt always considered the blue-gray to be the color of secrets. It was a color that brought to mind whispered promises and hidden possibilities. If magic could have a color, it would be the color of Raiden's eyes. They went well with the tawny hair that was just short of blonde. Wyatt always tried not to stare too hard at Raiden, but he privately thought his friend was beautiful. It was a thought he didn't articulate in those words to himself, but whenever Wyatt looked at him, it made him feel… something. It made him feel the way magic did when it moved through his body.

If Wyatt had grown up in a household that wasn't so blatantly heterosexual, he might have recognized his feelings as more than friendship. He might have seen his feelings as the beginnings of attraction. He loved Raiden, but because of the atmosphere in which he was raised, the idea of it being anything but a platonic love never occurred to him. He did not live in a house where sex was a common, audible event or witness overt physical affection between his parents. What touching they did beyond chaste kisses was done behind their closed bedroom door. Quietly. He only knew what sex was because of talk between boys in the locker room at school. His mother monitored what he read and watched on television sharply, and if they passed a gay couple on the street, she always told him to turn his head.

Raiden, on the other hand, returned Wyatt's innocent stare and began to have an inkling. Almost. He was aware that he liked Wyatt's arms around him and that he wanted to hug him again. He was aware that they were in his darkened bedroom, alone and that the idea of Wyatt coming back with him and staying in his bedroom gave him butterflies. His young mind hadn't yet made the connections between Wyatt, love and sex, but it was only a matter of time. For now, he inched his hand forward until it grasped Wyatt's and pulled the older boy slowly back into an embrace.

Wyatt went, his smile faltering as he picked up on the deliberate feel of this hug. This wasn't Raiden needing to be comforted. This was something else, something big, and the unseen, yet the clearly felt magnitude of it left him shaken and slightly afraid. Unbidden, he suddenly recalled the time Raiden had showed up with Aimi, when she'd been dying in his arms from a hideous throat wound. He and his aunt Paige had barely gotten to her in time. They'd managed to save her and Raiden had been so relieved that he'd…

He'd kissed him. On the mouth.

Wyatt hadn't thought about that since it happened. He didn't know why he was thinking about it now, but the memory made him feel hot all over. He closed his eyes in embarrassment and just let himself feel the way Raiden's heart beat slowly beneath his hands on his back.

They slid down after while and lay atop the coverlet. Raiden was soon sleeping. Wyatt smoothed the thick hair, which was starting to grow coarse with the onset of puberty, from Raiden's brow. He lay propped on one elbow, watching his friend sleep deeply, one hand resting on Raiden's arm. He stayed that way until his mother called up the stairs for Raiden to come down and eat. He got up and left the room quietly.

***

On hearing that Raiden was sleeping, Itachi advised they leave him. "The boy is under a lot of stress. He needs his rest. Perhaps the visions and dreams won't trouble him here."

Piper and her family had already eaten while they were out. Itachi sat down with his children at the table and took the chopsticks that had been thoughtfully provided. His children followed suit, each occupied with their own thoughts.

***

Akane wondered if Ibiki had thought their kiss as hot as she'd thought it. The man couldn't kiss worth a damn, but the way his hands had skimmed up her legs had nearly made her swoon. She totally got off on such a hot, strong guy touching her. It had demonstrated that he'd wanted her, at least a little. She wondered how far things would have gone if her dad hadn't interrupted them. Ibiki had just been starting to get the hang of the kiss.

She didn't have much of an opinion on this world. It was someplace other than where she wanted to be and that was that. She'd noticed a few items of clothing on some women that she'd found interesting, but essentially she couldn't wait to get off this world and get back to fucking with Ibiki's mind.

***

Akiko wondered what kind of lover Piper was. She wasn't attracted, per se, but she found the woman's fussy manner more than passing interesting. Women like her tended to be shy and reserved in bed. Akiko liked shy, reserved women. It meant she could dominate them. She sensed Piper was someone who only really let her passions fly with someone she was very comfortable with, like that boring husband of hers, or when stimulated past endurance. Passion was not something natural or easy for her. Akiko smiled as she tucked a lock of her hair behind one ear. Piper was lucky she was married and way older, or Akiko would have already begun her pursuit.

***

Asami eyed Leo and Henry and decided she would go after Henry. There were reasons for this: Leo was wussy-looking. Henry was hot. Henry was Paige's husband. Paige had slighted her abilities. Asami needed revenge. Taking Henry, even briefly, would hurt Paige. The fact that Henry was married and probably in love with his ugly wife made no difference, and would pose no problem. Asami had wooed countless married men. And if Henry proved difficult, there was always Genjutsu.

***

Yukio and Juro's minds spun with new data. How were the buildings built so tall? How did cars and buses work? Where did all the electricity for such a large city come from? How did that gun work? What did the rest of this world look like? They wanted answers to these questions and had no idea how to go about getting them. They talked quietly between themselves as they ate, trying to come up with a way to get all the information they wanted.

***

Itachi knew the moment he'd laid eyes on Piper and her family, that to be around these people for any length of time would have him killing them. Piper's voice alone had him holding back his Sharingan. Paige seemed to be a cold, unfeeling woman. And the men, their husbands… They were a joke, a disgrace to their sex. No wonder the women were the fighters in this family, as Raiden had said. Itachi had cast a critical eye at the children and concluded that his grandchildren were stronger, though they were much younger. He felt nothing but contempt for these people. The only one who escaped this judgment was Wyatt. And that was only because the boy had saved his life and Sasuke's. Aside from that, he was just as weak and contemptible as the rest.

***

Piper peeked at Raiden's relatives from the solar, where she and her family were gathered. "They sure can eat. Those two boys have finished nearly half the food all by themselves."

Paige crossed her arms. "You planning on keeping them all here until Phoebe gets back?"

Piper turned around, a hand going to her cheek. "Oh, god. I hadn't even thought about that. I don't think the manor has space for them all."

"Thought not. Why don't you let me take those ninja versions of Charlie's Angels. You can keep the boys and the Uncle."

Piper looked around. "I guess they can sleep on couches…"

"Or the attic," Leo offered. "They're not magical, so they won't be interested in the Book of Shadows."

"He's right," Paige added. "And we know they're good since they were able to enter the manor just fine."

"It's settled then," Henry said briskly. "We'll take the girls once they're done eating. We have an extra bedroom they can share."

Leo spoke quietly as he watched Wyatt staring thoughtfully into space. "What about Phoebe? Should we call her and let her know they're here and waiting?"

"Nah," Piper said with a wave of her hands. "It can wait."

Itachi received the suggestion of splitting his children up without a flicker of interest. He merely nodded. Asami smirked to herself and gave Henry a long, appraising glance as she headed out to his car. Paige caught the look, noticing how Henry seemed to blush. Leo made up pallets and brought sleeping bags to the attic. Yukio and Juro asked him a question about transportation and Leo went and got Piper's laptop. He pulled up a few sites for them and the boys were soon immersed in this new technology.

Wyatt asked if Raiden could sleep in his room. Piper hesitated, but relented in the end. It's not like there was anyplace else for him to stay. Chris and Melinda each had their own rooms, but she didn't think Raiden would want to stay with either of them, and really, it was no different than staying in Wyatt's room.

Once Itachi was settled on the sofa in the living room, Piper and Leo went up to their own bedroom.

* * *

Paige decided almost immediately that she'd made a mistake in offering to lighten Piper's load. Her decision was based on one thing and one thing only.

Asami.

Paige helped them get settled into the guest bedroom, making up the one bed and laying blankets for the other two on the floor. The entire time she was doing this, Asami kept up a running commentary on how gorgeous Henry was and how manly. She blatantly asked how big his penis was and if he was a good lover. Did he have staying power? Did he give good head?

Paige remained silent. Akiko and Akane seemed unperturbed by their sister's behavior, leading the witch to guess it was nothing out of the ordinary. She cast an eye at the three sisters, running through her perceptions of them one by one.

Akane was the punk one, opinionated, earthy and forthright. She had a forceful, independent personality that went with her goth-inspired clothing and edgy jewelry. She wasn't sly and conniving, at least Paige didn't get that vibe. She was definitely aware of her appearance, the way all three girls seemed to be to one degree or another. Akane reminded Paige of a slightly more girly Avril Lavigne.

Akiko was the tomboy of the trio. She wore cargo pants and her short denim jacket as if she lived in similar attire. The way she sat, her gestures, the way she eyed passing females, all screamed 'lesbian' to Paige, yet she'd heard the girl discussing some guy with Akane. Akiko's hair was pitch black, with a faint bluish tinge, cut in a diagonal bob and parted down the center. The right half of her hair swung to the shoulder, the rest coming to just below her chin. Her black eyes were rimmed with long black lashes. She didn't wear make-up the way Akane and Asami did, but her nails were buffed and showed the unmistakable care of a recent manicure. She was quieter than the other two, but potent in her own way. Paige suspected that she was someone who had a lot of hidden depths to her.

And Asami. Already Paige equated her name with the word bitch. She was the sophisticated, mature-for-her-years one. Her honey brown hair had natural blonde highlights in it. The hair was well-maintained, probably obsessively so, falling to the middle of her back in soft, thick waves. The green eyes were the color of new grass on a foggy day, direct and challenging. I'm used to getting what I want, the eyes said, so don't get in my way. There was an assurance to her that all three girls shared, but Asami had it in spades. Her clothes were excessively feminine. Her make-up was minimal, her natural beauty in need of no enhancement. Even without the comments, Paige could tell she was a sexual predator. She worried about having someone like her around her own impressionable girls and resolved to keep an eye on the bitch.

Done with the bedding, Paige straightened up and fixed Asami with a stare, halting the girl mid-sentence. "Henry won't respond to you. Save yourself some embarrassment and forget about him."

"Oh, he'll respond to me," Asami purred. "I have ways of making men forget all about their wives and girlfriends."

Paige watched as her eyes switched to red then back to green. She would ask Wyatt about it later. For now, she folded her arms and refused to be intimidated. "I can tell you're not seriously interested in him, so what is it? Are you so desperate for attention that you just go after any man you meet? You can't tell me you've never been turned down before."

Asami's smile dropped away, her eyes glittering dangerously. "I've been turned down. I just win anyway. And no, I'm not seriously interested in your man. But I want him and I'll get him."

"Why?" Paige asked curiously.

Asami merely shrugged a shoulder. Paige noticed that the other two girls wore subdued expressions. She sensed that they tended to go along with Asami in most things she did, but only to a certain extent.

Henry junior called to her from upstairs and Paige said goodnight, shutting the bedroom door firmly behind herself. She'd figure out Asami later.

***

Akiko cast a glance at Asami's mutinous expression. "Sis. You know we're always with you when it comes to men and taking them down a peg, right?"

The green eyes glanced her way, but Asami said nothing.

"However, I was never down with going after the married ones. And I don't think you should be treating our hostess like this. She gave us a place to sleep in her house. You're shaming the Uchihas, going after Henry. I think you should leave him alone."

Asami inspected one red-lacquered nail. "I suppose next you'll be telling me you're a virgin too, like Akane there?"

Akiko rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not. I just don't always agree with you."

"And so what if I'm a virgin," Akane said bitingly. "I stuck by you, right? I went after men with you, didn't I? To make them pay?"

Asami rounded on her. "You lied to me! To both of us. We have a pact and you didn't follow the rules."

Akane stood up, kicking aside one of the sleeping bags as she stepped up to her sister. "Fuck you and your bitchy rules. My body is my own and if I decide I want to wait, then who the fuck are you to dictate otherwise?"

Asami kicked her in the stomach. Akane caught the leg and used it to swing Asami out of her chair and onto the floor. She brought her booted heel down, but Asami rolled out of the way, eyes red. Akane deflected the Genjutsu before it could take root in her mind and cast one of her own. Akiko stepped between them and gave each girl a solid punch. Asami shrieked, her hand glowing with chakra as she went after Akiko. She felt like both her sisters were ganging up on her. She fought back tears at this injustice, unwilling to give in even when faced with Akiko's superior Taijutsu skills.

***

The bed was broken in half and both Paige and Henry were sporting cuts and bruises by the time the girls ended their fight. Neither of them was so naïve as to believe they'd been able to stop them; Paige had tried to orb them apart and had almost been attacked. She'd needed to orb herself away for a few seconds. In the end, Asami slept in the study, while Akane and Akiko took the guest bedroom. Paige wondered what the girls had fought over, but didn't ask. She wouldn't stand a chance if one of them came after her. She'd never seen females so strong.

Asami rolled herself tightly in the blanket she'd been given, using one of the couch cushions as a pillow. Her sisters had no right to turn on her like that. They'd never let anything come between them before, so why now? She already felt betrayed by Akane's virginity and the fact that she'd fallen in love. Now Akiko too? It was too much. They'd promised. Long ago they'd promised to grind all men into the dirt. They'd promised to stick by Asami no matter what.

Silent, bitter tears wet the couch cushion beneath her head as Asami vowed to make Henry hers. Then she'd get even with her sisters. They would pay. They would all pay.

* * *

Raiden took up the entire bed. Wyatt spread a blanket on the floor for himself. He got a book and a penlight and proceeded to read a few chapters before sleeping. This was a nightly ritual for him.

***

_He almost didn't recognize him. He was wearing a goatee and his hair was down to his shoulders. It was the eyes that told Raiden the man pointing a sword at him was Wyatt. They were cold and merciless, laden with evil intent, but they were still Wyatt's eyes._

_Wyatt was a man. Black attire, black heart. "I'm going to kill you," he told Raiden quietly. "You left me, after you swore you wouldn't."_

_Raiden protested, saying he would never leave him, had never left him. He averted the wave of fire Wyatt sent at him and tried to approach. Wyatt held up the sword. "I love you, Wyatt. I would never leave you."_

_"Liar," Wyatt sneered. He charged._

_***  
_

Raiden woke up with a gasp, his arm up to block the sword. He was disoriented, looking around the room in confusion. He saw Wyatt sitting up near the bed and understanding came. He wiped cool moisture from his brow.

"Another vision?" Wyatt asked. He closed the book he'd been reading.

"No. A dream." Raiden pulled off his sweaty shirt and tossed it on the floor.

"About them?"

"About you. You were different. An adult. You were mad at me."

Wyatt moved to lean his elbows on the mattress. "What for?"

"I don't know. You said I left you." Raiden glanced at his friend. "You tried to kill me."

Wyatt snorted. "Why do you always dream about people killing you? I could never hurt you. I lo-"

Raiden looked at him questioningly, but Wyatt didn't finish what he'd been about to say. "Well, I got the impression you were… evil."

That wiped the skeptical look off Wyatt's face. "Evil? Are you sure?"

Raiden nodded. "You had that sword you told me about. Excalibur? You shot fire at me."

That was a different story entirely. Wyatt's family had gone through no small amount of trouble to ensure that he didn't grow up to be evil. His brother had even come from the future and died trying to protect him, to prevent that very thing from happening. Wyatt firmly believed that Raiden's visions were true, just like his aunt Phoebe's… if, after everything, he was still going to grow up to be evil…

No. He wouldn't let that happen. Before, it had been because he'd been changed as a baby. Now he was thirteen. He could make his own choices and he would never choose the side of evil. But oh god, if his mom found out about this dream…

"That's not going to happen," Wyatt said firmly. "I'm not going to turn evil and I would never try to hurt you. For one thing, you're way stronger than I am. It would be stupid of me to try."

Raiden didn't say anything to that. Wyatt patted his knee and got up to retrieve something from his dresser. It was a plate of food Wyatt had prepared for him, complete with a huge slice of chocolate cake. "Thanks," Raiden said gratefully.

"Yeah, well. You missed dinner. I barely got to save you any. Your cousins eat a lot." Wyatt told how the girls had gone with Aunt Paige while all the boys were here. "What do you want to do tomorrow? I mean when I get back from school."

"Dunno." Raiden shoveled food into his mouth, cake and gravy and salad mixing together in a way that would have made most people sick.

"In that case, I'm going to ask mom if you can come to school with me tomorrow. There are a few bullies I'd like you to meet."

"Okay."

"Afterwards, we can catch a movie."

"Sure." The food was done. Raiden set the plate aside.

"Raiden, it's going to be okay. Really. We'll find out what the visions mean for sure. And I swear on my life I will never hurt you. You believe me?"

"Yeah. But you don't know what the future holds. Something might happen-"

"No. I'll never choose the path of evil."

Raiden nodded after a moment. He yawned, stretching as he did so, but he knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. There was just no peace to be had. Now even his comforting image of Wyatt was being tainted. Why was this happening to him? What had he done to deserve this?

Wyatt's eyes dropped to Raiden's abs as the other boy stretched. The skin was very fair. Raiden caught him looking. "What?" he asked.

"How do you get your body like that?" Wyatt wondered.

"Training, I guess," Raiden shrugged. "Plus we don't have machines to do everything for us."

"I remember when I went to your world. Everything was all blood and violence and loud, scary people. Think I'll fit in there?"

"You'll be with me. It's cool." Raiden suddenly grinned. "I can't wait to introduce you to my friends."

That piqued Wyatt's interest. "Oh? Do you have a girlfriend?"

Raiden laughed outright. "Ugh! No. But there's this one girl who keeps trying to kiss me. I can't stand her." He sobered as he looked at Wyatt's interested face. "You? You have a girlfriend?"

"No. But I wish Tracy Hillman was. She's way too popular to notice me, though."

Wyatt's words gave Raiden a stab of jealousy. "You like her?"

"Yeah. Kind of. I mean, I know I'll never have a chance with her, but… you know."

"Have you kissed her?"

"No!"

"Anyone?"

"No. You?"

"Not yet." Then, for some reason he never quite understood later, Raiden looked Wyatt squarely in the eyes and said, "But I probably will soon."

Wyatt squirmed uncomfortably under the weight of that sudden stare. The words and the look meant something, but he was too inexperienced to catch it. He felt warm again. He decided to change the subject.

Piper came in later and told them they both needed to go to sleep, since she could hear their talking and laughing all the way down the hall.

* * *

The next day was a trying one for the three adults in Piper's house. It began when Piper herself discovered her car missing.

Neither Yukio nor Juro had slept during the night. Freshly learned from hours on YouTube, they took Piper's keys and decided to drive the van to a hardware store. Said hardware store was discovered in an online directory of San Francisco. Juro discovered MapQuest and, after rifling through some mail he found downstairs, entered Piper's address. The rest had been simple.

The boys found that getting around would be easy. Streets were set up in a grid pattern, with numbers and names to tell where you were. It was the most orderly thing imaginable; a baby could find his way around. To be sure, driving was a novel experience. The van swerved drunkenly from side to side before Juro understood that only subtle movements of the wheel were necessary. The break pedal needed to be squeezed gently, not stomped on. They were glad of their seatbelts. After ten minutes or so Juro's driving smoothed out, his natural affinity for machines and how they worked taking over, and they cruised along like everyone else.

They made it to the hardware store without incident, obeying traffic lights and stop signs. Yukio directed while Juro drove and they pulled up to the store just as it was opening.

They had no money. Much to their chagrin, the shopkeeper wouldn't sell them anything or trade their kunai for so much as a roll of tape. The boys conversed furiously in private before coming back to the shopkeeper. He eyed them warily.

"Where can we get supplies for free?" One of them asked in his strange accent.

"Try the junkyard," he told them.

"Where's the nearest junkyard?"

The shopkeeper gave them an address. Yukio, having memorized a large part of the map they'd seen, said he could find it. They left, driving slowly, so as not to call attention to themselves.

"What's a junkyard anyway?" Juro asked his twin.

"No idea."

When they got to the address, their mouths dropped open. They got out of the van slowly, reverence and awe on their faces. It was like their birthday had come early.

***

Raiden's day at school with Wyatt was uneventful until lunch. The three periods before it, Raiden went to class and listened alertly to such fascinating topics as biology and history. P.E. was interesting. Raiden caught on to basketball quickly and assisted Wyatt's team to its first win of the school year. That had the team ecstatic and asking Raiden to come visit them at their houses.

On their way to the cafeteria a lot of girls came up to him, asking where he was from. He and Wyatt had agreed to say that he was a visiting cousin. Raiden answered good-naturedly, astounded by the difference between girls here and in his world. Inuzuka Hisa would eat these soft creatures for lunch. Even Aimi would.

The girls left and Wyatt became quiet. His eyes darted here and there. He didn't have long to wait. They usually struck before he reached the cafeteria and today was no exception.

"Yo, Halliwell," a deep voice called.

Wyatt and Raiden turned to see three tall, beefy boys strolling up the nearly deserted hall. The few stragglers who were also late for lunch stopped to watch. It would be a twofer, what with Wyatt's cousin visiting. It would be interesting to see if he cried the way Wyatt did.

Raiden assessed the newcomers with a casual up and down flick of his eyes. _Slow. Over-confident. Not even Genin-level. _He felt Wyatt stiffen beside him and sent him a thought. _**Leave them to me.**_

"Money. Now. They're serving brownies today and I want to get there before they're gone." The middle, and biggest, one of the group did all the talking. He tried to push Raiden aside with one thick hand as if he were nothing; he had eyes only for Wyatt.

Raiden grabbed the wrist before the hand could touch him and twisted sharply. The wrist snapped. The big kid started to howl, his face gray with shock, but Raiden rammed the heel of his other hand under his chin, slamming his jaws painfully shut and breaking a few teeth in the process. He finished by jabbing his fist at the guy's solar plexus, sending him sprawling and fighting for air. Blood was leaking from his mouth.

By then the other two were coming for him, having gotten over their initial surprise. Kids materialized from the very walls, it seemed, as Raiden neatly stepped between the two oncoming boys and positioned himself to receive them both. Kids were cheering and placing bets with barefaced disregard for the hall monitors.

Raiden used one boy's momentum to propel him into the crowd. The other boy threw a punch. Raiden sidestepped easily, grabbed the arm, and thrust his palm at the elbow, breaking it inwards. That arm dangled as the kid roared, but it didn't stop him. The other boy came back and landed on Raiden's back. He twisted, grabbing the kid by his sweatshirt, and swung him thirty feet. Kids ducked and pointed, holding up their phones to catch this delicious spectacle on camera. There was a lot of shrieking and yelling, but Raiden tuned it out. Teachers were now coming towards the small circle of open space, but the throng of kids prevented them from reaching Raiden. The second boy swung and kicked repeatedly at Raiden, but each blow was blocked almost lazily, the clumsy efforts no match for Sasuke and Naruto's training of their son.

The first boy had recovered enough to charge Raiden headfirst and ram his shoulder into the younger boy's stomach. Air escaped Raiden, but he hardly seemed affected otherwise. He brought his elbow down with crushing force onto the boy's back. Raiden calculated that he'd done serious damage to one kidney; the boy would be pissing blood for weeks.

The teachers finally reached the inner circle. Raiden was done with the three boys and stood calmly, not winded or hurt in the slightest. Wyatt rushed to stand by his side, but that only meant he was marched to the principal's office along with Raiden. The three boys each had a group of kids around them, still recording them on their phones. They groaned weakly as the school nurse came bustling up to inspect the damage.

As Wyatt was walking loyally by Raiden's side, he heard the nurse tell someone that ambulances and parents would need to be called. He was in the most trouble he'd ever been in and he didn't care one bit. Raiden had been awesome. It was worth whatever happened next to have been able to witness that.

Or so he thought before his mom came down to the school.

Raiden sat through a stinging lecture given by the principal. He listened as the three boys were whisked off by three ambulances, the sirens drowned out by the cheering kids. The teachers could do nothing to get the kids to go back to their classes, the entire middle school body taking up residence outside the principal's doors. Apparently those three boys had terrorized quite a few people. Three sets of parents had come to the school demanding to see the person responsible for their children's injuries. Raiden was locked into the principal's office, along with Wyatt, for his safety. By now Raiden was aware that he'd gone too far, but honestly, he'd hardly touched the boys. Back home those blows wouldn't have fazed a five-year-old. He grimaced to himself at not taking his own advice to keep a low profile.

Piper finally made it to the school and was escorted through the throng of students to the office where her son sat. She was furious. She kept her hands tucked firmly under her armpits lest she blow something up by mistake. Raiden eyed her warily. Wyatt opened his mouth to speak but Piper turned from him without a word, pale with rage.

And all that was before they got home.

At least a hundred kids followed them, crowding around Piper, Wyatt and Raiden to bombard the boys with questions, praise and adulation. They forced their way into Piper's house, sitting, talking, laughing and joking with the two recalcitrant boys. At that point Piper lost it and froze everyone. Raiden and Wyatt looked around. They looked at Piper.

"Bad enough," Piper spoke through stiff lips, "that I woke up to find the damn car gone, along with those cousins of yours. Bad enough I had to take the fricking bus. Bad enough I just walked seventeen blocks home at the center of a fricking circus. But this? You?" She pointed at her son. "Since when do you cause this kind of trouble at school?!" Piper screamed finally.

"Piper, Wyatt didn't do anything," Raiden said. "It was me. I hit those boys. I'm sorry I caused so much trouble, but they'd been bullying Wyatt. They deserved what they got-"

"Shut up," Piper snapped. Raiden closed his mouth, hurt that she would speak to him that way. She'd never told him to shut up. He hung his head and Wyatt stood closer to him, looking at his mother resentfully.

"Mom," he began.

"And you shut up, too. Don't you think I'd know if my own son were being bullied?"

"No," Wyatt said honestly. "You're so eager for me to fit in with normal kids that you don't want to hear about the real problems I go through."

Piper gasped. "That is so not true!"

"Yes it is. I'm glad Raiden hurt those boys. I'm glad he's here. I'm going back with him to his world. At least there I can be myself. I'm tired of always having to hide my powers and who I really am."

Things got really ugly then, with Piper screaming and Wyatt yelling right back. The parents of those three boys called in the middle of it and that soured Piper further, as she fought with the furious adults on the phone. It was not a happy time.

***

Paige's day went a little better. She and Henry had to go to work. The idea of leaving those three teenage girls in her house didn't sit well with Paige, but she didn't have an alternative at that point. She was about to be late. She spent the day worrying about what might be happening at home, though, and so was unable to concentrate. She left work early.

She got home to find her clothes strewn around her room, the girls trying on various outfits. Her make-up had been browsed through. Her lingerie was cast aside with shaming disregard. She took a moment to notice that Akiko and Akane were displaying simple curiosity. Asami, though, was clearly being malicious, 'accidentally' ripping one lacy thong as Paige watched. "Get out of my room. Now," she ordered.

Akane looked up. "Oh, Paige, you're back. I'm seriously digging these thigh-high boots. Where can I get a pair?"

"And where can I buy a hat like this?" Akiko put in. She had a white velvet ball cap that had a black picture of the Playboy bunny above the bill, turned backwards on her head. The white really set off her inky hair.

Asami left with a flip of her hair. Paige decided something needed to be done about the bitch and piled all three girls into her car. She made it to Piper's in record time.

***

Wyatt was in the middle of insisting loudly that he was going with Raiden no matter what his mother said. Piper was about to blow up her firstborn. Paige walked in, saw the mass of frozen students and whistled sharply. The yelling stopped.

Piper unfroze the students with a disgusted wave of her hand as she stormed off to the kitchen. Paige commanded them to go home. They filed out of the house, calling goodbyes to Raiden and Wyatt cheerfully. Raiden opened his mouth to speak to Paige once they were gone but she made a threatening gesture. Raiden backed away with Wyatt until they could dash up the stairs. The girls watched all this with bored expressions; the antics of boys was nothing new to them.

Paige found Piper in the kitchen. Tears stood in the older woman's eyes. "He's leaving me," Piper said brokenly. Paige went to her and embraced her.

Between sobs, the tale was told. Paige commiserated. "Something needs to be done about those girls," Paige said. "Specifically Asami. Where's their dad?"

"Off looking for his sons and my van with Leo. Oh, god. And Wyatt says he's been being bullied. I guess he feels like Raiden is the only one to stand up for him. No wonder he wants to leave. I can't lose him, Paige. Not my baby boy." She started crying again.

"Shhh," Paige soothed. "We'll talk to him. He can't go off with these dangerous people."

***

Leo got home with Itachi, no luck finding the boys. Piper and Paige promptly cornered Itachi and told him in no uncertain terms that his family was turning their lives upside down. Itachi listened with his customary stoicism. Paige actually lost her train of thought staring at those gorgeous long-lashed eyes, but she got her point across.

"I see." Itachi bowed low. "It shames me to see how my family has dishonored your hospitality. I will deal with Asami and Raiden. Yukio and Juro will return, fear not."

He turned and went into the living room. Paige and Piper saw Itachi take his daughter by the arm. He led her forcibly to the solar. No noise came from the room, but when he left ten minutes later, Paige and Piper discovered Asami pale and shaking in a chair. The pupils of her eyes were dilated. She did not respond when spoken to.

Yelling was heard from Wyatt's room and Paige quickly orbed herself and Piper up to see what was going on. Leo stayed with Asami.

Itachi stood over Raiden, who was sprawled on the floor. A big purple bruise was swelling the left side of the boy's face. Wyatt stood furiously over Raiden, his shield surrounding them both. Itachi seemed to be done. He nodded to Paige and Piper and went downstairs to wait for his sons.

Paige looked from the boys, to Piper's shocked face. She glanced after Itachi. "You know? I really like that man," she said. "Quiet, to the point, effective."

***

Itachi eyed Akiko and Akane's timid faces. "You're fortunate there have been no complaints about the two of you. As it is, I may kill Juro and Yukio for this nonsense of taking the transportation. Despicable."

The two girls edged closer to each other. They weren't weak by any means when it came to Genjutsu, but the only match for their father when he was pissed was Hiroko. They kept their eyes on the floor, their father's Sharingan too deadly to look at just then.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: next chap is done and will pick up where we left off with Raiden and co. Thanks so much for reading and reviweing, I hope I answered everyone and left no one out? Onward!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 12

Hiroko fell into an uneasy sort of expectancy. Her night visitor hadn't made an appearance since the kunai incident. The night of the family dinner she'd gone home to wait, Sharingan blazing, Genjutsus ready and waiting to cast. She was unmolested when morning came. Three nights went by in this fashion. This was the fourth day now. She hadn't slept in all that time; her days were occupied with work and her nights filled with grim vigilance. She didn't dare relax. Hiroko could feel eyes watching her during the day, sense the waiting and eager predator in the caliginous shadows that lurked outside her windows at night. Her stalker was out there, chakra masked, watching. Biding his time.

Hence the expectancy.

The stress this caused Hiroko wasn't lost on her team. Her cheerfulness was severely curtailed. She was sharp and attentive during training and the one mission they'd had, though not unkind to them. They had questioned her as to what was wrong, but all she would say was that she was dealing with a personal matter.

That put their backs up. A personal matter, to their Hiroko-obsessed minds, meant another male encroaching on their territory. They were actually chillingly accurate in this assumption, just not in the way that they thought.

Konohamaru had been sent to Lightning Country with his team, so he was one less person to express intrusive concern for her. Hiroko was glad of this. Her attraction for him, her happiness with her new job, even the news that two of her sisters were going to be married, all fell away to leave her tightly focused on one thing; the deliberate cat-and-mouse game being enacted between herself and her stalker.

She couldn't go on like this. She felt sure her stalker was waiting for her to collapse. She needed sleep in the worst way, but didn't dare do it alone in her house. Hiroko walked home wearily, but attentive to her surroundings. She'd taken to going around with her Sharingan on at all times, the way her father used to do when he worked for Akatsuki. He'd told her, while they'd lived in Suna, how his life had been so encapsulated in danger, that between his missions and the other members of the group, he'd been forced to wear it almost constantly.

Hiroko decided it was time she asked for help.

* * *

Ibiki went to work, went home, ate, slept. He performed his usual daily routine without fault or fail.

Yet if someone had asked him what he'd done the day before, or even an hour previously, he wouldn't have been able to answer. He was going through the motions of life while his mind circled ceaselessly, endlessly around Akane and thoughts of her.

That kiss. He'd taken himself home just as quickly as he could, before he shamed himself. He held his cloak closed over his embarrassment as he walked, letting himself into his apartment with a silent sigh of relief. He'd gone to his only armchair and sat down, thinking.

Something about her. She'd gotten to him in some way, the Jounin thought. The image of her clean face and pale legs revolved in his mind, along with isolated phrases.

_"Your sexy body-"_

_"I think you're beautiful-"_

_"Your scars turn me on-"_

_"I'm a virgin-"_

Ibiki closed his eyes. He understood that his bride-to-be was hungry for sex. With him. His earlier speculation on whether or not Akane was eager to bed him was moot. The answer was a resounding yes.

He groaned. He did not want to disappoint her. And judging by the level of her appetite, or what he could perceive of it, he would do just that. He would need to seek guidance.

Gaara was enjoying the break from Itachi's attentions. He enjoyed seeing Yanagi play with her brothers and Aimi. He enjoyed the reprieve from his Kage duties.

He was not enjoying Kaito's girls.

Those Barney videos blared at top volume day and night. Legos were strewn all over every room, turning the simple act of walking around barefoot into a treacherous undertaking. Those wretched Dr. Suess books were enough to have him committed for psychiatric evaluation. Three days after Itachi left, Gaara gathered the books, Legos and videos into an untidy pile and performed Sabaku Kyuu. He then sent Kaito's stricken girls back to their parents and breathed a sigh of relief.

The triplets and the girls were off playing with some of Aimi's friends the next day. Shouta had run off to spend the past few days at a friend's house. Gaara had the place to himself. He was at the kitchen table, enjoying a glass of iced tea, when a knock sounded at the door.

He quickly suppressed his shock at seeing Morino Ibiki. The tall man bowed low. "Kazekage."

"Ibiki-san. Please, come in."

They were seated in the living room. Ibiki eyed the incomplete repairs to the room as Gaara handed him a glass of tea. He sat when Gaara gestured for him to.

They sipped in silence. Village sounds came to them faintly. It was a gorgeous spring day and just about everyone in Konoha was outside.

Ibiki had stalled long enough. He set his half-empty glass aside and cleared his throat. "Kazekage. I am in need of your advice."

Gaara had been idly wondering what the reason for this visit could be. He tipped his head quizzically now as he crossed his legs. "Of course. What sort of advice?"

Ibiki turned his head, speaking to his shoulder. Gaara had to strain to catch the mumbled words. "Sexual advice."

Gaara paused in the act of sipping his drink. He had to bite his tongue viciously to keep from laughing. As it was, he coughed sternly into one fist, bringing himself under swift control. "I see. Well, I'd be happy to help." Gaara didn't ask why Ibiki had come to him. Everyone seemed to think he was some sort of sex guru. "Could you elaborate on what kind of sexual advice?"

Ibiki continued to stare at the wall. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could leave. "I need advice on pleasing a woman. My wife, when I marry her."

Gaara was intrigued. "Akane? I'm sure she is well-versed in what pleases her. Wouldn't you prefer to let her show you?"

Ibiki glanced at Gaara, then looked away. "She has informed me that she is a virgin."

Gaara sat up straighter, suddenly fascinated. "You don't say," he breathed. "But I fail to see the problem. You cannot tell me that you are a virgin, Ibiki-san?"

"No. But I am more experienced with men. I have known few women."

"I see. But… didn't you please them?"

Ibiki grit his teeth, resigned to the fact that he would have to be specific. "They seemed to please themselves with my body. The only women I have known were experienced. I am not often attracted to women – in fact, I can only remember three – but when I am, it is to women who know what they are doing. They only require me to perform the act."

"Ah," Gaara said delicately. "I understand. The women in your past controlled the encounters. You know nothing of foreplay."

"For women, no. Men…" Ibiki waved a hand absently.

Gaara covered his mouth with a hand, unable to keep from smiling. It was almost cute. He ran over his impression of Ibiki as he thought of what to tell the man.

Likely, the aged Jounin was a forthright and stolid lover. He probably wasn't imaginative in the slightest. If his partner told him to touch here or there, Ibiki would do so until told to stop. Ibiki's lovemaking style was probably to thrust until done. No frills, no excessive actions, no anything. Gaara knew that some people preferred this type, liking the control Ibiki allowed them.

"Ibiki-san, why do you feel you will not please Akane?"

The older man didn't hesitate. "She is eager to have sex with me. She finds my scars arousing. She says I am beautiful and sexy." Ibiki swallowed, embarrassed to the marrow of his bones. "She has expectations of me that I fear I will not meet."

And the fun just kept on coming, Gaara thought. When was the last time he'd been so entertained? Lord have mercy, that Akane was a live one! Ibiki was right to seek counsel. "Interesting. She said all that?" He smiled openly.

Ibiki nodded. "She… excites me. No one has ever shown such interest in me. I cannot fathom why I attract her so strongly. She listed the reasons for why she loves me, but it is incomprehensible. _She _is incomprehensible. Wild. I can't understand her motivations."

Gaara thought he would die of this deliciousness. "I can. Judging from what you've just told me, she's attracted to strong, powerful types. She's forceful. Therefore, she wants someone just as forceful. She's likely someone who wants to be dominated, but only by you. Everyone has their own personal kink that they prefer. Akane seems to go for rugged, excessively masculine types. As for pleasing her… you will have to explore her body to find out how to do that. There are signs to watch for, that tell you if you are pleasing her physically. It isn't unlike knowing what psychological buttons to press in a prisoner when you want information. I can give you some literature. Would that help?"

Ibiki said that it would. Gaara disappeared for a few minutes and came back with several volumes. Ibiki took them, studying the titles. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Gaara could see that the man still had his doubts, though. "Ibiki-san, don't worry. I'm sure Akane will tell you what she wants. If not, trust your instincts. And pay particular attention to chapter six of that second book. There are illustrations."

* * *

Hiroko opened her door that evening to let Kenta, Kenji and Hiroto in. As instructed, they each had a gallon of ice-cream for themselves, plus one for Hiroko. She took hers from Kenta and shut the door.

The men followed their sister up to her bedroom, where she had blankets, pillows and candles strewn all over the floor. It was like one big fluffy nest. Hiroko plopped herself down and pried the lid off of her Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl ice-cream. She dug in.

Kenta and Hiroto each took one of the spoons that had been laid out and examined them. Then they looked at their sweating tubs of ice-cream.

Kenji looked at his sister. "Um… are you going to explain why we have all this ice-cream, or why we're here?"

Hiroko moaned at the first spoonful before addressing her brother. "Did you each get what flavor you wanted?"

Hiroto held up his Almond Pecan. Kenta held up his Cookie Dough. Kenji tapped his Oreo Cream.

Hiroko nodded. "It's a harpy thing, but Sumiko and I have done it on occasion. It really does help you feel better. We're going to eat this ice-cream, all of it, while I tell you guys something. Sort of like a sharing type deal."

"We each have to tell something?" Hiroto asked as he dug a groove into his ice-cream. He licked his spoon.

"Well, it was going to be just me, but you guys can go ahead and say something if you want." Hiroko ate another spoonful.

Kenji went first. "What's with Dad? Seriously? It's like, now that we're adults, he's going to shove the clan down our throats until we kill him for it."

"I'm not going up against him," Kenta said quietly. He was eating steadily, bravely trying to finish his tub. "Remember what happened at the shop?"

Kenji stopped with his spoon halfway to his mouth. Hiroko saw his pupils contract to pinpricks. "Oh. Right."

Hiroto laughed. "What'd he do to you two?"

Kenji shook his head, sweat beading his upper lip. Kenta started to speak, then closed his mouth. Hiroko chuckled with her twin. Dad had probably used some kind of advanced Genjutsu. The she sobered.

"Guys? I actually have something serious to discuss. And please don't tell dad."

Hiroto was attuned to his twin. "How serious is it? If it's something bad enough to not tell him-"

Hiroko made a crater in her ice-cream with her spoon. It was very comfortable, having her brothers around her. The blankets, the candles, and the ice cream all created an atmosphere of security. She felt safe. The stress she'd been living with for the past week slipped a few notches. Not gone entirely, but manageable.

She looked up at her brothers. They were eating and watching her. She reached over and took a spoonful of Kenji's ice-cream as she said, "I'm being stalked." She thought her delivery was suitably dramatic.

"So?" Kenji shrugged. The girls in his family were not females that needed to be protected. Plus, he didn't like sharing his ice-cream.

"By who?" Hiroto asked.

"I don't know," Hiroko said quietly. "But he comes in my room at night, while I'm sleeping and… does things to me."

Kenji put his spoon down. That was different. This wasn't some pimply cretin begging to marry her, this was a dead man walking. His eyes were a rare red.

In fact, all of her brothers were wearing the Sharingan, Hiroko saw. Hiroto spoke in an unrecognizable voice. "Rape? 'Ko-"

"No," she whispered. "Not yet, at least. But he could. I can't fight him."

"Explain," Kenta ordered. Something had to be going on if Hiroko couldn't put a Genjutsu on this guy.

When she'd told everything, they were silent. They resumed eating absently, now almost sick with the amount of ice-cream in their stomachs.

"What I'd like to know," Kenji said, "is how he's getting into your mind. If it's not Genjutsu, what is it?"

"I don't know," Hiroko said. "But he only does it when I'm sleeping."

Kenta gave her a sharp look. "If he knows not to go against you while you're awake, then he knows your abilities."

Hiroto snorted. "Everyone knows her abilities."

"No, they don't," Hiroko said as she thought over Kenta's words. "Not the particulars. It's one thing to know I'm good at Genjutsu. It's another not to risk coming at me when I'm awake at all. This person has fought me. Or has seen me fight. Oh, God."

"What?" The men chorused.

"What if it's someone in my squad? They know me. I swear, whoever it is, I recognize their voice."

They thought about this. It was disturbing in the extreme. Kenji was flagging with his ice-cream, ready to puke. Kenta staunchly persevered and Hiroko had already set the rest of hers aside.

"So you want us to sleep here tonight?" Hiroto was scraping the last of his ice-cream from the tub. "You think he'll show up with us here?"

"Yes and no. You can all stay here tonight, but I was hoping you'd take turns in the future. I need to sleep."

"Well, that's great and all," Kenji said around a burp that had a fair amount of ice-cream in it. "But that isn't catching the fucker." He pushed his tub aside weakly. Hiroto picked it up.

"I know," Hiroko sighed. "I can't think of anything else right now. I haven't slept in four days. If you guys have a suggestion, I'm open to it." She yawned widely.

***

The boys discussed it as their sister fell asleep next to her half-eaten ice-cream. She'd told them earlier that she was unable to sleep in her bed; it held unpleasant associations.

They watched her. She was the sweetest out of all of them. Hiroko would never hurt anyone unless in a fight. Who could want to do this to her? They discussed it in low, tense whispers, feeling impotent anger at not having a target.

* * *

Kabuto stood on a rooftop a few houses away, yet still in the Uchiha compound. He happened to be standing on Shouta's unoccupied house as he crouched and stared toward Hiroko's bedroom window.

He'd left her alone to give her mind a chance to marinate in her fear. She was well-seasoned now, her helplessness adding spice and flavor. He'd watched her going about her daily routines, disguised as various people of course. It wouldn't do for him to be recognized. He was well aware that she remained awake at night. Tonight she'd invited her three large brothers over.

Kabuto had been waiting for just such a sign. It meant Hiroko was at her limit. She didn't want to chance going to sleep without protection. He'd also been waiting for this sign because it meant he could demonstrate just how powerless she was against him. Her brothers would pose no threat. Kabuto had been studying Hiroko's family during the past few days. No one came close to her in Genjutsu, and the only people Kabuto actively feared going up against were Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto, all of whom were out of the village for the moment.

He'd also studied Hiroko, learning everything he could about her. He just couldn't stop thinking about her. Everything about the woman, down to her flamboyant hair, called to Kabuto. He wanted to own her, possess her. He was hard most of the time, just thinking about how her body felt against his.

* * *

Hiroto stared around. Kenji and Kenta were snoring, one's head pillowed on the other's back. Hiroko was sleeping deeply, her long braid wrapped around her forearm. He shook his head. His two brothers were pitiful protection, but he wouldn't be so negligent. He stood and turned to go down the hall to the bathroom.

A cloaked man stood in the doorway.

Hiroto responded quickly, his Sharingan appearing almost instantly. He was able to deflect the Genjutsu that came his way, but the man laid a glowing palm on his chest and Hiroto dropped. Blood leaked from his mouth. Kenji woke up, saw someone bent over his brother, and led with a flying kick. A flurry of blows was exchanged.

Kabuto severed quite a few arteries both in this man, and his twin with his chakra blades, before they were also down for the count. He straightened from the unconscious men and turned.

Hiroko was still sleeping. Her days of wakefulness had caught up to her. Kabuto went and picked her up gently, amused when she snuggled against his chest with a whispered murmur. He laid her tenderly on the bed and placed a hand on her head, searching, just to be sure. He smiled in satisfaction; she was deep, deep in slumber. Likely nothing short of a bomb would wake her. Her brothers wouldn't be rising unless they received medical attention. He could take his time with her.

Kabuto lifted her arm by its delicate hand and slowly unwound her braid from her forearm. It amazed him, her hair. He'd never known a kunoichi to wear it so long. After studying her, he saw how she dealt with everything using Genjutsu. He supposed not engaging in combat often, allowed her to grow her hair to the length she liked. Whatever the reason, Kabuto found it mesmerizing. He spent long minutes slowly unbraiding it, combing the tresses through his fingers. It's cool and silky texture raised goose bumps on his skin. He rubbed the pale mass on his face, over his lips. It smelled like flowers. Wildflowers.

Her shirt was neatly sliced with a flick of his kunai. He separated the halves to reveal her gorgeous breasts, each the size of his head. Another flick, and her pajama bottoms were no more. Kabuto studied the fine down waxed into a triangle on her mound. He reached behind him and picked up her tub of half-eaten ice-cream, now mostly melted. Scooping up a spoonful, he drizzled the syrupy mass over her torso, neck and pubic bone.

* * *

_Hiroko surfaced extremely slowly. She didn't want to surface at all, but a perplexing mixture of cold and hot sensations was annoying her. She was almost completely awake when she was suddenly submerged again, and then her mind came awake completely. Her body remained asleep, but she knew. It was him. He was here._

_There was no visual this time. Only sensations. She could feel his hot tongue where it dragged over her skin. It lapped at the cold substance on her, leaving shivers in its wake. Her neck was nuzzled, licked, sucked. His body moved lower, the cold substance sticky between them. One nipple was sucked gently and she cried out. At least she thought she did. She wasn't sure if she was actually making sounds or not. Her body responded against her will, bringing the familiar guilt and shame. His face rubbed on her belly. She felt him touching her hair, running his hands through it. He moved up again and laid his ear against her heartbeat, listening to the way it drummed in her fright. _

_"Hiroko-hime…"_

_And just like that, she was in the shadowy realm that she remembered from their last encounter. She whirled and there he was. He stood some distance away, cloaked. She could see his naked body beneath the cloak, though his face remained in shadows. He didn't approach her just yet._

_"Why are you doing this to me?" She was proud that her voice was steady. Her eyes were hot with unshed tears._

_The man lifted a hand. "I can't help myself. I want you, Hiroko. And you would not allow it were you awake."_

_Hiroko started to panic. The man was moving closer now, and her heart beat wildly in terror. She remembered what he'd done to her last time, what he'd made her feel with his hand between her legs. She tried to reason with him. _

_"Y-you don't know that. Maybe if you gave me a chance, I would like you. But you just started attacking me. Are you in my squad?" Please don't let him touch me again, she thought. Oh please! I don't want to feel those horrible things!_

_Her attacker paused. "That group of boys? Hardly. And I'm confident you would kill me if you knew my identity."_

_"No, I won't!" Hiroko was now desperate. He'd resumed his slow walk toward her and there was nowhere for her to go. "I wouldn't do that."_

_"Not even if I were your enemy?" The voice was deep and smooth._

_"I'd give you a chance," Hiroko said shakily. He was right in front of her. "I'd at least do that. But all you want to do is hurt me. Have you killed my brothers? If you have, I _will _kill you." But if he was here, doing these things to her, then they'd been no match for him. God, was there no hope? The thought that she'd gotten her brothers hurt, maybe killed, made her feel strangely weak. Like giving up. Hiroko tightened her jaw. She wasn't going to cry. Not now._

_Her attacker paused again. He lifted a hand to touch a lock of her hair. "I did hurt them. They aren't dead yet. Would you still give me a chance?"_

_Hiroko regretted her words. She could never give this creep, whoever he was, anything. Yet her brothers were alive… and if it meant he would leave her alone… maybe she could find out who he was. _

_"I would. If I knew what you wanted from me. And if you stopped coming to me in my sleep."_

_"You're probably lying. Hiroko-hime…" He bent his head, but it was his hand she felt. His hand rested on her round hip, caressing her skin. "You're so beautiful. Do you know how much I want you? That's what I want. You. I know you would go back on your word to give me a chance if you knew who I was. At the very least, you'd turn me in. Am I right?"_

_"I-" his hand was coming around to the front of her body. "No… I promise I wouldn't do that."_

_"You promise?"_

_"Yes… just please… don't do what you did last time."_

_"Even if all of Konoha wanted my head? You wouldn't turn me in?"_

_"No. I promise. If you'll leave me alone, I promise."_

_Her attacker stopped before he touched her most intimate place. He straightened and appeared to be considering her. It was hard to tell; the hood of his cloak hid his face well. Hiroko trembled, wondering if he would touch her anyway._

_He didn't. Instead, he slowly pushed back his hood. The shadowy place in her mind receded as he did so. _

_

* * *

  
_

His face was revealed as Hiroko came awake to find him leaning over her, in her room, on her bed. She sat up, staring in shock at Kabuto as he straddled her hips. He was clothed and he was watching her warily.

Kabuto saw her eyes flick to her brothers then back. Her breathing quickened at recognizing him, but she didn't scream, yell or try to attack him. He'd never known anyone of honor. The way of the ninja was to be sneaky. He'd expected some sort of double-cross, but she only sat there, her beautiful breasts heaving with her breaths.

"See?" He said softly. "Your brothers are alive. You will keep your promise?"

Hiroko nodded jerkily, not trusting herself to speak.

"Then meet me at the waterfalls outside the village. This time tomorrow night." He started to get off of her.

"What-" Hiroko licked her dry lips. "What do you want from me? What am I giving you a chance at? Sex?"

He turned back and regarded her. Sitting in her lap as he was, her hands supporting her weight behind her, Kabuto found his face close to hers. Her hair framed her nude body and her dark eyes were moist with the sheen of tears. She blinked and one tear fell. Kabuto caught it as it rolled off her chin. He looked at it thoughtfully. Then he smiled. It seriously screwed with Hiroko's mind to see how handsome that made him.

"That would be nice," Kabuto said. "But I want your affection. If you could see me as a man instead of an enemy, I would consider that acceptable, too. I won't hold out hope that you'll keep your promise. I expect all of Konoha to be after me within the hour."

Hiroko didn't know if he deliberately slandered her honor as an attempt at reverse psychology or if he really believed what he was saying. "Why me?"

Kabuto reached a hand toward her breast, saw her flinch, and put his hand down. "I don't know. I can't help my feelings. I suppose you're one of those people who think 'bad guys' don't feel anything except murderous rage and all that? That love is impossible for them?"

Love. "I'm in love with someone."

Kabuto looked at her, his glasses turning opaque by a trick of the light. "A person can love more than once. And more than one person."

She wondered if he was right. It didn't matter if he was, she would not love him. "I'll meet you, but that's it. Because I promised. I won't like you and I will never love you."

That smile again. "We'll see. If I managed to get you to like me, I would consider that a win. As a gesture of good will…"

Hiroko watched as Kabuto got off the bed and bent over her brothers. He held his glowing palms over their injuries, healing them sufficiently so that they started to groan as they came around. He stopped before they were fully conscious, leaping lightly to the window and opening it.

"Don't come back to the village," Hiroko said before he vanished. "Or I will turn you in."

Kabuto gave a small nod. "Sweet dreams, Hiroko-hime."

She decided that she didn't like that nickname.

* * *

Sakura frowned over the injuries when Hiroko finally managed to get her brothers to the hospital. "Someone's already begun healing them. An expert. Who was it?" She looked up at Hiroko.

"I didn't see," Hiroko lied.

"Whoever they are, they should be working here at the hospital. I'm swamped. Ino's home taking care of Neji, Asami's off god knows where…" Sakura sighed. "They'll be fine. If they hadn't received aid, though, they'd have been in critical condition. They can go home in a few days."

Hiroko nodded, leaving her sleeping brothers in Sakura's hands. She made her way home, lost in thought.

***

She felt alone. Only Sumiko, Shouta and Kaito were available now. She couldn't talk to any of them about this. She couldn't talk to anyone. She'd promised, and even though Kabuto was a wanted criminal, she didn't want to go back on her word. That wasn't who she was. Hiroko wasn't naïve enough to think she could change Kabuto or that he would prove to be anything but the psycho murderer that he was, but she was an honest person. She wouldn't let him take that from her by turning him in. Not yet, anyway.

It was dawn. No point in going up to bed. She was exhausted, but she made the effort to get dressed and go to work.

New recruits were at the training grounds, the captain informed her. Hiroko did a mental face palm. She'd forgotten. Training today. No missions. Taijutsu, ugh. She hated actually using her body to fight. So much less refined than Genjutsu. Taijutsu was vulgar. Not to mention she sucked at it. Well, no, she didn't. She only sucked by her father's standards, but not everyone could be like him or Sumiko.

Hiroko huffed as she pulled her hair into a high bun. She unstrapped her Ninja-to and joined in with her team. She'd end up all sweaty. Hiroko didn't like sweating; it called attention to her breasts.

***

She was talking to her team again, smiling, almost back to her usual self, much to their relief. She did feel better for knowing who her stalker was, but it was the prospect of not having to face anymore terrifying nighttime visits that had her communicating again. She would keep any number of secrets about enemies of the village if it meant she didn't have to suffer those touches. She wondered how the harpies endured it. If that was a prelude to sex… well, maybe touching was different with different men? She couldn't imagine wanting to find out. Not now. She'd harbored shy memories of Konohamaru touching her, but that had been nothing like what Kabuto had done. She didn't know why, but the way Kabuto's hands had caused her body to respond against her will felt menacing.

Kabuto. Walking home from her day at ANBU, Hiroko spent a lot of time thinking about him. He was the first man not to just say 'marry me'. He wanted to get to know her. Or something. She still wasn't sure what he wanted, but he was brave to trust she'd honor her promise. Or incredibly stupid. Not that she wouldn't keep her promise, of course. And why was she keeping it? He was wanted in every major country. He'd worked for and with Orochimaru extensively, was a cunning spy and infiltrator. He had to know he'd be getting no village secrets from her. And now that he would no longer be entering the village, he wouldn't be interrupting her sleep. So what did he want? Besides her? What did he want from her?

In the shower, she remembered how his tongue had felt on her. Something about how the hot water slipped over her skin reminded her of him and she shivered. It was wrong for it to feel good. She was wrong. She hadn't liked what he did, she told herself adamantly. She never liked it. Never. Never, never, never, oh help!

Konohamaru. She tried to think of him, to fill her mind with him. It was hard. He was nicer to her, true, but he was usually scowling for some reason or another, usually when she was around someone else. At those times, he was a little curt. Still, she preferred his friendly attempts to his previous hatred, and he was very funny sometimes. Especially when he was trying to annoy Udon.

She tried to remember if she'd seen any women around him lately as she shampooed her hair. There had been some, and Konohamaru had been all charm and smiles. Hiroko thought about Kabuto's words. Love two people? Not that she would ever love Kabuto, but maybe his words had some merit. She should certainly try to get over Konohamaru. She didn't even know why she wanted him. What did she know about the guy, really? Nothing. He was gorgeous, and strong, and nice. Generally, he was a very mellow person and that was what had attracted her to him. She'd seen him playing a prank on Uncle Naruto, then laughing with him about it later and thought, _that's the guy for me. Someone who loves fun and laughing, just like I do. _He was just so perfect.

And so unavailable. Being in the village, she'd heard from many female mouths just what it was that drew them to Konohamaru. Apparently her sisters had been right. He was good in bed and good to women. Hiroko spent the time lotioning her body, wondering how smart it was for her to have feelings for someone so averse to commitment. Kabuto's words came back to her, about how he couldn't help his feelings. What did he feel for her? Whatever it was, it was more real than her sixty some-odd proposals. The man wouldn't risk capture and death on mere infatuation.

Hiroko felt strangely validated by his actions. He thought enough of her to put his life and freedom on the line just on the off chance that she would keep a promise made in desperation. That was more than infatuation or attraction. It was more than just interest. It was more than any man had ever shown her.

And yet he'd hurt her and scared her. Terrorized her. She shouldn't be meeting him. She should alert her captain immediately to Kabuto's whereabouts. She'd be guilty of treason if she didn't. Turning him in was the right thing to do and Hiroko always did the right thing. She felt confused.

She wore white, as usual. Her favorite color. She brushed her hair until it gleamed, then simply let it fall around her body, surrounding her in the fragrance of her shampoo. It brushed around her knees as she turned and walked calmly down the stairs and out of her house. No one questioned her as she left the village.

* * *

Kabuto was early. He had nothing to do and he was nervous. He fully expected no less than ten units of ANBU to converge on the waterfalls. He could deal with them. That wasn't what had him worried. All it meant was that he'd have to take Hiroko with him and move as far away from Konoha as possible; he would get nowhere near the village if she gave him up.

This thought gave him pause. Would he really risk more of Itachi's wrath over this girl? After a moment, he was forced to admit that he would. Itachi would hunt him and kill him slowly for taking one of his children. He'd wanted to kill Kabuto just for playing with Sasuke-kun.

Ah, but Hiroko-hime. She would make any man worth his balls risk everything. Kabuto had never been in a relationship. He'd had encounters, yes, many. But outside of his alliance with Orochimaru, there had been no one of note. And Orochimaru used him just as he had used the Sannin. Mutual gain. Sex had been a side note.

Hiroko was different. Pure. Good. Being the fickle person he was, he wondered if her personality would come to annoy him. He was sometimes good, when it suited him, sometimes bad, when that suited him better. He definitely enjoyed pain, especially administering it to his enemies. He was loyal to no one but himself, doing as he wished, when he wished. She was undeniably someone who would have an issue with that. Or was she? She'd agreed to meet him here despite how he'd treated her. He was sure she hadn't forgotten that he'd had an army ready to invade her village. Just as he hadn't forgotten that she'd killed that army.

But he had forgotten his vow to kill her. Perhaps he would. If. If she didn't come tonight. That was what had him nervous. He was not accustomed to rejection, because he simply took what he wanted, always. She had to come tonight. Kabuto looked at his hand. Why was he shaking?

* * *

Hiroko made it to the waterfalls, walking slowly, giving herself time to really think this through. What if he wanted to see her beyond tonight? What if she said no, would he do something? She was uncharacteristically nervous about fighting him again. He was a formidable opponent in the Genjutsu department. She might lose. She hated that her confidence had taken such a hit from him, but there it was.

She stood near the stream bank. She didn't see or sense anyone. She activated her Sharingan, just in case. She'd wait an hour, then leave. She hoped he didn't come. She hoped he did come. She wished she'd never come back to Konoha.

* * *

Kabuto held his breath. The moonlight was reflected in the water, throwing light onto the vision she presented. Her white dress, sleeveless, simple, falling to her calves, glowed brilliantly. Her hair… god. Oh God. Kabuto felt his heart hammering, literally pounding in his chest and thought, _not good. This can't be good. I never fall in love! _ He stood from his hiding place to leave. He would go, good riddance to Konoha, and never look back.

Hiroko turned at hearing the soft footfalls. Kabuto was wearing a simple shirt and loose pants, no cloak.

"You came," Kabuto said quietly.

"As promised," she answered just as quietly.

They stared at each other.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks for reading! Oh and for anyone else who thinks I was turning Kabuto good...I'm not.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 13

Raiden was banned from going to Wyatt's school. The bullies were home from the hospital, recovering, so Wyatt wasn't worried. Asami was made to apologize to Paige. Paige accepted cheerfully, launching into tales of how wild she'd been herself at Asami's age. Asami glared, but did not answer. She didn't talk to anyone. She kept to herself, her anger cloaked around her like an invisible shield.

Juro and Yukio got home near midnight that first day. The van was leaden with junk, both inside and on top. It dragged on the street, leaving a trail of sparks as it struggled with the weight. The gas tank was empty. The twins hopped out buoyantly, already talking a mile a minute about the wonders they'd seen. They had an armload of crap each, as they jogged up to the front door that Leo held open for them.

Paige still happened to be at the manor. She was looking forward to seeing what Itachi would do. She wanted to see the ninja moves. Piper stood off to the side with her and Leo. Itachi strolled into the foyer and watched his boys sorting through the junk, right there on the floor. Juro and Yukio seemed not to notice the four adults staring quietly at them.

Finally Itachi spoke. His voice, while mostly devoid of inflection, held the faintest note of curiosity. "I wonder if something fell on your heads while you were building one of your many contraptions, over the years."

Yukio looked up and behind him. "Huh? Dad, look at this thing… it's a car en… en-gine. It makes the machines go, see? We-"

Itachi ignored him. "I must conclude that something of that nature happened. There are no mentally deficient Uchiha and nothing else will explain your staggering stupidity. I have honestly sat and had hours of reflection upon it. Not even Kenji is as bad."

Yukio stopped talking. Juro looked up, too. Paige, Piper and Leo listened in fascination. Itachi definitely wasn't one for positive reinforcement. This was better than the soaps.

"Dad, how could you think we'd be dumb enough to let our own creations knock us in the head? That's insulting," Juro complained.

Itachi cocked his head slightly. "Do you know what I find insulting? That you could show so little respect for someone else's house. What must our hosts think of me, that I have two grown children who stole their transportation without a word? Who obviously don't care what I might do to them, since I was neither consulted, nor informed about this outing? I try to be a good parent and keep broken bones to a minimum, but really. You two are exactly the reason that some fathers murder their children. If it weren't for the fact that we aren't home, I'd see you bleed for this outrage. I have lost face. The dishonor you bring on this clan is not to be tolerated."

Itachi straightened from the wall. Juro and Yukio hastily stood up, their Sharingan appearing as a reflex, a side effect of their fear. "Dad, we're sorry, we won't-"

Whatever happened next, Paige and the rest missed it. Itachi's eyes went red and the boys shut up. Leo noticed their pupils dilate as Asami's had done. After a moment, Itachi turned away from them to address Piper and Leo. "They will behave. You have my word."

And off he went to sleep, leaving the three adults speechless.

* * *

Leo taught at Magic School. Piper was running her own restaurant. Wyatt, Chris and Melinda were at school. Itachi and party were left at Halliwell Manor, alone. Boredom quickly set in.

Well, it did for everyone except Juro and Yukio. They cornered themselves with Piper's laptop and spent every waking moment on it, absorbing information. Akiko, Akane, Raiden and Itachi were left with nothing to do. The teens sprawled along the couches. Itachi sat in a dignified manner on one of the loveseats.

"_Bored,"_ Akane groaned.

"Must… have… mission," Akiko sighed weakly.

"Shit, I'd even welcome a vision right about now," Raiden whined at the ceiling.

"I confess, this lack of stimulation puts me in the need for violence. A mission, as Akane said, or an attack." Itachi looked at his nephew hopefully. "Perhaps we can find someone being shot and assist them?"

Raiden sat up. "No, but that gave me another idea. Money."

The girls and Itachi stared. Juro and Yukio looked up from their corner. Raiden went on to explain, getting his bag as he did so. He showed them the wads of green. Juro and Yukio jumped up, running closer.

"See this?" Raiden brandished the money. "If you have this, you can have anything you want in this world. Wyatt and I won twenty grand, finding some rich hag's lost poodle last time I was here. We split the money. I use mine as emergency cash whenever I come here, but you guys aren't coming back, hopefully. We should go shopping. And to do that, we need money. We could even go to Disneyland or Universal Studios if we wanted. Guys, we have a week to kill, why not have fun? Screw this laying around shit."

"Fuck yeah," Juro hissed intensely. "Yukio and I were just saying how we want to buy half the internet and we don't have a ryou. I'm with you, Raiden."

"We're in," the girls chorused. Asami was in the solar, by herself, still uncommunicative with everyone.

"You told us we must abide by this world's rules. Will we be using our abilities?" Itachi asked.

"Well," Raiden hedged. "Not so's anybody will notice."

Itachi recognized the grin on his nephew's face as one of mischief. However, his need to do something, anything, was so great that he felt they must risk discovery and imprisonment. "Very well," he said gravely.

Asami was brought in to listen. This she did moodily, arms crossed. She didn't answer when spoken to.

"Okay, the way I figure it," Raiden began, "we'll need lots of money. At least a hundred G's. That means skipping pets and going for missing persons. Rich people, natch. It's risky. Police will be involved and they'll want statements, documents, data, blah de fucking blah. That's where you come in, Uncle Itachi. Genjutsu whoever I tell you to like there's no tomorrow."

"Understood," Itachi murmured with a nod.

"Juro, Yukio, you guys seem proficient with that thing. Do a search. Find out who's wealthy and looking to reward people. Doesn't necessarily have to be a missing person. It could be anything."

"On it," the twins grinned. They scurried back to the computer.

Raiden turned to his cousin. "'Sam, you with us or what? I don't want to bring you and have the mission screwed because of whatever funk you're in."

Asami looked at him. "I'm staying."

Raiden shrugged and resumed speaking with his other two cousins.

***

Itachi watched his daughter surreptitiously. He wondered what was wrong with her. He didn't think she was upset with him over the Genjutsu he'd placed her in. It had been extremely unpleasant, but he sensed her anger had less to do with the reprimand and more to do with Akiko and Akane. He saw them as a pack of animals that had cast one of their number out. Some rift had come between the three previously inseparable girls. When he'd asked Akane about it, she'd only said that she and Akiko had tried to talk to Asami, but their sister had shunned them. Itachi had gotten the same response.

He'd taken her aside and tried to force the issue, but Asami had to be the most stubborn of all his children. She kept her anger to herself, did not cave under her father's threats or respond to his awkward hug and his declaration that he loved her. At hearing those words she'd looked at him scornfully and said, "No, you don't. You don't even know me, Dad. Leave me alone." Itachi had left her alone, but her words had hurt him; they were true.

She caught him looking at her and got up to stalk away.

***

"Hells to the yeah!" Yukio punched the air. "Got a bunch. Juro's printing them up."

Itachi, Raiden and the remaining two harpies clustered around the three-page printout. Raiden studied the findings.

"Wow, this first one is FBI. You guys hacked the FBI?"

Juro snorted. "Once we got the hang of the computer and how websites worked, we hacked into a bunch of places."

Raiden stared. "We've only been here a day and a half. People study years to be able to do that."

The twins shrugged. Itachi listened with pleasure. He didn't understand in the slightest, but apparently his two boys were smart after all.

"Anyways," Raiden said looking back at the papers. "This first one is a Senator's daughter. It's actually hot, not public knowledge yet. There's a ransom being asked for –awe, how quaint– but the case is time sensitive. This is unbelievable. A million point five frigging dollars. Jeeeeeeezus. This is it, guys, the one we're doing." He glanced up at them and waved the papers in their faces. "FBI… that's like… the very worst danger. Uncle Itachi, we'll really be counting on you."

Itachi nodded regally.

"Okay, we need a story to tell the Senator that will allow us to even get near him. He has to give us a chance to get his daughter or we won't even smell that money." Raiden clapped his hands. "Research. Let's find out all we can about this guy."

That took a few hours. They found out what state he sat for, where he lived, his background, his habits and personal life details. Boring shit.

"He's holed up in his mansion while this 'crisis' is going on," Akane chided. "How are we supposed to get to him?"

"Damn… he's got guards and security up the wazoo," Raiden moaned. He thought for a long time, staring out the window. The others watched him. Finally he turned to them with a puzzled look. "It makes no sense to me, but people in this world are unnaturally attached to their kids. Like, sickeningly so. They have to be with them all the time and be all in their business… y'all see how Piper and Leo are with their kids, right?"

There were nods of agreement. Yesterday, Chris had brought home a piece of paper from school with a 'B+' on it. Piper and Leo had just about swooned. There had been hugs and kisses and cupcakes. Raiden, Juro and Yukio had wanted to hurl. Itachi had suppressed the urge to use a katon on the paper.

"Well, whenever a couple here only has one kid, it's ten times worse. I bet this senator is frantic. At his wit's end. According to that information, if the girl isn't found within the next twenty-four hours, they have to give up that money… at which point we can assume she'll be killed. The feds want to find her before that time is up. The senator might be desperate enough to accept help from us without an explanation for where we came from. I don't want to Genjutsu him. It might screw with him paying us. What do you guys think? Should we risk it?"

"I say do it," Akiko answered decisively. "Or the FBI might really find her first and there goes our money."

That ended the discussion. Raiden gathered them together, preparing to fold. "Uncle Itachi, you're going to have to be my weapon. Stand right next to me and don't leave my side. If I nudge you, you do the Genjutsu. We need to hit whoever we meet up with first with a tiny one, so be ready, okay?"

Itachi's Sharingan whirled into place.

"All right. Here we go," Raiden said. The air rippled around them.

* * *

They materialized in an upstairs hall. It was bright, long windows showing acres of manicured and landscaped beauty outside. A maid happened to be standing not three feet from where they appeared. Raiden squeezed his uncle's arm hard just as she opened her mouth to scream bloody murder.

Itachi performed flawlessly, giving her a gentle suggestion. The hall appeared deserted to her. She turned to her dropped pile of bedding and began calmly picking it up.

Raiden sagged to one knee for a moment. He'd actually already heard the scream, so sure was he that they'd messed up. Damn, that was close. His heart was thundering away, making his temples throb. His cousins seemed to be faring no better. He stood up and shrugged the adrenaline off briskly. "Let's go," he whispered. He led the way down the hall.

* * *

Asami sat in the solar, looking out the window and seeing nothing. One got lost in a large family. Individuality ceased to matter. One became 'another one of Itachi's kids'. All she had were Akiko and Akane. They were the only ones who knew the real her. They were the only ones who knew what happened and how much she needed them.

They'd tried to take her back after Dad scolded her. They'd come and sat with her on the couch, dispelling the Genjutsu. They hugged her and told her they were sorry and that they wanted her forgiveness. Asami hadn't answered at first. Their arms were familiar, but she couldn't, no _wouldn't_, allow herself to seek comfort from them. A tear had slipped from one eye and that started her sisters crying. They pleaded with her, but she told them she wanted to be alone.

She hated them. They'd pushed her aside, after they'd promised to stick by her. She would not forgive them, even though she bled for the loss of their support. It was there, if she wanted to forgive them, but her pride would not let her.

Memories tried to surface, things that would tear her apart if she thought about them. Asami put her head in her hands, clutching at her hair. She squeezed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth to keep the memories back.

A key turned in the front door and a woman called out, "Hello? Anybody home?"

Asami heard, but didn't answer. She was beyond caring about anyone in this place. She wanted to go home. She wanted to crawl in the big bed she shared with her sisters and sleep nestled between their bodies, just like every night. It was hard to hold on to her hate when she needed them so badly.

***

Phoebe walked into the solar and saw a petite girl sitting in one of the large cushy chairs. Almost immediately her empathic abilities kicked in. She sensed an overwhelming cocktail of negative emotions: fear, pain, loneliness, anger, and above all panic. Phoebe dropped her purse and went to the girl quickly. "Hey… you must be one of Raiden's relatives. I got a call from Paige last night, explaining everything. My convention ended early… are you all right, sweetie?"

Asami stifled her moans, trying to scrub her tears away. She turned away from the stylishly dressed woman. Phoebe frowned in genuine concern, feeling the girl's pain as her own. She sat next to Asami and laid a hand on her shoulder.

Phoebe gasped and jerked, her hand clamping down on the girl convulsively. Asami turned her head to look at the woman.

Whatever fit she seemed to go through passed quickly, Asami was relieved to note. The woman opened her eyes and looked at Asami with something akin to pity. There were unshed tears in the woman's eyes. Before Asami could speculate on the reason for them, the woman got up and walked slowly to the opposite chair. She undid her short red jacket and laid it across the arm, before sitting down and looking at Asami. The woman seemed to think for a moment and shook her head. She forced a tremulous smile for Asami.

"I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself." The woman laid a hand on her chest. "I'm Phoebe. Piper and Paige's sister."

Oh. "Uchiha Asami." Asami did an automatic little bow from her seated position. Phoebe returned the bow correctly. "You're the one we came to see. Raiden is out right now. I don't know when he'll be back. He took everyone with him."

Phoebe gave a disinterested glance around. "That's actually okay. I kind of want to focus on you right now."

That sounded ominous. "Why?" Asami narrowed her eyes.

Phoebe slowly crossed her legs and shoved her hands under her thighs. "Well… I can sense your feelings. It's one of my powers. I'm an empath. Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"About why you're here all alone. Hurting."

"No."

Phoebe studied the girl. She had to help her. She'd gotten a vision, so that made Asami an innocent. Her innocent. Phoebe wanted to cry from the anguish the girl was living with, but she kept it together.

A lot had come through in the vision, especially the many walls Asami had in place to protect herself. But Phoebe could see past them to the damaged girl inside. She would have to play hardball with this one, but it had to be done. She could not let this poor girl continue to live the way she was doing.

"Asami, honey." Phoebe hesitated a second. "I know what happened to you."

The girl's eyes widened, but she did not respond. Phoebe could sense the girl retreating within herself, the hard, callus, diamond-bright exterior she presented to the world coming forward. Phoebe held up a hand.

"I won't talk about it if you don't want to, not right now, but eventually you'll have to. You know that, right? It's not enough that your sisters know, not if they're helping you keep the secret. Why haven't you told your father?"

Asami's face was forbidding. It was tight with the effrontery of this woman to presume she could talk about these things that had _never happened. _

"All right," Phoebe conceded. "Maybe it's hard to talk to your father about it. What about your mother?" Phoebe had gotten no sense of the girl's mother in her vision.

"I don't have a mother."

Phoebe bled a little more for her. "Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry. Did you lose her when you were really little, too? That's how I lost my mom."

"I don't know if she's alive or dead," Asami said indifferently. "I never knew her. I was sent to my father when I was born." She wanted to keep the woman talking about anything but the previous topic.

"Oh. So your father raised you?"

"No."

"Who did then?" Phoebe frowned in confusion.

"Guards. Then my dad, for a few months. Then my Uncle and his man."

Phoebe got up to return to Asami's side. "You've never had a woman around you?"

"Willow was our mother for a year, but she left."

The girl painted a stark picture. Phoebe was horrified, but kept this out of her voice. "I see. Well. Sometimes it's easier to talk to a woman. Not your sisters. Someone older, who has experience in things you don't. I'd like to help you, Asami. If you'll let me."

Asami looked into Phoebe's dark eyes. She was very beautiful. Her hair was perfect, her clothes trendy. She exuded confidence and understanding, yet Asami got the impression that she was not someone easily pushed over. Weakened as she was by her sisters' defection to the dark side, Asami wavered. She considered it seriously. Then she sighed. "You can't help. It's done. Over. It can never be fixed. Things will never be right again. Not ever."

Phoebe lost her resolve not to cry. A soft gasp escaped her as Asami's suffering spiked. Impulsively, she pulled the girl's head down to her shoulder. Asami let her, but she didn't cry. Her shell was up now, holding all the broken pieces of her together. Phoebe thought frantically of a way to help her new charge.

***

Piper came home and found Phoebe listening to Asami talk about her sisters. She entered the room quietly and sat down to listen too. She was glad Phoebe had gotten the girl to talk again. Angry as she was at her siblings, Asami had nothing but praise and pride for them. A couple of hours passed that way.

Phoebe let the girl talk. It helped her, of that she was certain. It helped dispel her anger at them. That was good, because Phoebe intended to sit them all down and talk to them. And then she would talk to this father that had left his children for so long.

For now, she stayed with the girl, sending a text message to Coop that she'd found an innocent and would be at Piper's for awhile. Phoebe wasn't letting Asami go back to her world until she'd helped her. When tales of Akiko and Akane had finally wound down, Piper asked gently what Asami thought of her brothers. The eldest Halliwell had picked up on the fact that Asami was an innocent. They usually worked together to help innocents. She sent a text to Paige, imitating Phoebe's approach not to leave the girl alone. Paige orbed right over. The three women sat in the fading light of the solar and listened to Asami as she slowly opened up. Wyatt and the other kids had come home, seen the discussion, and disappeared to do homework.

"I don't really hang with any of my brothers. Akane is kind of close to Kaito, but I think that's because they like the same kind of clothes. Akiko is closer to the boys. She's almost like a boy herself, sometimes. The way she's so rough and rowdy, not in appearance." Asami fiddled with her nails. "Kaito is pretty busy most of the time. He goes on a lot of missions because he has mouths to feed. Or he helps Hanabi with the kids. Hiroto is really dedicated to his job. Kenta and Kenji work a lot. Even Juro and Yukio work all the time. Shouta hangs out with his friends and the triplets are just creepy."

"What about the other two sisters you mentioned," Phoebe asked gently. She had her bare feet tucked under her on the couch. "Are you close to them?"

"Not really." Asami smiled, and the Halliwell women were struck by how uniquely beautiful the girl was. "They lived with Dad for a long time. But they're back in the village now. They're fun to be around… they're so clueless about anything having to do with… um," Asami faltered, turning her head aside. Phoebe sensed panic escalating in the girl again and rushed to reassure her.

"It's okay. We understand."

Asami nodded. It was stupid. Just because the woman knew her secret, she was all of a sudden unable to say anything about men or sex? She frowned. All this talking and interest in her had lowered her defenses. She'd never had females interested in her or what she thought. She'd never needed female friends; she had Akiko and Akane for that. And once she'd reached a certain age, females had hated her with a passion and for good reason. Asami was the number one home-wrecker in Konoha. "I don't really feel like talking anymore," she said now.

Phoebe nodded. She sensed that Asami wanted to be alone. She wasn't in as bad a state as she'd been in before. Now the girl felt mostly unsure and confused. "All right. I'm going to go catch up with my sisters. We'll be in the kitchen if you need us, okay?"

Asami nodded without looking up.

***

Phoebe led the way out of the room. The moment they were all in the kitchen, Paige burst out with, "Wow, is it me or am I getting some serious vibes off that girl?"

Piper set about making something to munch on. Innocents were few and far between these days. She was excited about this one for some reason.

"It's not just you," Phoebe said wearily. She leaned her elbows on the kitchen island, dropping her head into her hands. "Wait till you hear what she's been through."

She told them. Piper dropped her glass casserole dish and didn't bother to freeze it before it shattered. Paige fell into a chair, her eyes red and streaming. Phoebe kept speaking, the words difficult to say. She choked up a bit, but she'd done her crying. Now she was focused on helping her charge.

"How can we help?" Paige whispered. Piper was bent over the sink, trying not to empty her stomach.

"I don't know yet," Phoebe admitted. "I think… I think the way to help her is to get her to talk about it. To let her see that she'd still be accepted. There's so much hurt and anger inside her… it's why she does the things she does. But it's not the real her. The real her is still that lost, scared, traumatized little girl. I think we have to tell her father. Of that I'm sure."

"Oh god," Piper groaned as she turned from the sink. "I hate that world. _Nothing _but bad ever happens there. Honestly, and Wyatt thinks I'm letting him go to that place? Never."

"I want to talk to the sisters," Phoebe said. "They're a key part of this. Any idea where they all went?"

* * *

They met no one else until they got downstairs, but that entire floor was crawling with agents. Itachi acted without prompting. He had to wait until each man looked at him, unlike his talented daughter who could grab dozens of minds at once.

The agents were too many for him. Several spotted them as they walked through a room and touched their earpieces, conveying information. Raiden lost a lot of his composure, calling up wind chakra, but the Uchihas came through.

He'd forgotten that they could all use Genjutsu. The fact that they weren't on Uncle Itachi, his Pop or Hiroko's level meant Raiden essentially considered them incapable of wielding it. How wrong. Yukio took out two at once, Juro several more, and the girls were keeping the fresh agents coming into the room at bay. Itachi dealt with the rest.

Tricky. So… damn… tricky! Sweat coated them all liberally. The room was crowded with agents, all staring around as if looking for someone, while Raiden and his party stood right there in plain site. And they hadn't even reached that senator yet. Raiden motioned for them to creep forward, twisting and contorting themselves as they avoided bumping into the many agents. They didn't even dare to breathe.

A door was reached down a short hall. They all sensed people inside. Raiden opened the door slowly with a faint creak. Three agents and several plain clothes cops lifted their heads. The senator sat behind a large desk, face haggard.

***

Four hours later, Raiden and company were sitting in a food court booth at the mall, the money stuffed into several large backpacks slung on each person's back. They treated themselves to milkshakes, laughing uproariously as they relived the short, but eventful mission. Itachi merely looked on, sipping his thick chocolate shake cautiously.

"Man, did you _see _the look on the senator's face when his agents and shit just looked away from us?" Raiden crowed. He nearly choked, vanilla milkshake coming from his nose as he laughed.

"No, no, no, the best part was when you told him you could bring his daughter to him right at that moment," Yukio snorted thickly. "He looked like a whale, the way he jumped his fat body up and accused you of being one of the kidnappers."

"I liked how Dad threatened to roast his ass with Gokakyu," Akane giggled. "That was priceless. 'How dare you threaten arson in my house! Get out! Get out!'" She mimicked in a falsely deep voice. She slapped the table as hysteria threatened to spill her out of the booth.

"Juro was the king, though," Raiden sputtered. "I swear to god, I was ready to shit myself, I wanted to laugh so bad. Do it again, Juro. Say what you said to him again!"

Juro straightened up from his shake, clearing his throat and assuming the important air he'd adopted in the senator's study.

***

"Sir, we most definitely are not with the kidnappers. We're with an obscure branch of the government, not affiliated with FBI or CIA or Homeland Security. We've been alerted to your case. We're civilian consultants, experts in our field. I assure you we can have your daughter to you within the hour… for the reward money."

Raiden and the rest were banging the table, screaming with laughter. Itachi smiled himself, remembering a moment of raw pride he'd experienced at seeing his wayward son so out of character. The senator had spluttered at that point, but Juro had continued, as he was doing now.

"Sir, please. We have reason to believe your daughter is being subjected to unnatural acts of a sexual nature with rabid rodents. She may even be sold into black market slavery if we don't act now. Unless you want your only child scarred for life, it's best we retrieve her. If you'll let us, sir."

Here Juro had given such a convincingly solemn look, that even Raiden had been impressed.

"But you're children," the senator had said weakly. "How can children-"

"Talent comes younger and younger these days," Juro had said smugly.

The senator had agreed. Juro had coughed into one fist, saying they'd need cash, as their branch of the government couldn't have a paper trail leading to them. The senator had agreed, showing them the briefcases full of money.

The rest had been simple. Raiden and the boys went outside and hid behind some bushes on the extensive estate grounds. He'd been given a picture of the girl and one of her shirts. Raiden got the faintest impression imaginable of her chakra from the shirt. People's chakra here was suppressed to a point as to be almost nonexistent, but he got a tiny shred. It took him almost thirty minutes to locate her. She was several towns over, locked and chained in a basement. Raiden folded them there without delay. There were guards, but Juro and Yukio happily dealt with them, while Raiden freed the badly frightened woman. He'd been careful to materialize outside the basement, so she'd have no tales to tell.

They'd had to take conventional means back to the senator's place. The agents at the gate flew into action at seeing the woman with the three boys, but Raiden didn't relinquish her until they'd all been escorted to the senator. Itachi and the girls had stayed behind to keep the agents and detectives under Genjutsu. They'd also coached the senator on what to say. When his daughter was marched into the room with Raiden and the twins, he stood up, buttoned his jacket over his portly stomach and performed perfectly.

"Ah, Agent Coltrane, thank you. These young men are with me. I hope you understand, but I had to seek outside assistance. Your men were taking entirely too long, and my daughter's life was at stake."

That was as far as Raiden dared take it. He nodded at his uncle then and Itachi hit the men who'd escorted them from the gate with a moderate Genjutsu. "I see, senator," Agent Coltrane said. "I'm glad everything worked out. We'll need statements-"

Another little dose from Itachi.

Agent Coltrane faltered. "-right… I'm sorry, I'd forgotten we'd already gotten the statements and information we need. We'll clear out of your home immediately senator. My congratulations on having Anna back, safe and sound." He'd turned and left.

The senator and his filthy daughter had enjoyed a sappy reunion. They'd been paid, walked out of the estate and off the grounds, Genjutsus flying at every pair of eyes to look their way. They walked until they reached a more commercial part of town, laden with the money and ready to kill anyone who touched their bags. They caught the first bus they came to and took it until Raiden spotted a mall.

***

"I don't think I have ever cast so many separate Genjutsus at once," Itachi said now. "A word of advice, Raiden. Had you explained the plan in detail, I could have saved us much trouble. If you'd told me there would be so many agents, instead of the one or two I was expecting, I would have told you that a blanket jutsu would have sufficed. We need not have encountered the agents at all. I understand that the finer points of the art are lost on you since you cannot cast it or dispel it, but I am an expert. You should have asked me what our options were. Your way was extremely risky. Extremely." And thoroughly exciting. He would not criticize the boy further. He considered ordering one of the hamburgers he saw his children wolfing down. They looked atrocious.

"Dude, how'd you think to come up with that gay-ass voice?" Yukio asked his twin as he ate. "Fucking awesome."

Akane kicked her brother under the table before casting a meaningful look at their father. Yukio grimaced. Maybe he shouldn't use the word 'gay' like that.

"Heard it from some politician on a video. One of the ones we watched on YouTube," Juro said as he slurped the last of his shake. He attacked his burger.

Raiden looked around at his family, happy as heck. "Let's put a hurting on this place after we eat, shall we? The way the economy is, the stores won't know what hit them."

* * *

Asami was asleep on the couch by the time Raiden and an entire mountain of stuff materialized in the solar. Piper stifled a shriek. Phoebe spilled her tea and Paige orbed herself out from under the bags and boxes. A mountain bike scraped at her new pants as it fell over. Juro materialized in a pair of rollerblades and immediately crashed into Raiden, who went sprawling. He knocked over Akiko, who was holding a pile of Juicy Couture bags. Akane sidestepped, bumped into her father, and Itachi dropped a bottle of Idole d'Armani. The fumes wafted over everyone, choking them.

Piper waved a hand in front of her face, coughing, as Wyatt orbed downstairs, right on top of the whole damned mountain. Everyone groaned.

"Wyatt, oh my god, you will never guess what we did today." Raiden bounced over a dune buggy, his arms full of stuff.

"Tell me that's not a Wii console," Wyatt shrieked. He took the white box from Raiden, hugging it covetously.

"Sure is," Raiden hollered back. "And look at all the bitchin' games I got!" Both boys started to run up the stairs, but Piper halted them with a piercing whistle.

"Hold it right there, young man," she said dangerously. "Where did you get all this stuff?"

"Bought it," Raiden said impatiently.

"With what money," Piper persisted.

When Raiden told her, Piper and her sisters crowded around him eagerly.

"Did you say-"

"One point-"

"Five million-"

"Dollars?!" They chorused the last word.

Raiden wasn't smiling anymore. "Phoebe. You're back." His reason for being there in the first place came rushing up to put a damper on his bubbly mood.

Itachi came forward at the mention of Phoebe's name. He looked at her without expression. Phoebe looked up at him and had to take a deep breath. She reminded herself that she was happily married to a very hot guy, but gracious! This uncle person was almost too good to look at. She wondered if he had healthy appetites, to have so many children. Then she blushed. What an improper thought. She returned her attention to Raiden.

"Yeah, I'm back. I understand that you need my help, but I'd like to talk to your uncle and cousins for a moment. Can you wait a bit?"

Raiden smiled. "Yeah, sure." He turned to go with Wyatt, but Piper made a warning sound and glanced pointedly at the mountain of purchases. Raiden folded the entire mess to the basement a few blocks away. The heavy scent of perfume still lingered in the air. Wyatt grabbed him and orbed them upstairs.

* * *

Itachi watched after them briefly, before turning to Fee-Bee. "I must insist we see to Raiden's problem, Fee-bee. It is urgent. Lives may depend on the information you give him. It is well that you returned early from your own mission. I am anxious to get back to the rest of my family, in case what the boy has seen is true."

Phoebe thought the way he stressed both syllables of her name funny. She didn't smile, though, as she nodded her head in acceptance of what he'd said. "I understand that," she said diplomatically. "But you need to understand that your daughter is in a world of hurt. I think she comes first right now."

"Asami? What has happened?" Itachi left them to go check on his daughter himself.

She and her sisters followed him. It was plain to Phoebe that he cared deeply for his children, though she'd been unable to read his feelings. Itachi was a tightly controlled man. She watched as he peered down at his sleeping daughter. He looked up at her. "She seems to be as I left her," he said guardedly.

Akiko and Akane had come in as well. Phoebe ushered Itachi and the girls out of the living room and into the solar. Leo was with Juro and Yukio, presumably. All of the males seemed to be upstairs with Raiden, trying out the Wii. They could hear the setup music drifting downstairs.

The women sat. Itachi stood. He was wearing a plain black button down shirt and khaki pants. Simple footwear. He folded his arms, his expression blank yet somehow wary. Akiko and Akane sat across from the three Halliwells. They were nervous. What was this about? Had Asami done something while they'd been gone?

No one spoke. Phoebe took a breath. However controlled this man was, it would hurt him to hear what she had to say. She hated hurting people, but this had to be done. She was sure this was the way to help Asami. This secret had to be out in the open.

"What do you know about Asami?" Phoebe began. "About her as a person?"

Itachi's tension drained away. He'd expected to hear bad news. Instead this woman was just like the rest. "If you mean to criticize my parenting skills, you may save your breath. Your opinion means nothing to me."

"I'm not criticizing you," Phoebe hurried to assure him. "I'm curious."

Itachi repressed his annoyance, but gave it thought. "I can only speak of when she was younger and of now. When she was small, before I moved away, she was loud and wild, like these two behind me. Playful. Affectionate. A happy girl."

Phoebe swallowed. "And now?"

"She's an excellent physician. She has some sort of fixation on men that I don't understand, but I haven't been back long enough to really see the woman she's grown in to."

Phoebe sighed. "That's what I thought. Akiko? Why don't you or your sister tell your father of the pact you made with Asami."

"You know about that?" The black-haired girl asked fearfully. "'Sam would never tell…"

"She didn't," Phoebe said. "I learned it in a vision. All of it, including what happened to her."

"What happened-," Itachi began sharply. Phoebe held up her hand as Akiko began speaking in a halting voice. Itachi didn't turn around to look at his daughter, but he heard every word. He kept his eyes on Fee-Bee as he listened with a deepening frown.

"We promised to help her make men suffer. We swore to stick by her no matter what and never choose men over each other. As in husbands. Boyfriends and stuff were okay, because it was part of making men pay, but we promised not to fall in love or get married or … or anything like that," she finished in a whisper.

"And have you kept your promise?" Phoebe asked quietly.

Akiko nodded. "Mostly. I…" She glanced at her father. He had his back to her. Paige got up and sat next to her, putting a supportive arm around her shoulders.

Akane cursed as tears suddenly made her blink furiously. She was not the crying type. Piper came and joined her, offering a tissue. Phoebe remained across from them, Itachi between them.

"It's okay," Phoebe said softly. "What we're doing will help her. You want to help her, don't you?"

Akiko nodded. She was still holding it together, but she'd be bawling soon, too, she knew.

"Akiko." Itachi's voice was stern. "Say what you must. I will not judge you or your sisters." He still had his back to them, facing Phoebe.

Akiko swallowed. "We did keep our promise. But Akane lied about losing her virginity. And I… I lost it to this boy, but… but I was scared."

Itachi frowned. Nothing the girl said made any sense, but he did not interrupt.

"Akane's not afraid of anything," Akiko said "She goes after all kinds of men and she leaves them hanging. But she's getting married now, and… I fought with Asami the other night about going after Henry just because Paige healed Yukio better. She's mad at us. She thinks we're going back on our word and we're not! We're with her…" Akiko trailed off, hanging her head.

"I understand none of it or what it has to do with Asami," Itachi said stonily.

"Girls, thank you," Phoebe said kindly. "You can leave the room. Go on upstairs. Piper, Paige, I may need the Power of Three if there's a bad reaction, so I need you two to stay."

Her sisters rose to flank her on the couch. Phoebe hesitated only until she was sure the girls were safely upstairs. Then she raised her eyes to meet Itachi's equally dark ones.

"Some years ago – I'm not sure how old she was, maybe ten or eleven – Asami was raped. She was ambushed. From the vision, I got the impression that it was someone she knew. It was at night, she was alone, and her attacker was much stronger than she was."

Itachi's face underwent a slow, dangerous shift, his arms coming down. By now, the Halliwells were used to seeing his eyes turn red when he was upset.

"There's more," she told him relentlessly. "She conceived from the rape. She found out shortly afterward. She snuck into the hospital and nearly overdosed on something not meant for children, but she successfully aborted the baby. Her sisters went with her. She almost died from that, but again, they managed to nurse her back to health. I think the only reason she survived is that she was so young. Her body is strong and resilient."

Itachi sat unsteadily on the chair behind him and covered his eyes with a hand. He sobbed once, a word they didn't know. It was the only sound for a few moments. Paige blew her nose softly.

Phoebe was swamped with all the grief in the room, but Itachi's guilt and wretched, horrified pain on his daughter's behalf came through loud and clear. She continued speaking.

"Your daughter did die in a way that night, though. She never recovered emotionally. She developed a deep hatred for all men, and decided they had to pay. She passes it off as promiscuity, but she uses and discards them as she was used and discarded. She hurts them, taunts them, hunts them, abuses them. Asami's turned her weakness into a weapon. When the other two decided to join her in a show of solidarity, I'm not sure, but I do know their support is the only thing that keeps Asami together. She's broken, Itachi. They share a bed at night because she still has nightmares, to this day. The real her is nothing like the confident person you think you know. She's hollow and shattered. More now, than ever; one of her sisters is moving on. Akane is the most stable-minded of your girls, but Akiko didn't escape unscathed from what happened to Asami. I had a brief vision when I touched her arm, earlier. She's terrified of men. She goes after a few to appease Asami, but generally she prefers the safety of women."

Phoebe was sick at having to watch how this destroyed Itachi, but she went on, getting up to sit by the grieving man. "I'm not criticizing you, but it didn't help that the girl hasn't had you in her life. A girl first learns how a man is supposed to treat her from her father. Her uncle, while I'm sure is a perfectly nice man, just isn't the same. Even now, it's not too late. You have to go to her. You have to help her heal, help her accept herself and what happened. Help her find who she was, who she still is and could be."

Itachi heard, but did not reply. He didn't think he would ever be able to speak again. The guilt was killing him where he sat. His daughter. His own daughter. And him off in Suna when he should have been in Konoha, with his children, where he belonged. No one, not Danzo himself, would have dared touch his child if he'd been in residence.

He roughly shook off Phoebe's comforting pats to his shoulder as he stood suddenly and went to the living room. Asami was curled on her side, her face troubled, as if from a nightmare. He bent, scooped her up and just held her on his lap, rocking her back and forth. His tears were silent and full of withering self-hatred.

Phoebe watched from the doorway for awhile. Then she and her sisters went upstairs.

* * *

Paige opened the door to the attic and a wave of sound nearly blasted her back. A TV had been orbed up. Leo was currently going against Wyatt in some kind of high-speed game. Raiden, Chris and Melinda cheered on Wyatt, while Juro and Yukio egged Leo to glory. Akiko and Akane divided their attention between both. Screaming, shouting, cursing… Piper drew the line when she heard her well-mannered son say shit.

"That's it. I'm blowing that game up."

Someone hit pause as they all whirled around to face the three witches. Before Piper said anything else, Phoebe marched forward to speak to Raiden. "All right young man. I'm all yours. What do you need?"

***

This discussion was nowhere near as emotional as the one downstairs had been, but no less disturbing. Itachi wasn't present, but Raiden forged ahead and told everything he could remember about the visions. He gave a brief background on Akatsuki and added Wyatt's theories about Izanami. They were all sitting in a circle, eating from the peach cobbler that Wyatt had orbed up, much to Piper's disapproval.

Phoebe licked her fork clean when he'd finished speaking. "Well… let me start by giving you some information about visions. First of all, visions don't come from nowhere. They are sent. I'm inclined to believe that just as there is this Izanami as a force for darkness where you come from, there is also a force for good. I don't think Izanami can be termed evil, per se, but her agenda is definitely not good, if she is in fact behind all this. My point is, whatever is going to happen will upset whatever balance exists on your world. Some force is sending you a distress signal. You say you usually receive dreams when something bad is going to happen?"

"To my family, yes." Raiden frowned. "I don't get dreams about stuff that will effect other people really."

"What about the dream you said Aimi woke you up from?"

"She didn't wake me. Couldn't wake me. She had to go back in time to make sure it never happened."

Phoebe considered this. "So that dream was different somehow than your previous dreams?"

"I guess… I always wake up from my other dreams on my own."

Phoebe nodded. "Sounds like it was the powers that be trying to contact you through a familiar medium. When that didn't work, they resorted to more drastic measures. Raiden, you will keep getting those visions until the powers sending them feel you've gotten the message."

"Which is what, exactly?" Raiden asked fearfully.

"Let's find out," she said. She held her hands out and Raiden took them gingerly.

***

A tense moment of silence, and then Phoebe screamed. She flew backward, her hands locked around Raiden's as he yelled in fright.

Piper and Paige tried to pull them apart, but some force sent them flying backward, unwilling to have the vision interrupted. Wyatt ushered Chris and Melinda out of the attic and slammed the door behind them. He leaned on the door, staring at his friend and aunt thrashing around in a tangle on the floor, with one hand covering his mouth. Akiko, Juro, Yukio and Akane stood anxiously off to the side.

Raiden wrenched himself from Phoebe after several tries, scrambling off of her. "Oh, no," he said when he saw her face. Piper came hurrying over and beckoned Paige quickly. Phoebe was unconscious, blood leaking from her ears and nose. Paige held her glowing hands to Phoebe's head.

Phoebe came to with a small start. She blinked a few times, but sat up normally. Leo helped her to her feet and guided her to the sofa. She accepted a glass of water that someone produced from somewhere with muttered thanks, then fixed Raiden with a sympathetic look. She beckoned him to sit on the floor in front of her.

"Whew. Okay, kiddo. It's bad. Maybe as bad as you were thinking, maybe worse. This is what I got:

"The Akatsuki (it came out sounding like uh-cot-ski when Phoebe said it) are coming back. I got names, but I'm not sure of the pronunciation." She tried anyway. Everyone who came with Raiden winced. Straight butchery of the simple names. But oh, god, those names! "I don't know what a bee-joo is, but they each have it. Wyatt was right, Izanami is pulling the strings. They're after you, Raiden. And it doesn't look good. The only other thing that I got was that you'd need another army of bee-joos to fight them. But essentially-"

"We are _so _fucked," Raiden said faintly.

"Exactly," Phoebe commiserated.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Got a little sidetracked with learning how to draw, so this chap is a wee bit delayed. Next chap picks up where we left off with Raiden and crew. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing (to those who review. I know I have quite a few lurkers, LOL).

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 14

To be the focus of Naruto's undivided attention, one had to be strong. Physically, mentally, emotionally… a weak man would wither away to nothing under the constant, ruthless onslaught of his body. The way Naruto delved into a person's mind and feelings, dragging forth every dream, hope and secret with his relentless questions and talking, would have had a lesser man running away in short order. And the way Naruto gave everything of himself, demanding nothing less than one's soul in return… no. Life with Naruto wasn't for the weak.

Sasuke wasn't weak, but had he not grown up with the man and known his ways, he might not have survived.

He woke slowly one sunny morning and found himself alone in the bed. That was a surprise; these days he was accustomed to waking up anyplace except the bed. The bathroom, the yard, the living room, the kitchen nook. One time he'd woken up on the roof and another time he'd come to before rolling into the stream in the woods. They fucked in every place imaginable. Come to think of it, hadn't they been up in a tree during the last bout? Sasuke suspected Naruto had carried him to the bed.

Sasuke stretched, cataloguing all the many bruises, the way his body was one constant, sore ache of sexed-out bliss. He rolled to his stomach… and there was Naruto, across the room in a chair. He was staring at Sasuke with a thoughtful, faraway expression. Sasuke half buried his face in the pillow, staring back.

His demon was slouched to the side, one finger rubbing absently at his lips. His blue eyes were half closed. His other hand draped loosely on the arm of the chair. One ankle was resting on his knee. He had on a pair of faded blue jeans, unbuttoned. Nothing else. His hair was tousled, longish, brushing his eyes. His bronze body was at rest, though the muscles were prominent in the sunlight streaming in through the window. Sasuke was made aware of the way his naked ass was exposed by the way the azure eyes slipped along his length. A smile tugged at one corner of Naruto's lush mouth and the lids dropped a little farther. From where he lay, Sasuke could see the bulge in the front of his demon's jeans growing.

Sasuke's skin tingled. Hours upon countless hours of Naruto's meticulous stimulation had his body extremely sensitized. The slightest glance, the most innocuous word uttered in Naruto's voice, the merest touch of one finger had Sasuke hard and sweating. They no longer bothered with lube; Sasuke's ass was perpetually moist and stretched, they fucked so often.

The blue gaze was calm, yet heated. Appreciative yet possessive. Above all, it was adoring, worshipful, humbled. Sasuke was cherished in that prolonged glance. He felt himself blushing but he refused to look away from Naruto's bold stare. He maintained the eye contact, though it made his heart pound against the bed. He wanted to squirm in embarrassment. Sasuke willed himself to stillness. It was an effort. His skin humped into goose flesh, the longer Naruto displayed his interest. Nothing sexual about the look either, just his demon clearly, blatantly and unashamedly showing how much he loved him. Sasuke bit his lip as his embarrassment grew. The look was growing unbearable.

* * *

Naruto had to stop himself from laughing. A barely audible hum of admiration had escaped him when he'd sat down and taken up his study of the marvelous man on the bed. He suspected it was this slight noise that had woken Sasuke.

The man had been flat on his back, sprawled like something that had fallen out of the sky. If so, he was a dark angel of staggering beauty, probably cast from heaven in a fit of jealousy by the other, less beautiful angels. He saw the long lashes sweep upward as Sasuke woke, saw his chest rise as he took a deep breath. Sasuke had stretched, his lean body undulating smoothly on the sheets in an unconscious imitation of sensuous acts. Then he'd rolled over and seen Naruto staring. Those dark eyes had crinkled in pleasure as he hid his smile in the pillow, looking back at Naruto.

Ah, Jesus. Those eyes. Naruto hurt with the beauty of them. They looked at him with their naturally coy expression. Naruto, through dint of his obsession with Sasuke, had long ago come to the conclusion that it was the shape of Uchiha's eyes, the placement of the lids that gave him that coy look. To women, it looked like he wanted to own them and make them submit to whatever debauched fantasy he was currently entertaining. Hence all the rabid fan girls when they'd been younger, before Sasuke had made it clear that he was with Naruto. To Naruto, the eyes always looked like Sasuke wanted sex. Coquettish. The long lashes aided in this impression. Odd, that Sasuke could look so pretty when he was so manly. Whatever, when Sasuke looked at Naruto like he was doing now, it always had him feral with desire. Always.

He had to look away. Naruto's eyes roamed down the length of Sasuke's body, noting the contrast of his skin against the white sheets. Sasuke had been very fair in their youth, and usually still was. The time outdoors had given him a tan. It never ceased to surprise Naruto how brown the fair Uchiha could get under the sun. The black hair, still so impossibly thick even at thirty years old, shone with health.

Back to the face. Naruto could feel the insistent throb in his pants. He'd been enduring it since Sasuke woke up. Sasuke hugged the pillow, biting his lip the longer they gazed into each other's eyes. Naruto wondered what he was thinking. Was his heart pounding the way Naruto's was? Was his skin prickling with heat in anticipation of touching each other? Sometimes Sasuke had told him he was beautiful, but the blonde knew he couldn't compare with the Uchiha. Sasuke was such a girl.

He wanted to make love to Sasuke. Again. But he also wanted to continue looking at him, torturing himself with the man's unnatural splendor. An idea came to him. Naruto considered it, wondering if he'd ever done it over the years. He decided that he hadn't. Versions of it, yes, but not precisely this. He brought his hand from his mouth and joined both in front of his chest. He spoke quietly, barely a murmur.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

* * *

Sasuke's eyes widened. He pushed up from the bed slowly as the four clones appeared between him and Naruto. Each clone was a sexy, muscled hunk wearing a pair of faded unbuttoned jeans, just like his demon. They padded forward on their bare feet, surrounding Sasuke on the bed as they knelt around him. He cast a glance at where Naruto sat, once again rubbing his lips. There was a small smile in place now, as the blue eyes gazed at him avidly.

No. Not like this. Not with Naruto _watching. _

He'd never had anyone watching him while he had sex, ever_. _Sasuke was a private person. Besides, who would watch? Not Naruto, certainly, since well, he was usually busy fucking Sasuke. It was… indecent. Wrong.

_Thrilling? _A voice asked slyly in Sasuke's mind. No. Definitely not. Mortified, Sasuke began to get off the bed.

A clone stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. A broad, powerful hand. Naruto's hand. Sasuke looked up into four serious faces. Two were by his head, two by his feet. Helplessly, he felt his dick swelling, felt his heart begin it's now-familiar hammering. Four. What would four Narutos do to him?

One leaned down to kiss him, his tongue slipping into Sasuke's open mouth easily. Sasuke fell back against the mattress, already growing weak. Then he remembered Naruto was watching this and felt embarrassment twist in his gut. He turned away from the kiss, but the clone held his jaw and turned him back. He stared down into Sasuke's wide eyes for a second, making sure the Uchiha knew that there was no point in resisting. His head came down for another scorching kiss and Sasuke whimpered as he responded. The clone kissing him held his right arm down. Another clone held down his left arm as it bent its blonde head to Sasuke's chest, nipping along the area above his frantic heart beat.

Mouths were on him everywhere. A tongue, wet and hot, licked teasingly along his pelvis, mapping an inevitable path to his groin. Another mouth sucked the inside of his thigh, perilously close to his balls, making them tighten in need. Sasuke tried to arch, but the flat of a clone's hand held him down. A moan left him as one nipple was bitten, then sucked. A callused thumb rubbed his other nipple. A hand in his hair kept his head still just before one of the mouths kissed up the length of his shaft. A tongue swiped the moisture seeping from his slit before swallowing half of him in one go. Sasuke twisted, but the hand in his hair kept his head still and another clone straddled his chest.

Naruto watched, aroused to the point of fainting, as the clone on Sasuke's chest ended the moaning by sliding his cock into the Uchiha's mouth. The other clone shifted his position, sitting at Sasuke's head to pin his arms down at his sides. Sasuke couldn't move, not with the clone who was fucking his face also holding his head by the hair. Sasuke coughed around the meat in his mouth, gagging slightly. The clone pulled back somewhat, then eased forward again.

Lower, another clone was bobbing slowly on Sasuke's cock. Naruto observed, noticing how the clone held up one of Sasuke's legs. The fourth clone lowered its face to Sasuke's exposed ass, his tongue outstretched. Even from where he sat, Naruto could clearly see the way the puckered hole twitched at the first touch. The tongue entered, retreated, entered again. The clone closed his lips on the ring of flesh. Naruto could see from the way the clone's cheeks became hollow that it was sucking powerfully on Sasuke's anus. Naruto's eyes became slits of restrained lust as he remembered the taste of Sasuke. His own mouth salivated strongly, imagining Sasuke's hole in his mouth, the musky taste of him and his smell.

Sasuke screamed on the cock between his lips, the sound muffled. Naruto looked back at his face and saw that there was saliva running down his chin, precum mixed with it. The clone fucked his face a little faster.

Somehow, the clone that had been holding Sasuke's arms worked himself beneath the Uchiha's body, holding him up long enough to position himself properly. The clone doing the rim job helped him, guiding the other clone's cock into Sasuke's ass. Sasuke unintentionally bit the cock in his mouth, making that clone disappear with a _poof. _The other clones hardly noticed. The one beneath Sasuke was firmly lodged in him now. He moved Sasuke on his cock and one clone stretched out full length on Sasuke, making a human sandwich of him. The one on top turned Sasuke's head aside, placing a hicky on his neck. Naruto got a look at Sasuke's face. It was impassioned, flushed red and sweaty. Spit and cum leaked from his parted lips. Those dark eyes gazed at him in undiluted lust.

* * *

Naruto thought the look on his man's face was the sexiest sight he'd ever seen. What did it feel like to have one dick filling you up while another rubbed on your own cock?

The third clone was feeling left out. He pushed the clone laying on Sasuke aside. The clone beneath Sasuke sat up, having Sasuke ride him. One clone knelt by the bed, between Sasuke legs, to take him into its mouth. The last clone stood on the bed, straddling the sitting clone and Sasuke. He filled Sasuke's mouth with his erection, steadying himself on the bouncing bed with a fist in Sasuke's hair.

Naruto grasped the tab on his zipper and slowly pulled it down. He scooped out his own erection and fisted it, slapping the hard length against his belly in time to Sasuke's riding motions. He thumbed his slit, spreading the moisture there as he watched the clone fucking Sasuke's face, forcing the Uchiha to try and push the clone's hips away. So hot. Both the scene and Naruto's body. He could feel his temperature rising as his balls filled in preparation to coming. He didn't let himself, though. He continued to fist his erection, spitting into his palm to lubricate things. His other hand covered the lower half of his face, his elbow on the arm of the chair. Slow strokes now. He slowed his hand down, the harder Sasuke rode, concentrating on the wet sounds the forced blow job caused. He listened to the wet smack of Sasuke's ass as it slammed repeatedly into the clone's lap. The other blow job, the one being given to Sasuke, made slurping sounds. So… damn… sexy. A shiver twined its way through Naruto's body and suddenly he wanted to bottom. He wanted to be fucked, hard and mercilessly.

"Disperse."

* * *

Sasuke was inundated with raw sensation one moment and left hanging the next. "Wha-" He looked around, disoriented, panting, _this close _to coming. He spotted Naruto standing slowly from the chair, the pleasure from his released clones making him stagger a little. Sasuke was about to curse him to hell when he saw his demon drop his pants. He continued that slow walk to the bed and Sasuke, in spite of his galloping heart and heavy breathing, noticed a change in his man. Before he could determine what it was, Naruto looked at him from beneath his lashes.

"Fuck me, Uchiha. And don't you dare think of coming before you've rearranged the shape of my ass hole. I want it hard. Do me as hard as you can."

Sasuke's jaw dropped to his chest as Naruto stood docilely by the bed. Waiting. Submitting to Sasuke the way-

Sasuke stopped wasting the golden opportunity being handed to him and flew at Naruto. He knocked them both to the floor, Naruto grunting but compliant. Sasuke flipped him roughly to his stomach. His dick was wet, but maybe not wet enough for Naruto's inexperienced ass. He glanced around quickly, hoping to spot the lube. He didn't. He did see a bottle of half-used lotion on the floor under the bed. Hooking it out with his foot, he squirted it generously between Naruto's lower cheeks, inserting a finger to loosen the ring of muscles there.

"Ahh… god," Naruto sighed.

Sasuke pushed another finger in, the cool lotion warming from the heat of Naruto's body. The lemony smell of the lotion mixed with the musk of Naruto's ass and Sasuke couldn't wait anymore. He lined himself up with Naruto's entrance. "Hold yourself open for me," Sasuke rasped. Naruto reached behind himself and complied.

Sasuke had to go slowly out of necessity. He couldn't remember the last time Naruto had bottomed and he was tight. Forbiddingly so. Partway in he stopped, leaned up on his palms and rammed his cock balls deep.

Naruto groaned, grimaced in pain. "Just like that. God, that… feels so good. Own me, Uchiha. Fuck me like I know you want to." Naruto's voice was low, throbbing with need. He sounded like pure sex.

Whatever had gotten into Naruto, Sasuke took full advantage. He began thrusting.

Ruthless. Savage. Barbaric. Merciless. Hard. Brutal. Cruel. Violent. Unrestrained. Vicious. Fierce. Relentless. Unyielding.

What inhumanity lurked in Sasuke from his seal, bled into him now to flavor his thrusts with animalistic fervor. He fucked Naruto as he wanted, pain a welcome and sizzling enhancement. He and his demon both yelled hoarsely at the unfathomable pleasure, nearly swooning from its intensity. Sasuke didn't stop. He was close to dead from prolonged denial of his orgasm, but he held on by the very skin of his teeth until he was sure he really would die. Then, when he finally allowed himself to come, it was so mind-numbing, so blistering that he went Level Two out of self-preservation. His wings flapped in agonized, trembling release.

Naruto came once, twice, three times. He was coming a fourth time when Sasuke stiffened, screaming, and started to come. Half way through his orgasm, he felt Sasuke's cock swell until it was nearly splitting him in two and he joined his scream to Sasuke's. Kyuubi came rearing to the forefront of his mind and Naruto let him, too weak to hold him back. His claws dug into the wood of the floor as Sasuke came and came and came.

Done. Finally. Sasuke fell to Naruto's back as he reverted slowly to normal. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't do anything but lay on Naruto's heaving body. His cheek stuck to the sweat pooled on the bronzed skin.

* * *

Time passed. The sun was no longer bright and the breeze blowing in from the window was cool. Pleasantly so. Naruto and Sasuke's tangled limbs were slick with moisture, hot from sleeping entangled. Sasuke woke this time and found Naruto awake again, but sprawled next to him. He looked at Sasuke with one sleepy blue eye.

"Bed," the blonde mumbled. "Carry me."

Sasuke raised one dark brow. He stood and had to catch himself before his legs sent him back to the floor. Even so, he stumbled when he bent over Naruto and ended up falling on the man. Naruto grunted as Sasuke's knees landed on his back, but said nothing. He waited patiently for Sasuke to get his bearings. Sasuke crawled to Naruto when he could manage it, slung him over his shoulder, and lurched his way to the bed. He collapsed with a mutter.

"What?" Naruto said. He adjusted himself so that Sasuke had room on the bed.

"Said I prefer you being seme. This uke phase you're going through today is breaking my back. Fat bastard." Sasuke grimaced as he stretched his back theatrically.

Naruto turned his head on the pillow, grinning hard. "Why, Sasuke! Are you getting old?"

Sasuke paused mid stretch. His eyes narrowed at Naruto's toothy smile. "No."

"You really think I'm fat, gramps?"

"Don't call me that."

"Don't call me fat."

"You are fat."

"No, I'm not."

Sasuke rolled and grabbed a hunk of Naruto's meaty thigh, shaking the solid flesh. He ignored the fact that he was holding muscle to say, "Yes, you are." Then he smoothed his hand over the flesh, cuddling close to Naruto. The hurt look his demon gave him made him instantly remorseful. "No, you're not. You're perfect." He kissed the hurt look from Naruto's face.

Naruto grinned beneath Sasuke's lips, chuckling. "Sasuke, you really are a girl. Pretty, sentimental, and so soft-hearted. All I have to do is pout and you're ready to slay dragons for me." He laughed at the outraged look on Sasuke's face, rolling away from the fist aimed at his head.

They calmed down, settling into each other's arms. "Seriously, what was with you a while ago?" Sasuke asked.

"What, the clones?"

Sasuke had forgotten about that. His cheeks warmed in memory at how Naruto had shamelessly watched that spectacle. "No. Though that was a bit too kinky for me. I mean the 'fuck me senseless' bit."

"Dunno," Naruto shrugged. "Just wanted to feel how much you wanted me. Have I told you how beautiful you are?"

Sasuke was _really _blushing now. He tried to pull away from Naruto, but the blonde held him still, pressed to his side. "I'm not."

Naruto angled his head, looking down at Sasuke's pink cheeks. "You're a logical person, right?"

"I suppose," Sasuke hedged.

"And you know girls have chased you like crazy in the past. You remember that?"

Sasuke wished he didn't. "Yes… but-"

"Neji has said you're gorgeous."

"So what, he-"

"Do you think you look like your brother?"

"A little. What does that have to do with-"

"And we both agree that Itachi is a chic magnet, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"So with all that data, how can you sit there and logically say you're not beautiful?"

Sasuke was silent. Another one of Naruto's in-depth conversations. "Okay. Maybe I am. To you."

"No, to everyone, Sasuke."

"Okay. God, I'm… beautiful." Sasuke scowled. "What's your point?"

"No point. I just hope you know how you hurt me with your beauty sometimes. Especially when you look at me with those fabulous eyes."

Sasuke buried his flaming face in Naruto's shoulder. "Will you please _stop_?" He begged in a small voice. "I can't take it."

Naruto took pity on him and kissed his hair. "What do you think our kids are doing?"

Sasuke lifted his head in relief at the change of topic. "I don't know. Aimi should be about to graduate the academy with the triplets. Raiden… probably goofing off."

"Think they're okay?"

"If they haven't contacted us, yeah."

"I miss them. You?"

"Not yet. Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"What do you plan on doing now that you're not assistant to the Hokage?"

"I was thinking you, me, Raiden and Aimi could form our own little hunter-nin squad. We'd be phenomenal at it, unbeatable."

Sasuke looked up at Naruto. "That's a great idea. There aren't that many hunter-nin for Konoha. ANBU snatched up every available person. I think we should do it."

***

They talked as the sun set, laying plans for their future, discussing other options. Later in the night, they went for a bath in the stream, moonlight frosting them with its brilliance. Elsewhere, Hiroko was facing Kabuto near the waterfalls and Raiden was receiving some very unpleasant news. Sasuke and Naruto made their way back to the cabin, racing, laughing, unaware that this was the last bit of fun that they'd be having for a long while.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Yeechhh. I hate all the crying in this chapter. NO MORE CRYING! Chapter 16 might be awhile, I need a break. Maybe a week. That seems incredibly long, but I've recently begun drawing and am quickly becoming obsessed. Those of u who hit my DA page would know about that.

The events in this chap (regarding Asami) will make sense to those who've read 'You're Mine'. Asami's ordeal is based off the events in that fic. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy.

Thank you so much for the reviews and sharing your thoughts! I read and (now) respond to each one, so drop your comments and I'll reply :)

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 15

Phoebe patted Raiden's knee sympathetically for what he had to face, but she was confident he and his family would prevail. After all, she and her family had, when they'd had their ultimate battle. Piper had even turned back time to bring her and Paige back from the dead. Good always won in the end. She got up and left the pale, trembling boy in the attic, to check on Asami and Itachi. Maybe she could go home for a few hours to be with Coop and the girls before coming back to resume helping the troubled teen.

Piper tried to hug Raiden, but he just sat unresponsively. She fretted, offering cheerful words about how he would do fine in the upcoming fight and la de da, butterflies and rainbows in the end. Leo pulled her away when it was obvious Raiden wasn't listening. Paige brushed a hand over Raiden's hair, but she understood that he probably wanted to be left alone.

Wyatt remained. He sat next to Raiden, holding one ice-cold hand and chafing it with his own. He called his friend's name once, but was neither answered nor acknowledged. Raiden's cousins stood alertly. Waiting…

"We're leaving," Raiden said clearly. "Now."

Wyatt watched as the cousins became ninjas, just like that. He'd witnessed Raiden doing Shunshin a few times, but the sight now still left him breathless. Wyatt didn't want to bother his friend at this obviously difficult time, but he felt he had to point out a few things.

"Um, Raiden… my mom won't let me leave."

"I'm taking you."

"Yeah, but… they might physically detain me."

"And I will physically take you." They were walking down the stairs now, Wyatt struggling to keep up his argument.

"But how-"

Raiden turned to face him. Wyatt's stomached cramped with fear and excitement. It was those killer's eyes. "Do whatever they tell you to do. I'm not leaving without you. Just trust that and trust me, all right?"

Wyatt nodded.

Raiden went downstairs. Phoebe was just tiptoeing out of the living room. "Shhhh," she whispered. "Your uncle and cousin are being private. They really need this time to-"

Raiden pushed past her and flicked on the living room lights unceremoniously. "Uncle Itachi, we need to go."

Phoebe tried to protest that that was out of the question, saying something about an innocent and healing and post traumatic stress. Raiden saw that Itachi was holding Asami, who was just waking up from the lights and noise. She seemed surprised to find her father holding her. His uncle seemed more stern than usual, but he responded immediately to what Raiden's tone and expression meant. They had what they needed, time to leave.

Asami heard, too. She joined Raiden in the hall and mentioned her stuff at Paige's house. The twins came thumping down the stairs to land beside Raiden, as did Akiko and Akane. Raiden held up a hand and Pulled Asami's things right to her feet. Everyone else had their belongings by now. Wyatt came down carrying Raiden's bag and his own. Piper eyed her son sideways. "Paige," was all she said.

Paige took the bag and orbed away. Leo took up a position behind Wyatt, ready to restrain his son should he try to leave. Piper gave a satisfied nod at Wyatt's crestfallen expression. She turned to Raiden.

"Well, honey, I wish you were leaving under better circumstances. I enjoyed meeting your family. Next time you have to bring Aimi." She gave Raiden a lengthy hug.

Raiden stared at Wyatt over her shoulder. Wyatt had a frozen look of hope mixed with fear on his face. The cousins were hugged in turn by Piper, before they were allowed to leave.

***

They walked back toward the empty building with its basement full of their purchases. Each marveled at how quickly this world had come to feel familiar to them. When they'd arrived, nothing had seemed real; everything had seemed too fantastical and strange. Asami was the only one not sorry to see the last of it. Asami and Itachi.

The walk was silent. They reached the basement without incident. Now that they were about to go home, those that had heard and seen, thought about what Phoebe had said. Akatsuki. With Bijuus. The Halliwells thought Raiden was bummed about an upcoming fight.

Raiden was scared out of his fucking mind about the upcoming end of the world.

There was hardly space in the basement to stand. They had to crowd themselves at the doorway. Raiden's thought about the end of the world gave him pause. Maybe he should reconsider? No, he'd promised. And he needed him. Raiden held up his hand and Wyatt appeared through a shimmer of air. A nod from Raiden and Wyatt's bag dropped next to him. Wyatt picked it up with a wordless cry of happiness. Raiden prepared to Boom.

"Wait!" Juro cried.

"What," they chorused in annoyance.

"When we get back, try not to puke on any of this stuff. A lot of it's mine."

Raiden Boomed his family, Wyatt, and half a million dollars worth of earthly goods back to Konoha.

* * *

Hiroko watched as Kabuto took a step closer to her. She did not release her Doujutsu. She would be on her guard around this man, regardless of his interest in her.

His expression was difficult to read. He seemed at once unsure, pleased and dismayed. What was he thinking, to put such a complex expression on his face? She didn't ask. Kabuto looked off to the side, studying the forest as if he wanted to flee. Then he looked back at her. Whatever else she might be confused about, his look made her certain of one thing: his attraction to her was greater than his sense of self-preservation. The knowledge made her shiver.

Kabuto saw the slight tremor. Her Doujutsu was a bit unnerving, reminding him of her father and what would happen if it was discovered that he was interested in his daughter.

He held a hand out to her. She looked at it a moment before reluctantly taking it. He knelt with her on the grassy stream bank. A small smile played about his lips as he considered what he was about to tell her. Time to see what she was made of.

"By now you've read whatever file ANBU has on me," Kabuto said by way of a question.

"Yes." Her voice was impassive. His hand was warm and dry. She left hers in it, focusing on his words, while trying to remain alert to any Genjutsu he might try to spring on her.

"There's a lot that isn't in the files. I'd like you to hear it before you make a decision."

"And what decision am I supposed to be making?"

"Whether or not you want to be with me," Kabuto said in surprise. "Isn't that why you're here?"

"I'm here because I promised to meet you. I can't understand why you'd think I'd want to be with you otherwise."

Kabuto ran his thumb back and forth over her palm in a distracting manner as he appeared to think. "I see. There isn't even a little interest on your part? I have to think there is or, despite your promise, you would have turned me in. Is there?"

Hiroko cursed herself for ten kinds of a fool for being unable to lie. Kabuto smiled and she turned her head away, letting the curtain of her hair hide her warm cheeks.

"Well," Kabuto chuckled. "I will bank on that small shred and tell you about myself. To begin, I originally came to Konoha to kill you. Does that frighten you?"

Hiroko kept her head turned aside, depriving him of whatever expression she might be wearing. He decided that it didn't frighten her. Such an intriguing beauty.

"Your father and I have met before. In fact, I'd be dead the second he laid eyes on me, so whatever happens between us will never win his approval."

She turned back to him. "Why?"

"I sodomized his brother."

Her nostrils flared as she tried to yank her hand away. Kabuto tightened his grip on it, thoroughly enjoying her outrage. Yes. Let her hear the worst. Amazing that she could be angry on her uncle's behalf and not on her own.

"I was only aiding Orochimaru-sama in his fun, but I enjoyed it. Itachi-san has sworn to kill me. I don't doubt that his feelings are unchanged. Not to mention Sasuke-kun. I imagine he might want my blood, if he and I were to meet again."

He went on to tell her of the many human experiments he'd conducted, how often he'd switched loyalties, betrayed people, taken innocent lives. And then he told her of the good he'd done, of the times he'd helped people. When he was finished, he reached out and tucked a lock of her hair behind one ear. She didn't flinch, he noticed. Sitting this close to her, those red eyes steady on his face, Kabuto experienced a moment of wonder. Had he come to this? His wandering, unattached and independent existence ended at this goddess's feet?

"Well?" He asked.

Hiroko managed to yank her hand away at last. "You're a monster."

"Yes," Kabuto said cheerfully. "I know. But will you still give me a chance?"

Hiroko got fluidly to her feet. "This _was_ your chance. My father would kill both of us if he knew I was with you, not just you. And I seriously question your sanity if you think I could be with someone so sick." She whirled to go back to the village, her hair making a fan in the night air.

Kabuto stood and grabbed her arm, halting her departure. "We all have our faults. Don't you think you're being unfair? Do my feelings for you count for nothing?"

Her temper flashed, giving her the strength to wrench her arm away. She stormed up to him, making him take a step back in caution. "_What _feelings?! If you're to be believed, you're just as adverse to commitment as every other man! By your own admission you couldn't even be loyal to your master, Orochimaru. You switch sides as often as it pleases you. Who's to say your so-called feelings for me, whatever they are, won't switch just as easily?"

Kabuto had never suspected that she had this wealth of emotion in her. Her anger was enchanting, invigorating. An erection hard enough to fuck a rock bloomed in his pants. He swallowed as he answered. "My feelings are real. I've never had feelings like this for anyone."

Hiroko had been leaning into his face. Now she backed away, not trusting his quiet words. Who cared what his feelings were? He was insane. She would leave and report him, her promise fulfilled. She owed him nothing. "Goodnight."

He stopped her from leaving again. Instead of grabbing her arm, he held her shoulders and neck, drawing her to him so that he could press his lips to hers.

The outrage she'd been about to voice at him grabbing her died as he kissed her. It wasn't like his previous kisses. It wasn't harsh and insulting and dominating. This time it was mild, soft, questioning, and apologetic. Uncertain. His lips worked gently on hers, almost too hesitant to be properly termed a kiss.

Hiroko pulled her head away, her pulse beating rapidly. He let her, his face still bent close to hers. She stared at his mouth… this tender side of him was something she'd never seen, and she did not appreciate the way it sliced so cleanly through her resolve to have done with him. Aside from that, the kiss had felt entirely too nice. Why wasn't she halfway home by now instead of standing in his arms? This was madness!

But for the moment, she was powerless.

She raised her eyes slowly to his. Kabuto understood that he'd be allowed to continue. This time he slowly removed his glasses. The action said clearly that he was about to get serious. Hiroko began hyperventilating helplessly, so that by the time he gathered her close again, she was trembling and dizzy.

The next kiss was anything but hesitant. Kabuto lost himself in the feel of her curves pressed against his body. This time he was demanding as his tongue delved into the warm recesses of her mouth, eliciting a moan from her. He slanted his head, giving himself greater access as his hands ran down her back. Her arms came around his neck. She seemed to either not feel or not understand the significance of his erection. He risked grasping her ass to draw her against him, never breaking the kiss. She wanted him. At least this much of him she wanted, and Kabuto was ashamed to learn that it was enough for now. He was well and truly gone to the taste of her mouth. Her hair surrounded them both as he lifted her, the smell of wildflowers a heady aphrodisiac.

No more. She could take no more. She would faint if she didn't stop now. Hiroko broke the kiss by turning her head weakly aside, breathing hard. Kabuto lowered her to her feet, kissing her brow, her nose, her chin, her hair. His hands roamed up and down her arms, his fingers brushing her neck. She pushed away from him with as much strength as she could… Which was not much at all. She held him at arm's length, trying to recover her composure. Kabuto brought one hand to hers. "Hiroko?"

"Goodnight."

He held her hand as long as he could, but she pulled from his grasp, turning to walk away. He watched as she was swallowed by the forest. Just before she disappeared completely, he asked, "Will you come back?"

She paused. "No."

"Yes you will." She'd been an active participant in that kiss. "I'll wait."

Hiroko jumped into the trees and was gone.

* * *

Raiden made sure to land them in the backyard of Itachi's house. A few people staggered off, away from their mountain of purchases, to empty their stomachs. He and Wyatt weren't sick. Neither was his uncle, though he was a bit green. Itachi turned to them.

"Raiden, is it as we feared? Is Akatsuki coming back?"

"Yes," he answered. "And they're all Jinchuuriki."

Itachi's green pallor blanched further, but he merely nodded. "Do you have any idea when they'll come?"

Raiden shook his head.

"Very well. Juro, Yukio, get this junk out of my yard. In the morning, we will have a family meeting."

Itachi disappeared into the house. Raiden thought his uncle's reaction was a bit understated. Did he have something else on his mind? He left his cousins to sort through the huge pile with their clones. Wyatt followed him into the house.

Aimi and Yanagi were spending the night at Aburame Amaya's house, they were in time to hear Gaara inform Itachi. Raiden saw Uncle Itachi nod before taking the redhead's hand and leading him upstairs. He turned to Wyatt.

"So, we're here. This isn't my house so we have to share a room with my cousins. You mind?"

Wyatt shook his head. "It looks like a disaster happened." He was looking at the half done repairs.

"That last vision I had kind of got out of hand. You hungry?"

"No, thanks."

"Then let's get settled." Raiden led the way up the stairs.

On their way past one of the doors in the upstairs hall, Wyatt heard sounds that resembled grunts and curses. He looked at the door. Raiden didn't seem concerned, so he didn't ask about it. Maybe his uncle usually had fights with that red-haired man.

The room was about the size of Wyatt's back home. Raiden dropped his bag on the floor and flopped on the bed. He stared at the ceiling.

Wyatt set his bag near Raiden's and sat on a corner of the bed, watching his friend. Neither of them spoke.

* * *

Asami caught her sisters looking at her, but nothing was said. She, like they and her brothers, were occupied with thoughts of Akatsuki. How well they remembered going up against them when they were small. So strong. So horribly frightening. Masaru had died the last time they'd met Akatsuki. He would have been eighteen now. Their grandmother Mikoto had died, their uncle Sasuke… Their problems were pushed aside for the time being as they silently united over their fear.

"We're sorry, 'Sam," Akiko said as she trudged under her pile of purchases. "About before."

"It's okay," Asami whispered.

"You forgive us?" Akane asked from behind her pile.

"Yeah."

"Dad knows," Akiko ventured. "I think he wants to talk about it."

Asami unlocked their door, contemplating what that conversation would be like. She knew she couldn't talk about it, not with her dad or anyone.

They dropped their stuff in the foyer and stood in the dark for awhile. Asami abruptly burst into tears, her hands flying up to cover her face. Her sisters rushed to her and crushed her between them, hugging her tightly.

* * *

Juro and Yukio walked home ahead of their clones silently. They'd been so young when Akatsuki attacked in the mountains. And it had been only two of them. They remembered the blood, the screams, but it was dim. They weren't as affected by the news as everyone else seemed to be. Certainly not as much as Raiden. Their younger cousin had gone pale and stayed that way since hearing the meaning of the visions.

* * *

Itachi rolled off of Gaara, gathering him close. "I have news," he said to him in the dark. "It isn't good."

"Oh? The visions were explained then?" Gaara asked. He tentatively reached behind him to cup his aching ass. Sex without lube was not something he would ever recommend.

"Yes. Akatsuki is coming back and Izanami has somehow implanted them with the eight Bijuus they'd extracted."

So calamitous was the statement given in Itachi's trademark deadpan tone, that it was a moment before Gaara understood the words. When he did, he sat up, his eyes wide, the pupils beady with dread. "No."

"Orochimaru is with them. Raiden doesn't know when they are coming."

"Itachi…"

"I know."

"We have to bring Naruto and Sasuke back, warn the Hokage, alert the other Kages…"

"Yes. Though, we've been given to understand that they are solely after Raiden. Still, this threat may affect other nations as you've said."

Gaara swung his legs off the bed. "I have to leave, prepare Suna, if preparation can be made for such a thing. God, Itachi… Are you certain?"

Itachi nodded. He reached for Gaara's arm. "Don't go. Not yet. At least stay till tomorrow. I need you, Gaara. There is more I haven't said, that I learned while I was away."

"What could possibly be worse than… my god, Jinchuuriki? You're positive of that information? Itachi, how will we-"

"My daughter was raped."

Gaara was forced to calm down at seeing Itachi turn his face away. Tears caught the faint moonlight.

* * *

Raiden's mind boiled with memories. Each and every one was perfectly preserved in the fear surrounding them.

_The not-person… No his name was Zetsu. Zetsu looking at him from where he protruded from a wall. Zetsu taking him from his family. Madara hurting his Papa and Uncle Itachi. Madara kidnapping him and putting him in that horrible room in his own mind, that Genjutsu. Seeing his daddy hurt while trying to rescue him. Big Fox giving him all his chakra. Learning his Papa had died while trying to save his daddy. _

Raiden gasped, all his insides hurting. He turned on his side, curling into a fetal ball of misery. He realized he was shaking.

Wyatt sat quietly, looking at his friend. Raiden didn't talk to him, and had probably forgotten that he was even there. Wyatt wondered what he was thinking.

He himself was just a little perturbed that he had defied his parents as badly as he had. Now that he was here in Raiden's world, safely away from his parents' clutches, it dawned on him how much trouble he was going to be in when he went back. His mom would strip his powers for sure. And what about school? He had exams coming up… He might flunk eighth grade by missing them.

He glanced at Raiden's curled up form, debating on whether or not to tell him how scared he suddenly was. No. Raiden obviously had a lot on his mind. Best not to disturb him with stupid stuff. Wyatt was just so happy to be here with him… even if the happiness was somewhat tarnished with guilt just now.

* * *

Hiroko made it home and at first only leaned against her door once she'd let herself in. She lifted a trembling hand to her tingling lips, noting absently that her nipples were still hard, her breasts still high and tight from of Kabuto's kiss. Her heart did a little flutter in memory of his tongue in her mouth and she moaned, sliding down her door to sit on the floor.

"Oh god," she whispered to the dark house. "Oh god, I will not go back to him. In the morning I'll turn him in."

To her young mind, this determination to hand Kabuto over to the proper authorities somehow negated the treacherous pleasure she'd derived from the kiss. Her sketchy plan in place, Hiroko took herself off to her room and lay down in the blankets on the floor. She was fearful of sleep eluding her, but it didn't. Welcome oblivion rolled over her shortly after her head touched her pillow. Her sleep was deep and dreamless.

* * *

Raiden wasn't so fortunate. He woke from a nightmare, sweating and calling for his dad. He looked around his dark room. Wyatt was curled on the bed behind him, squished against the wall. He was just sitting up sleepily in response to Raiden's yell. The triplets were snoring away, undisturbed.

"Another vision?" Wyatt yawned. He blinked tiredly.

"No. Nightmare. Ordinary one." Raiden scrubbed his hands down his face, but Wyatt had already seen the tears. He leaned his head on Raiden's shoulder, yawning again.

"Well… you wanna talk about it?" He smacked his lips, more asleep than awake.

Raiden looked down at Wyatt's head. He'd forgotten how touchy Wyatt was whenever they shared a bed. As if in sleep, the boy's guard was down. Raiden had never minded and didn't mind now. Wyatt was warm and smelled like fabric softener. He wrapped his arms around him and lay back down. Wyatt snuggled against him with a sleepy murmur, throwing one arm around Raiden's neck. Raiden sighed, feeling his fear ebb as whatever connection he and Wyatt shared exerted its force on him.

"No, I don't want to talk about it," Raiden said finally. He looked at Wyatt's face, so close to his own on the pillow. The eyes were almost closed, Wyatt falling back to sleep. Raiden went back to sleep too, the muffled banging of his uncles lulling him.

* * *

Morning dawned clear and crisp, the spring day warming quickly. Itachi had to go out and hunt up Shouta, but he soon had all of his children gathered in the living room of his house. They all stood in a circle. He'd gone to the hospital once he'd learned where three of his sons were, and listened to their reason for being there. He addressed Hiroko first.

"Who is it," Itachi hissed. "I am sick unto death of my children being attacked. Give me a name, Hiroko. Now."

Hiroko quailed beneath her father's red stare. "I-I don't know."

Itachi had raised this one. He knew her well. "You would dare lie to me?" He said in a dangerous voice. "Give. Me. His name."

Hiroko did not understand why she wasn't sticking by her plan to turn Kabuto in, and she was too afraid just then to think about it. She only knew her father would kill Kabuto and she didn't want that to happen. She wrung her hands, the weight of her father's anger crushing her; she never earned his anger. "Daddy, please-"

"Silence." Itachi turned from her in disgust. "You would rather entertain sick fantasies, I see. You are welcome to them, but I warn you. When I learn who it is, and I will… he is dead. Do you understand me, Uchiha Hiroko?"

Hiroko hung her head. Itachi moved on.

His eyes ran over his remaining children, his niece and nephew, Gaara and Yanagi, Wyatt. "Raiden," he said finally.

Raiden looked at him attentively. "Yes, sir?"

"I'm afraid we have to contact your parents."

Raiden nodded. "Okay. Should I do it now?"

"Yes."

Raiden closed his eyes. He felt Wyatt squeeze his hand briefly in support before letting go.

***

_'Dad?'_

_'Raiden! Hey, buddy, how's it going?'_

Raiden wondered how to answer this. He couldn't say fine, yet nothing was wrong at that particular moment. He decided to ignore the question. _'Uncle Itachi says you guys need to come back. Can I Pull y'all? Are you decent?'_

_'Not at the moment, no. Give us five minutes. What's wrong? Did something happen?'_

_'Yes. We'll tell you when you get here.'_

_***  
_

Raiden opened his eyes. "They need five minutes."

Itachi nodded.

* * *

Sasuke looked at Naruto as he opened his eyes. They'd been enjoying the afterglow of another stunning round of sex, talking quietly when Naruto had suddenly cut off mid-sentence. "What is it," he asked curiously.

"Raiden. Your brother says he needs us." Naruto got up to find clothes and pack his bag. His voice was curt. Raiden's fear had been around the edges of his thoughts.

"Trouble?" Sasuke asked as he leaped up to pack his things too.

"I think so. Kid seemed scared, but tried not to show it. Where's my black shirt?"

"On top of the fridge. What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. For your brother to tell Raiden to bring us…"

Sasuke moved a little faster.

* * *

Raiden waited a little longer than five minutes before Pulling his parents. His pop and dad appeared in the center of the circle, carrying their bags over one shoulder each. Raiden was unexpectedly hit with everything he'd suffered while they were gone, at seeing his two solid daddies. He crumbled beneath the weight, sobbing and running at his parents, almost hysterical.

Naruto caught his big son, surprised at this regression to such childish behavior. "What? Raiden, what?" He looked fearfully at Sasuke as the kid climbed up Naruto's body, literally, so that the blonde was holding him completely off the floor. He set his bag down to wrap his arms firmly around his shaking son, squeezing him hard and trying to see his face.

Sasuke came over and laid a hand on Raiden's back. He turned to his brother with a hard look in his eyes. "What's going on?"

That's what Naruto wanted to know. When he'd left, his son had been in a bit of trouble for smoking, true, but he'd been his usual wild self. This quivering mass of bawling pre-teen was not the boy he'd left behind. Automatically, he bounced Raiden up and down, as he'd done when he was a baby. He made shushing noises, swayed back and forth, the kid's strong legs wrapped around his waist. Raiden cried openly into Naruto's neck, seemingly not caring that he had an audience. Naruto saw some strange kid staring at Raiden and looked past his son's head to skewer Itachi with his eyes. "What indeed… Itachi?" Naruto looked around the circle until he spotted his own adopted brother. "Gaara?"

Itachi braced himself. He didn't know what their reactions would be, and Raiden losing control like this had his brother and Naruto wary and apprehensive already. He began with the dream Aimi had reversed. At hearing their daughter had the power to turn back time, that they had been dead yet now lived, Sasuke and Naruto gaped comically. Naruto told Raiden to hush with some force so that he could hear Itachi properly. He tempered the harsh command with a soothing pat to his back, but the blonde's face was stern. Itachi went on to describe the visions and the toll they'd taken on Raiden. He described the last vision, waving his hand at the half-done repairs still evident in the room they stood in. Sasuke looked at these. Naruto didn't. He had eyes only for Itachi. The Uchiha went on to tell of traveling to Wyatt's world with a glance at Wyatt himself. Naruto's eyes flicked to the boy, but returned to Itachi. The assistance Phoebe rendered was told in detail, and finally, at last, Itachi came to the meaning of it all.

"Akatsuki has been made more dangerous, immeasurably so. Eight Bijuus are living in eight of their number. Orochimaru is also revived and with them. I cannot be certain, but I feel Izanami has done this to enable them to bring Raiden to her. If she learns of Aimi she will want her as well, I imagine."

Itachi finally stopped speaking. The silence, the very air was stagnant with the stench of fear; many of the people present had yet to hear the full story. Now that they had…

Sasuke remembered holding his dead demon. He swallowed hard, sweat suddenly standing out on his brow.

Naruto could hear his own heartbeat. Each thud sent an image flashing across the darkness encroaching on his vision. Konoha blasted. So many dead. Pein. Raiden. Sasuke. Sasuke lying dead on his chest. His dad. That time in his own mind.

Kyuubi was snarling, leaping again and again against Naruto's control. He wanted to tear free, to hunt, kill, rip and maim. Cold fear roiled in Naruto's belly. He couldn't even voice it. He stood there, seeing nothing, seeing everything, hanging on to his own mind with absent yet grim determination. Finally, he said, "Is this true?"

Raiden pulled back from his dad. "It's true. They're coming and we probably can't fight them. Phoebe said we'd need an army of Bijuus ourselves."

Naruto met Sasuke's eyes as Raiden slid to the floor. He tried to think. His mind was just so numb… it was hard to interpret the news as really real. He was sure that he was experiencing some form of shock, his brain's way of protecting him from the gibbering fear waiting to engulf him. He could well sympathize with his son now. Jesus. First thing's first: Minimize panic. "Okay… Guys, this is bad, but why all the long faces? Think about it, Akatsuki killed the Jinchuuriki who housed these Bijuus, but Sasuke and I took out a lot of Akatsuki. I'm sure we can handle them again. And Raiden and Aimi can fight. Akatsuki won't stand a chance, Bijuus or not. God, all Raiden has to do is hit them all with a massive Death Sphere and it's all over. Though… them coming back is weird as fuck. We'll have a serious fight on our hands, but if we work together, we should be able to deal with them."

"What if we can't? Remember Pop? They killed him, remember?" Raiden said. He wiped his nose on the hem of his shirt. He didn't understand why his father wasn't worried.

Naruto looked at his son. "Is that what you think? All this time you thought Sasuke died because Akatsuki killed him? He didn't." Naruto realized they'd never told the kid what had happened. He ran a hand through his hair. This was all too much to take.

"Naruto, this threat is more serious than you think," Itachi said. "The boy wouldn't have gotten the visions if it weren't. Madara was old and weak when Raiden fought him. If he is returned at the height of his powers, I don't think there is anyone who can handle him. Not even your son and daughter. Fee-Bee said their coming will upset the balance of this world. I urge you to take this seriously. The Hokage must be notified."

Naruto nodded after a moment. "I'm not working for the Hokage anymore, but I'll tell him. Since we don't know when they're coming, I don't think there's anything we can do besides wait. Unless someone has a better idea?" No one offered any. "Right. So if or when they show up, we'll deal with them. Until then, we'll just go on the way we have been. No use in letting our fear eat away at us." He would try very hard to take his own advice.

Itachi gave a faint shake of his head. Why this obtuseness? Had they copulated so much that their brains had ceased to function? He addressed his other children. "See to your daily duties. Juro, Yukio, have my house repaired as quickly as you can. For free, I needn't remind you. Asami, I will be speaking with you and your sisters."

Naruto beckoned to Raiden and Aimi, signaling that they were going home. Wyatt tagged along like a silent little shadow.

* * *

The harpies exchanged glances as they walked home. Their dad and Gaara were behind them. This upcoming 'discussion' promised to be unpleasant, but it couldn't blot out the fear of the impending reunion with Akatsuki. No matter what Uncle Naruto said, it would probably be just as bad, if not worse, as their father said it would be. Akane thought viciously that if she was about to die, she wanted to at least have one night with Ibiki first. She would not be cheated of her sexy fiancé.

Asami let them all in. Akiko asked if they would have ice-cream in a subdued whisper. 'Sam considered it, but decided against it after a glance at her father's face. They all migrated to the prettily appointed sitting room. 'Sam was glad to see that her sisters chose to squeeze themselves onto the small couch with her. She held their hands. Gaara pulled a chair up in front of them, Itachi mimicking him with another chair. The five individuals stared at each other.

Itachi had to put Akatsuki out of his mind completely in order to deal with this properly. Not an easy task. He was glad of Gaara's support, but really he had no idea how to begin or what to do. He studied his child, seated firmly between the protective bodies of Akiko and Akane.

Since coming from Wyatt's world, she was different. Her hair, always so stylish and perfect, was pulled back into a simple ponytail, one glossy lock dangling in an undulating wave from her temple. Her face was devoid of make-up. Instead of the tight tops and short skirts she usually wore, she had on a simple pink and white summer dress. She looked much younger than she usually did. For a change, Asami actually looked her age. Gone was her trademark haughty expression. Her face showed a tremulous species of bravery. Her eyes were clear.

Itachi decided it would be better if he spoke to Asami alone. He told them this and held up a hand to silence their protests. Akiko and Akane left, after giving their sister a brief, fierce hug. Whatever had come between them was now resolved, Itachi was relieved to note. Asami had been taken back into the pack. He smiled to himself when he heard the other two settle on the stairs, out of sight, to eavesdrop. He approved of their show of solidarity.

Asami stared at her father, clasping her shaking hands in her lap. She decided to head him off. "Dad, I really don't want to talk about this. It happened, that's that."

Itachi begged to differ. "I want to know. I'm sorry if it is painful for you, but I want to know. Will you at least share that with me? Share your pain?"

Damn. Asami had promised herself she wouldn't cry. "Why?" She wailed. "What difference will it make?"

"It will help you let go," Gaara said. "You've been carrying your pain, your hatred around for many years. You will never be emotionally healthy if you don't let it go." He touched her clasped hands briefly.

She looked back and forth between them, her chest rising and falling. She felt like they were forcing her. Her anger rose quickly. She felt wild, like attacking them both. Unbeknownst to her, her eyes were no longer green. Violence was coming to her defense. She stood up. "I don't want to let it go," she screamed into their faces. "I _like _being angry, I _like _hating men! They _deserve_ to be hated, I hope they _ALL. FUCKING. DIE!!!" _She screeched the last three words at the very top of her lungs, totally enraged.

Itachi frowned in distress. But Gaara knew how to handle the situation. He looked at the panting girl calmly, almost bored. "You're scared," he said blandly, mocking her show of anger. "You wouldn't need hate and anger to prop you up if you weren't so terrified. Does the bastard hold such power over you still?" Gaara turned to Itachi with a scornful look. "I thought the Uchiha were stronger than this."

Itachi did not answer, recognizing Gaara's psychological genius at work. It galled him to hear the words, but Asami completely lost control. She lunged at Gaara, hands clawed.

Gaara easily caught her wrists in his hand, carefully avoiding looking into her eyes by staring at her nails. "See? You attack everyone instead of addressing the poison you carry. Weak."

"I'm not weak," Asami screamed. Spit flew from her lips. "You don't even know what happened!"

"You are weak," Gaara said ruthlessly. "You were weak then and you can't stand that thought. You think going after men makes you appear strong, but all it does is underline your insecurity. Weak and foolish."

Asami struggled, swearing to herself to kill the calm redhead. Gaara was forced to envelope her in sand to avoid her considerable skills. She was a shapeless ball on the floor, only her head visible from the sand. She hurled dire threats for close to an hour. When at last she had stopped screaming, and was left crying softly, Gaara spoke.

"If you are as strong as you would have us believe, 'Sam, then let it go. It is the only way to demonstrate that you have true mastery of yourself. That is real strength, standing on your own despite what happened, without the crutch of your corrosive anger and hate. Can you? Maybe you really aren't strong enough."

Asami hated him. Hated, hated, _hated _him. "Yes. I am strong enough, you fu-"

Gaara stuffed a small wad of sand in her mouth. "That will do. I see that you really are too weak." He made as if to stand from his seated position.

Asami spat the sand out, gagging on the grains. She caught her father's naked look of sorrow. It cut through her anger; she'd never seen such a look on his face. Did she make such a pathetic sight then? Her pride rose up in rebellion. She didn't want pity, ever. Not even from him.

"Wait," she said. Her voice was quiet. She spat out another glob of spit laced with sand. Gaara stopped, then sat back down. He noticed the calmer expression and decided to release his sand.

"Will you tell us?" Itachi asked warily. He'd forgotten just how violent this particular daughter was. Of the three, Asami was by far the worst. He'd gotten a glimpse of the Genjutsu she'd been ready to cast. Hideous. He stamped down the inappropriate pride.

Asami nodded. "Yes. I'm not weak, Daddy. Don't… Don't look at me like I'm some weak thing."

Gaara tilted his head, interested in her statement. There was pride, along with her insecurities. A lot. It might be the thing that helped her heal, by allowing her to let go of her negative feelings. He was right to play on her weakness. He'd hated doing it, wasn't sure if it would work, but maybe it had paid off. He'd been happy to access her rage so quickly. Releasing the great stores of it she carried around would aid the healing process.

Asami brushed her dress off and sat on the couch. Her limbs trembled, from the exertion and from the thought of actually voicing what had happened to her. She tried to speak but couldn't. She sat there, trying to at least go back to that time, to see it happening. She couldn't. No. Just… no. Maybe she really was weak.

The men waited. And waited. Itachi saw her lower lip tremble, saw her struggle to keep her face from crumbling. Unable to endure another second, he got up swiftly and went to her. He snatched her into his arms in an uncharacteristic show of his fierce love for his children. It was an abstract sort of love; he tended to lump them all up in the emotion, rather than love them individually for their separate personalities, but it was tremendously strong in spite of that.

"All right. If you can't, you can't," he said. He was shocked to see that his daughter clung to him.

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Daddy, I don't want to be weak, but I can't. I just can't!"

Gaara got up and came to her. If she didn't open up about this now, she never would. She would never be well, then. He was not letting this go. He brushed her damp hair aside, lifting her face by its chin so she could look at him. "Why?" He asked her. "Why can't you talk about it?"

"Because," she sobbed. "Because I just can't. If I do it will hurt all over again and I'll be broken and… and… ruined and so dirty." She dissolved into fresh tears.

Itachi held her tighter. He wasn't sure if he could take much more of this. He was notoriously poor at handling these kinds of overly emotional situations. His bloodlust was high at this suffering of his child, yet he was powerless to do anything. For the thousandth time he cursed the day he'd left his children.

Gaara, bless his eyes, seemed to know what to say. "You won't be broken with us here. What's ruined can often come back stronger than before. You are not dirty. What was done to you perhaps, but not _you_. Trust us. Lean on us, Asami. We are here and nothing, ever, will hurt you as long as we are here."

Asami's crying hitched down to hiccups. She became quieter, her cheek on her father's shoulder as she straddled his lap. She found that her father's slight frame was surprisingly strong and solid. He wasn't as thin as his loose clothes would have one think. His shoulder was nice and hard beneath her face and he smelled of apples. His hands were firm on her back. Her daddy. Maybe he didn't know her, but he did love her. He did. Asami closed her eyes, feeling Gaara stroke her hair. She didn't need a mother, as Phoebe had seemed to think. Her daddy was here now and he said he wasn't leaving again.

It took a long while, but eventually she began speaking in a slow whisper.

***

_Asami skipped home from her latest lesson with Sakura-sensei. She was happy. They'd all recently come back from Suna. Hanabi and the baby were going to be fine, if Hanabi remained on bed rest. Kaito was still there with her. Sasuke and Naruto had come back to Konoha with the rest of the kids. Their dad was with Kaito in Suna, lending his daughter-in-law what support he could._

_She was preoccupied with the newest level of Mystical Palm she was trying to master. It was difficult. She kept messing up on the-_

_A hard hand over her mouth. She was dragged back against an unyielding male body, and carried via Shunshin to a vacant group of buildings that were under construction. She was thrown down onto a new wooden floor and kicked onto her back. The man dropped on top of her and peered at her face. _

_"I thought so," he breathed. "One of his sisters."_

_Asami tried to scream, but the hand on her mouth didn't allow so much as a peep. She knew this man, so that meant he knew not to look into her suddenly red eyes. He kept her head turned painfully aside, pressed into the floor with his rock-hard palm as he tore her panties off of her. He didn't bother to touch her anyplace, but quickly freed his cock and positioned himself between her wildly struggling legs._

_She bit, clawed at the hand holding her still, cried… nothing worked and he seemed to enjoy her struggles. _

_She was dry. She was small and had only recently come into puberty the month before. His cock mashed her nether lips brutally before being stopped by her small size. There was no question of entering her. He was forced to lick her quickly several times, making her shriek in revulsion behind his hand. The moisture helped. He was able to get far enough inside to crash through her hymen. After that, her blood lubricated things well enough for him to engage in the painfully tight copulation. It hurt them both, but Asami suffered much more. Much, much more. _

_She fainted. She woke and he was still using her. She had a dim impression that he'd done so several times. Her body was numb below the waist, but he still sweated and grunted over her, only collapsing to her side after he'd released his sticky, smelly liquid several more times. _

_She blacked out again. When she woke, Akiko and Akane were there. How they'd found her, she didn't know. She couldn't move or talk. She smelled her blood. They rushed to her side with fear all over their faces. Akane brushed the tangled hair from Asami's face. "We need Sakura-sensei," she sobbed._

_Asami found her voice. "No. No one." She struggled not to faint again. "No one can know. Take me home."_

_They managed. Somehow. It was a blur to Asami. Sasuke had asked them where they'd been when they walked in the house. Asami had made a superhuman effort to stand up straight. She was wearing her skirt, thankfully intact, and her torn and filthy shirt. She managed to look almost normal, despite her bruises. "We were out playing with some village kids," Akiko lied. "We got into a fight with them."_

_Sasuke eyed the three girls suspiciously, but they ignored him as they walked up the stairs slowly to their room._

_~*~  
_

_Asami was very ill. She bled heavily for a few hours. Akiko and Akane followed her instructions for treating her, worried about the toneless quality of her voice. They kept the door firmly locked against intruders. Sasuke had come up to ask if everything was all right later on. Akane had cracked the door to answer that Asami was feeling sick. Sasuke asked if he could come in to see for himself. Akane glanced behind her. Asami nodded._

_She was pale. She didn't move much. Sasuke asked her what was wrong, feeling her head. Asami said it was that time of the month. His worried frown cleared as he looked uncomfortable. "Anything I can do?" He asked._

_The girls said no. Sasuke left them alone._

_They skipped school to take care of her. Sasuke allowed this, since he had no idea how to deal with female problems. Asami seemed to recover after a few days, but she did not speak. Akiko and Akane stayed with her at night, when horrible, shrieking nightmares had them covering her mouth until they could wake her. They asked her again and again who had done it, told her they should tell uncle Sasuke and Naruto, but Asami was adamant. _

_No one could know. Not ever_

_***  
_

Gaara met Itachi's eyes over Asami's head. She'd begun crying again. He silently asked with a lift of his brows if he wanted to continue or should Gaara. Itachi shook his head slightly.

Itachi pushed Asami away so he could look at her. She tried to duck her head, but he held her chin steady. "Look at me," he said. When she peeked at him, his heart broke all over again. He hated seeing her like this. "Who was it? Tell me and I will kill him before your eyes, daughter. Tell me. Let me at least do that for you."

"We killed him," Akane said.

Gaara and Itachi turned, unaware that the two girls had crept back into the room. "What?" Gaara said in disbelief. "How? Who was it?"

Asami sniffed, rubbing her face free of tears. She paused, cocking her head. Gaara was right… she did feel a little better. A little. She sat up and looked at her father. "It was Hyuuga Hiashi, Daddy."

Itachi stood quickly, making her scramble to get off his lap before she fell on the floor. "No." Itachi's voice was icy. "Not him, not that Hyuuga whom I can't touch."

Asami didn't understand. Gaara did. He remembered when news had reached them that the Hyuuga was dead. Itachi had flown into a rare rage, wanting to kill the man himself for attacking his grandchild. Now to find out he'd done much worse and was still untouchable…

"Asami told us eventually," Akiko said softly. "We snuck into the Hyuuga estate using Genjutsu. It was hard for us, but we… we had to get back at him for 'Sam. We almost got caught. Hiashi was sleeping. 'Sam stopped his heart with Mystical Palm. I stabbed him in the neck and Akane cast the Genjutsu that kept him still. He woke up when we went into his room." Akiko paused, apparently thinking about that fateful night. "Afterwards, I stabbed him twenty-seven more times. For 'Sam."

"I cut off his dick," Akane added matter-of-factly.

Gaara stared at them. Asami gave the first smile Itachi had seen on her face in days. He looked at his daughters, his rage reluctant to fade yet directionless with no target to focus on. Asami got up and came to him. She hesitated before wrapping her arms around him in a sincere show of affection. It made his throat tight.

"It means a lot that you wanted to kill him, Daddy. Thank you."

Itachi blinked furiously, turning his head aside as his other two daughters ran forward and threw themselves into the hug. After a moment he held all of them, unsure of what to feel or think. He was at his limit. Gaara rescued him, taking the girls aside and telling Itachi to go and get some fresh air. Itachi left gratefully.

Gaara remained and talked to the three girls, letting them pour out all the fear and hurt they'd kept bottled up. He spent hours with them, making careful note of Asami's improved attitude. She wasn't well yet, but it was a start. A good start.

* * *

Naruto let them all into the house. They gravitated naturally toward the kitchen, only to discover most of the food in the fridge was spoiled. Sasuke closed the fridge with a sigh of disgust.

Naruto leaned his elbows on the counter, his face in his hands for a moment. Then he turned and looked at the three kids. He offered a crooked smile to Wyatt. "You've gotten big," he told the strange boy. "Your mom and dad know you're here or did Raiden snatch you up without their permission?"

Raiden quickly sent Wyatt an urgent thought. _**Lie.**_

_Got it, _Wyatt sent back. Out loud he said, "Yeah, they know I'm here and I have their permission. Everything is cool, Mr. Uzumaki."

Naruto snorted at the use of his family name. "Call me Naruto. How long you here for?"

"I'm not sure, sir. As long as possible?"

"What about your family?"

"They understand, sir."

"Do they, now," Naruto drawled. "Well, it seems we got some Grade A shit about to hit the fan. I'm going to have to insist Raiden send you back in a few days."

Wyatt exchanged a worried look with Raiden. _**I'm not sending you anywhere. Just pretend to agree, **_Raiden thought at him. Wyatt nodded at Naruto. "I understand, sir."

Naruto studied his son. There had been a brief look of rebellion, before he'd carefully smoothed the look away. _That _was the kid he remembered, not the howling mess that had greeted him. Which reminded him…

"Look, since we're all together, without Itachi and his creepy melodrama, why don't you go over it all again, Raiden? The dream, the visions, everything Phoebe said."

Raiden nodded. They sat at the kitchen table, Wyatt orbing a chair to him from the den to sit next to his friend.

Aimi had to begin, since she was the only one who remembered the dream. When she got to the part about altering time, Sasuke held up a hand.

"And can I know why we've never heard of that particular ability before?" He asked her sharply. "How could you keep something like that from us?!"

Aimi squirmed under her papa's stern gaze. "I'm sorry. I only did it once before. I thought you'd be mad if you knew."

"Once before… for what?" Naruto asked in dread. He still couldn't quite believe he'd been dead. It made him feel weak and shivery.

"When Papa died at the construction site."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as she told what she remembered. He dimly recalled working with Kiba and having to bring her along. He, of course, did not remember any accident. Dammit, how many times had he died?

Naruto stared thoughtfully at the grain of wood in the table. "I tried to wake Raiden up, but went Kyuubi. That must mean Kyuubi saw something in Raiden's head. And if I couldn't control him, it had to be something he saw as a major threat." Everyone looked at him as he continued to speak after a small pause. "I just asked him, but Kyuubi doesn't remember the dream, because of what Aimi did. He said, though, that his brethren will feed off the malice of Akatsuki. Off their hosts. Those hosts have major chakra stores themselves, so he advises that things might not be as easy to handle as I was thinking. And," Naruto added after a brief pause, "He says that he remembers Madara. Even thirty years ago the man had uncommon power. Raiden only beat him because he was old. And by the fact that the Death Sphere he hit him with when Pein attacked, caught him by surprise. Madara will not be caught by that technique again."

Kyuubi's agitation did nothing to assist Naruto in quelling his anxiety. He covered his eyes with a hand.

"Pop?" Raiden asked in the silence. "How'd you die? I thought Akatsuki killed you."

Sasuke was watching his demon, mulling over what he'd said. The question brought him back to the present. "I guess you're old enough to know now. Akatsuki had your dad, you remember that?"

Raiden nodded. "He told me to go. Kyuubi said he could take care of dad. I had to, so I could heal myself. I couldn't though. My chakra wouldn't come." Raiden looked at his friend beside him. "Wyatt saved me."

Sasuke nodded. "Well, Kyuubi might have stretched the truth in order to get you to safety. They were caught. Akatsuki extracted him almost completely. I got there before they had finished, but by then… it was too late. Your dad… it had been too long, the process had gone too far."

Raiden looked back and forth between his parents. His dad still had his face covered with his hand. "What are you saying?"

Sasuke leaned forward, studying his knuckles. "Your dad died from the extraction. I had to use a forbidden jutsu to bring him back. It exchanges one life for another."

Aimi gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Raiden stared at his pop. "You died to save Dad? You gave up your life for him?"

"Yes." Sasuke closed his eyes, unwillingly remembering the moment, right before all had gone dark, when he'd seen Naruto's chest rise with new life. His first breath had been taken as Sasuke had breathed his last.

"You both died." Raiden said flatly.

"Yes," Sasuke said again.

"And that was _before _they each had Bijuus. How can you guys not think they'd totally own us?" Raiden said indignantly. "Even if I throw everything I have at them, I don't think I could take them."

Naruto cursed. "You killed the Jinchuuriki for the Nine-Tails in your sleep. I think you'll do fine."

Raiden recoiled as if struck. He got up, took his chair, and hurled it at the wall before running out of the kitchen. Wyatt hesitated a second before running after him.

Sasuke eyed Naruto. "That was uncalled for. Don't you think he feels bad enough about that? Not like it was intentional."

Naruto dropped his hand from his eyes. "Kid's got to stop whining. If we're going to have a chance, we can't give in to self-indulgent bullshit. He's stronger than he knows."

"Well, how would he know that?" Sasuke retorted. "Not like he ever gets a chance to use all his powers. He's brainwashed into thinking he's like everyone else. You need to apologize to him and stop letting your own worry make you say things."

Naruto had to admit Sasuke was right. He couldn't take out his own fear on his kids. That was unforgivable, what he'd just said to Raiden. "You're right. It's just… I can't believe any of this is happening. Yet I'm helpless to _not _believe it. Why does this have to happen now, when everything is going so well? I mean, is it a cosmic law or something, that people can't just live their lives in peace? Fuck, man. Fuck. _Fuck_." He pushed away from the table, going to look for his son and apologize.

* * *

Wyatt caught up to Raiden in his room. He had to block the door that Raiden slammed with both hands, feeling the impact all the way to his shoulders, but he entered quickly and shut the door more softly.

Raiden paced up and down in anger. "He shouldn't have said that to me. I didn't mean it, I would never hurt him or Pop or… or… he," Raiden swore he'd kill himself if so much as one tear dropped from his eyes. He was not going to cry again. _He was not. _

Wyatt came and halted his pacing, putting his hands on Raiden's shoulders. "Maybe your dad just meant you're strong. I don't think he meant to accuse you."

Raiden got himself under control. "Maybe he thinks I'm a monster."

"No!" Wyatt was appalled. "Why would your own dad think that?"

"I don't know. I don't care. It was an accident. Does he think I'm not safe to be around or something?"

Wyatt didn't know what to say. He started to drop his hands, but Raiden suddenly dragged him into a hard hug. "Raiden-"

"You don't think I'm a monster." Raiden's voice left hot air against Wyatt's shoulder.

"Of course not!"

"And you don't care how dangerous it is here. You'll stick by me no matter what."

"No matter what," Wyatt echoed, slightly afraid. There was more than the hint of a threat in Raiden's words. He wondered uneasily what Raiden would do if he said he wanted to leave.

"Good," Raiden said. Then, because his father's words had hurt him more than he could express, he said, "I need you, Wyatt. I'm so scared."

Wyatt brought his hands up and hugged Raiden back. "I'm here. It's okay to be scared, I think, so long as you don't let it control you."

Raiden squeezed hard. Squeezed and squeezed until Wyatt protested in a breathless voice. And still he didn't let go. Wyatt's soft neck was right there by his face and the smell of him, the soft skin, suddenly gave Raiden the urge to bite him. He did it without thinking, not sure why he felt so strange all of a sudden. He felt the way he did right before a fight. He felt… excited. In a dim way, he realized his anger contributed to the excitement.

Wyatt yelped sharply and orbed out of Raiden's grasp. It was the only way to get free. He rubbed his shoulder, grimacing at the deep teeth marks. "What'd you bite me for?!"

Raiden stared at Wyatt. "I don't know. You didn't like it?"

"Jerk! Do I _look_ like I liked it? That hurt!" Then he got a good look at Raiden's face. "I'm going downstairs." He positively ran out of the room.

Raiden let him leave, noticing how his dad was standing in the hall.

***

Naruto looked after the fleeing Wyatt. He entered Raiden's room and just stood in the doorway, staring at his son. Raiden's eyes were red, and the pupils were vertical slits.

"Raiden, about what I said. I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I'm sorry, all right? I reacted badly. I just meant you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. I'm not blaming you for anything. Okay?"

Raiden nodded.

"Are we cool?"

Another nod.

"Sure?"

"Yes, Dad," Raiden said impatiently.

"Good, because I think we should talk about something else."

Raiden cocked his head warily. "Like what?"

Naruto looked around and sauntered to the bed. He sat and patted the mattress next to him. Raiden joined him. "Like how you're feeling right now."

Raiden looked at his father quizzically. "About this whole thing with Akatsuki?"

Naruto looked at the red eyes. "No, I mean physically."

A shrug. "Fine, I guess."

"No. Really think about it, Raiden. Right now, what are you feeling? Try and be specific."

Raiden frowned, trying to comply. It was difficult and he couldn't shake the idea that it was pointless. With all that was going on, what did it matter how he was feeling physically? "You mean like do I feel sick?"

"No… just right now, how does your body feel?"

Raiden thought about it. "Kind of tense. Like I'm about to fight."

Naruto clarified. "Sort of anxious and eager at the same time?"

"Yeah."

Naruto nodded. He noticed his son was sporting fangs when he spoke. "I heard Wyatt say you bit him. What were you feeling when you did it?"

Raiden squirmed, thinking he was in trouble. But his dad just looked at him curiously. He thought about the white, supple skin on Wyatt's neck, the arms around him, the way his friend was always there for him during every crisis of his life. He remembered how he'd felt right before he'd bitten him. "Hungry. No. I don't know. But it was like being hungry. Not _food_ hungry… More like…" He couldn't find a word.

"Like need?" Naruto supplied. Raiden's fangs had gotten longer as he'd spoken. The boy's face brightened.

"Yeah! Like need. I just… needed to do that. I wanted to." Raiden's face fell. "He's probably mad at me, now."

"Probably," Naruto confirmed. "More likely he's confused. Raiden, I know you said you know all about sex. What exactly do you know?"

Raiden groaned passionately. He did not want to have a sex talk with his father. "Insert rod A into slot B. Shake, stir, done. Sex."

Naruto turned his head aside, biting his lips. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Squad."

"I see. Overly simplified, but accurate. Do you know what a wet dream is?"

Raiden wanted this conversation over. "Um… dreaming about sex?"

"Essentially. You wake up with fluid in your pants…a lot of boys think they've wet the bed. Have you had dreams like that?"

"No. I think about sex sometimes, but not dream about it." He shifted on the bed. "Dad, why are we talking about this?"

Naruto was able to look at his son again. The gray-blue had returned to his eyes. Likely his discomfort at the subject matter of the discussion had killed what he'd been feeling earlier. "Just making sure you know what you need to know. I think I'll hold off on more details for now. Tell me, how do you feel about Wyatt?"

"What do you mean?" Raiden narrowed his eyes.

"Like, just, how do you feel about him?"

"He's my friend."

"And?"

"And what? That's it."

Naruto held Raiden's gaze. The kid was close, but not quite there yet. He'd wait. And watch. That boy was more than his son's friend, even if Raiden didn't know it yet. Naruto tried to figure out how he felt about his son following in Sasuke's footsteps when it came to sexuality. He decided he didn't care. However…

"Don't bite Wyatt anymore, okay? If you feel like that again, just go walk it off."

"Okay. Why?"

"Biting might lead to other things. And until you understand yourself more, it's better if you don't give in to the urge. Understood?"

Raiden nodded. His dad left. What a weird conversation.

* * *

Akane escaped the fraught atmosphere of her house sometime before midnight. Gaara was spending the night with them. She was done crying and sharing and holding hands, she needed to get out of there. Hours of that shit had her ready to hurt someone. She was glad the secret was out and all, but enough was enough. She leapt along rooftops, intent on getting where she was going as quickly as possible.

***

Ibiki threw his covers aside, rolled from his bed, and shuffled to his door. The banging was insistent. He made sure he was armed. Then he felt the chakra and set his weapon aside. He opened his door slowly, wondering what she could want so late at night.

Akane took a second to note the bare chest – broad, scarred and thoroughly lickable - before she hurled herself at him. Ibiki caught her reflexively with one arm. She kicked the door shut with a resounding slam.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I tried to take a break. Instead I ended up writing more.

I know Itachi overreacted in this chap, but we all know Itachi isn't the most well-adjusted parent. Despite is uber self-control, he tends to go overboard when it comes to his own kin.

Your reviews were greatly appreciated. XD I'm thinking of having some of them framed, they're just so wonderful!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 16

Ibiki tried unsuccessfully to pry the girl off of him. Akane held on stubbornly. He finally left her hanging by her arms around his neck and walked a few feet from the door. "What do you want?" He said stiffly.

Akane's voice was muffled. "I want you to hold me. I've have the worst possible day, the shittiest day, and I just want some comfort from my fiancé." She pulled herself a little higher on his body.

Ibiki frowned. What new nonsense was this? He hesitantly brought the arm he'd dropped from around her back up, holding her awkwardly. "More," she demanded. He brought his other arm up. "More!" She insisted. "Hold me tighter, Ibiki."

He folded her into his arms firmly. His face was near her hair. She smelled good, of some scent unrecognizable to him. Her clothes were appropriate, as she'd promised: a pair of baggy pants and a loose t-shirt. Her face was clean. Ibiki wondered how long he had to keep this up. "Was your mission successful?" He asked finally.

She nodded against his neck. Ibiki felt her trembling suddenly and wondered at it. "Did you think about me while I was gone?" Akane asked.

"Yes."

She picked her head up to look at him. "Really?"

"Yes." Ibiki glanced around his apartment discreetly, making sure none of the Kazekage's books were lying around where she could see them.

Akane felt her love for him choking her. He'd thought about her. He admitted it. His arms felt so good and solid around her, and she felt so fragile just then. Asami, dragging up those memories, Akatsuki… she put her head back down on his chest and sighed.

Ibiki walked to his armchair and sat in it, letting the girl adjust herself on his lap. He heard her sniffles, felt her tears wetting his chest, and wished he'd never gotten out of bed to open his door. He knew nothing of comforting women. Still, it gave him an utterly foreign warm feeling to see that she came to him with her troubles. He felt this was correct behavior in a wife. "What is the matter?"

"If I told you something," Akane sniffed. "Something I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell… would you keep it a secret?"

"That depends," he said searching her face. "Would this knowledge hurt other people? Is the secret dangerous?"

Akane was forced to admit that it was. She nodded, chewing her lip. "I guess it is. And I guess I won't tell, then. I'm just… I'm really scared."

His eyebrows went up. "I didn't think anything in the known world could have that effect on you. You are fearless."

Akane chuckled in embarrassment. "Well… there are some really horrible things out there."

That disturbed him. "If something has threatened you, I must know of it. We are to be married. If you need me to keep silent on the matter, I will, but I will not have you harmed."

Well, _that _had the tears coming right back. He was too perfect! She closed her eyes briefly, bringing herself under control. She had to talk about something else, anything. When she opened her eyes, she became aware of his bare chest again. So nice and brown and sexy. She traced one long puckered scar with a finger.

"Your scars are so hot. You're hot. You make _me_ hot, do you know that? I can't wait till you fuck me." Akane felt reckless desire rushing through her in a warm wave, heating her skin. She felt her lower lips swell and moisten, making her rub her crotch on his hard lap. She wished she hadn't worn pants.

Ibiki felt the same helpless bewilderment and consternation he'd felt the last time she'd made her attraction to him known. He just couldn't understand what it was about his aged and ordinary person that elicited such a response in her. Whatever women had wanted him in the past had never displayed this mindless lust for his body, though they were eager enough to have sex with him. They never said the things Akane said. Even Anko had called him ugly. Her sole interest in him had been his cock.

He leaned back abruptly when Akane leaned forward to kiss him. "If you will not tell me what troubles you then perhaps you should leave. Now that you are back from your mission, I expect to see you at work bright and early."

He stood and set her on her feet. The wedding would be time enough for him to endure her advances. Ibiki walked briskly to his door and held it open for her. Akane pouted, shuffled her feet, but left. Ibiki closed the door firmly behind her. After a moment, he adjusted his pants over his response to her hands and words.

* * *

Wyatt tiptoed into Raiden's room as quietly as he could. It was dim, only moonlight casting a weak glow. Raiden was in his bed, asleep. Wyatt stopped at seeing the other bed in the room. He'd been downstairs when the delivery men had brought it over. Raiden had gone right out and bought the bed for Wyatt with his own money. He'd apologized to Wyatt as well for biting him. Wyatt had said it was okay, but he'd remained apart from Raiden, preferring to talk to Aimi (she was no longer a baby and thoroughly easy to be around with her shy ways). Raiden's red eyes and fangs had scared Wyatt badly.

Now though, at seeing the bed, he felt bad for ignoring Raiden. He would thank him in the morning. He undressed, put his pajamas on and slipped between the cool sheets. The bed was comfortable.

Wyatt was drifting off to sleep when a hard, loud banging started up somewhere in the house. He couldn't be sure, but he thought it was coming from right down the hall. Wyatt sat up in his bed, frightened. He began hearing voices.

"No… harder-"

"Fuck, Sasuke-"

"Don't stop-"

"Suck it-"

"Hurt me-"

The banging continued, growing more furious by the minute. He wondered if Raiden's parents were fighting. It sounded like they were. He heard crashes, more curses, things thrown. There were grunts. Wyatt held the covers under his chin, worried and uneasy.

"Goddamit, why do they have to be so fucking _loud_?" Raiden threw his covers off with an exasperated sigh.

Wyatt grinned in relief. "Raiden, you're awake! Thank God. It's so scary listening to your parents fight. Are they still having troubles do you think?"

Raiden stopped rubbing his eyes. "What, you're talking to me now?"

Wyatt ducked his head. "Sorry. About ignoring you. And thank you for the bed, I like it."

Raiden flashed his grin. "'S'okay. And you're welcome. Seems like my parents are fine; they're not fighting, they're having sex."

Wyatt's eyes grew round. "Sex?" He mouthed.

Raiden cackled at the look on his friend's face. "Yeah, man. What'd you think sex sounded like?"

"I don't know… soft, and… you know, moaning and sighing and… nice things being said. They sound like they're killing each other."

Raiden rolled on his bed, nearly hysterical. "Sounds like? You should see them at it! Just you wait, tomorrow my Pop will be all bruised and junk."

"You've seen your parents having sex?" Wyatt asked.

"Sometimes I walk in on them doing it. Like one time, I got home early from a mission, and found them on the kitchen table. Couple of times I walked into the bathroom and found them. I don't just sit and watch them do it, ew."

Wyatt was agog. He cocked his head, listening in fascination. "Why are they so rough? I thought sex was about love and… you know, romance."

"I have no idea. Annoys the hell out of me. C'mon, we might as well find something to do. They won't be done for a couple of hours and I can't sleep with that racket."

Wyatt hesitated. He didn't want to go anywhere. "I want to listen."

Raiden's face was farcical in the extremity of his horror. "_What?! _Why?"

Wyatt shrugged. "It's interesting. Don't you think?"

"Uh, no the hell I don't. For fuck's sake, it's so damn _boring!_"

Wyatt had noticed a lot of changes had taken place in the four years he and Raiden had been parted. One of them was his language. He didn't curse around his two fathers, but he most certainly did at any other time. He could see where he got it from. Raiden's blonde dad cursed a lot. The black-haired dad cursed too, but not quite as much. Wyatt had spent the first few hours in his friend's house in a constant state of embarrassment. His mother would have a conniption if she could see the environment he'd left her house for. And had she seen how Raiden's dads had been kissing on the couch, right there for anyone to see, she would have fainted.

Still, nothing about Raiden's family was boring, least of all this. He said so. "I've never heard it before. People having sex, I mean. I can't imagine breaking things while doing it." Another crash sounded.

Raiden rolled his eyes. "That's just my dad throwing my pop around probably. C'mon, let's _do_ something besides sit here."

After continued pleading, Wyatt consented. He left with Raiden reluctantly.

* * *

_Elsewhere in the Universe…_

Commander Yamamoto listened with interest as Kurotsuchi Mayuri wound up his report. Why the man had felt it necessary to include all the captains in this meeting, the commander didn't know. He suspected that the 12th Division captain simply wanted an audience for his rant, which was admittedly amusing. There had been more than a few snickers.

That was, until Kurotsuchi said, "And now, that pestilential peon has gone and succeeded in devising a gate to those barbarians' world! I tell you, he consistently steals my work and passes it off as his own. He knows good and well that I was close to devising that same gate, and he has stolen my research! I demand his version of the gate be confiscated."

'He' was of course Urahara, in this instance. Commander Yamamoto was about to reply when Zaraki spoke up. "Succeeded? He succeeded in finding a way to those ryokas' world?"

And before anyone could say anything, he was gone, running out of the cavernous hall without so much as a by your leave. The commander was not pleased. "Follow him and tell him to report to me at once," he barked to his captains. They dispersed after the 11th Division captain.

He was fast. Especially when he was excited as he was now. By the time Captain Hitsugaya caught up to Kenpachi, the man was in the process of opening a senkai gate to the human world, Ayasegawa and Madarame in tow. The vice captain waved happily from Kenpachi's shoulder.

Hitsugaya landed among them, halting their entrance into the senkai gate. "Zaraki-taicho. The captain commander requests your immediate presence. You are not to exit a meeting without express permission to-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll deal with it when I get back," Kenpachi sneered. He pushed Hitsugaya aside, entering the gate with his subordinates."

"Tch!" Hitsugaya entered behind him, intent on dragging him back if he had to.

***

Urahara glanced up from his tea at feeling the reiatsu enter the human world, approximately seven miles northeast of his shop. He smiled around the rim of his cup. News sure traveled fast! He estimated they'd be at his door within the next ten minutes.

They made it in five.

Kenpachi slammed the shop door open with one kick, bustling inside quickly. His lieutenants entered more sedately. Hitsugaya entered last, a vein in his forehead livid with his ire.

"Ah! Zaraki-san, how good of you to visit m-" Urahara began.

Kenpachi cut him off. "Where is it? Where's the gate to their world?"

"Oh, that. You wish to see it?" Urahara fanned himself demurely, hiding his knowing smile. No one present was in the mood for his bizarre ways, least of all Kenpachi.

"What, you think I'm here for my health? Where is it?!" Kenpachi loomed over the sitting Urahara.

The former captain of 12th Division got up and led them to his commodious underground training room. He stopped at an odd device shaped like a triangular pillar. "Here we are!" He chirped. "Of course, I haven't tested it yet. I've only been able to open a gate _to_ their world, by inserting my reiatsu here," Urahara indicated a circle on the pillar engraved with a Kido spell. "I haven't yet been able to-hey!"

Kenpachi unleashed his reiatsu and touched his hand to the circle. The pillar swung open on a blinding triangle of light. There was a rushing sound and a veritable gale of wind. Everyone except Kenpachi and Yachiru held an arm to their faces.

"What do you think you're doing?" Urahara yelled over the roar of wind. "It's too unstable, you can't go in there!"

"I've waited ten years to fight those ryoka again," Kenpachi growled gleefully. "I'm not waiting another second!" And with that, he leapt into the light. Ayasegawa and Madarame exchanged a hesitant look before leaping after him.

"Damn him!" Hitsugaya swore violently. "Urahara, inform the commander of what's happened. I'm going in there to make sure he stays out of trouble." And he, too, jumped into the light.

The gate shut on its own. The ensuing quiet was almost oppressive. "But," Urahara said to the large, empty room. "There's no way for you to get back."

***

It was like being sucked through an airless whirlpool of flashing light. Just when the yelling group thought they'd suffocate, they were ejaculated into a nighttime sky in some primitive world. They landed after a few aerial somersaults. Kenpachi stood and looked around, his face serious. He tilted his head back and scented the air, his uncovered eye half closing as he used his senses to retrieve information on his surroundings. Finding what he wanted, he turned to his companions with a grin.

"This is it, their world. I can sense one of them, the blonde one. Far away, but there. Let's move."

Hitsugaya didn't budge. He crossed his arms over his narrow chest, glaring daggers at the tall captain. "We are not going to cause trouble here. If it weren't for the fact that this territory is unknown, I'd council us to stay right here until Urahara finds a way to bring us back. However, our best chance to avoid trouble is to meet up with the ryoka. Honestly, how could you be so irresponsible as to jump into an unfamiliar world?"

"I noticed you jumped in after me," Kenpachi said as he began walking. "Who's irresponsible now?"

Ayasegawa chuckled into his hand. Madarame only shook his bald head. Hitsugaya refrained from drawing his weapon. After a few silent minutes in which he privately wished Kenpachi dead, Hitsugaya Toushirou followed the three men.

* * *

Things were tense for a few days in Konoha. Naruto personally informed Kakashi of the impending threat. The Hokage listened gravely, but agreed with Naruto; until Akatsuki actually made an appearance, they couldn't do anything. The most he could do was have the Jounins be alert and increase village security. He couldn't announce that Akatsuki was coming back from the dead without causing some kind of panic. It was true that the council knew of Izanami's involvement with Sasuke's return, but they'd been told a lie. They thought Madara had used some kind of forbidden technique to summon her. If Kakashi and Naruto went to the council now and told them they had knowledge of Akatsuki's return, as Jinchuuriki no less, and of Izanami's involvement, they would want to know how they came by that information. Raiden's powers were not common knowledge.

Naruto eyed his former sensei before he asked a tentative question. "Sir, they're after Raiden. It might be better if we left the village-"

"No." Kakashi didn't even hesitate. "They may try to lure you again like last time, by destroying the village. It sounds heartless, but if you and Raiden are here when they show up, they can be engaged and dealt with. They'll be preoccupied with you instead of turning their attention to innocent bystanders."

Naruto swallowed. He nodded in agreement.

"Have you reconsidered your decision to be my assistant?" Kakashi asked hopefully.

"No. I'm happy with the choice I've made. I won't change my mind."

Kakashi dipped his head in sad acknowledgement. "Well, the position is still open if you change your mind."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Naruto bowed and left.

* * *

Aimi and the triplets graduated the academy along with Asuma, Kumiko, Hisa and Hiroshi. Lee and Shikamaru met over lunch to discuss dividing up the students.

"Sasuke has asked me to take Aimi," Lee said as he looked at her file. He sipped his watermelon juice as he did so. "She has no talent with Ninjutsu whatsoever."

Shikamaru nodded, biting into his fried squid. "I'll have Asuma, as his father requested before he died, but Itachi asked that I take Kei. Kid's a genius. I wanted Ryota as well, since it takes intelligence to think up those pranks, but Itachi wants him to go to you. Says the kid needs to learn to fight properly."

"Kyaa, such acknowledgement from an Uchiha!" Lee held one fist by his jaw in fierce pride. Shikamaru ignored him.

"And Masaru has requested specifically to be on your team, so that's your three taken care of." Shikamaru sifted through the remaining files. "Kumiko is a wind type like her mother. Temari is bringing Baki here to train her. I guess I'll take Kiba's troublesome daughter, Hisa. Hiroshi will be trained by the Hyuugas."

"I guess that's it, then?" Lee polished off his lunch. "We'll meet with the teams in a couple of hours."

Conversation switched to other matters.

* * *

Itachi spent long hours going over Akatsuki and their individual fighting styles with his children, the Hokage, Sasuke and Naruto one day, three days after the mission to Wyatt's world. The Hokage thanked Itachi and left once the Uchiha was done. A discussion followed.

"When they show up, I want that Deidara dude," Kenji said. He was newly discharged from Konoha hospital and in perfect health. "A guy who fights with explosives sounds like my kind of guy."

"We want Pein," Juro and Yukio chorused. "His bodies have interesting gadgets."

Itachi considered this. "No. You are Chuunins, and too inexperienced. Tokubetsu Jounins are too inexperienced. And I am not certain that Pein has recruited new bodies. I do not know if they will come newly risen from the dead or not."

"Can we have Sasori then?" Yukio asked.

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Orochimaru is mine," Sasuke intoned. There was a certain razor-thin smile on his lips.

"Kisame," was all Naruto said.

"I'll take Hidan," Kenta said quietly.

Raiden hung his head. "Guess I'll take Madara again. I don't know how to get past his Genjutsu, though."

Aimi spoke up. "I'm with you there, Raiden."

"Me too," Wyatt said.

Shouta was ticking the names off on a list he was holding. "That leaves Kakuzu, Zetsu and Konan. And Pein is still up for grabs." He looked up pleasantly from the paper.

"I want Konan," Sumiko said seriously. "And I remember Zetsu. I want him after Konan."

"We'll take Pein," Akiko said. She twirled a kunai blade deftly in one hand, a denim ball cap sitting backward on her head. Asami and Akane nodded.

Shouta ticked busily on his paper. "Hiroko? You want Kakuzu then?" He raised his brows at her.

"Enough!" Itachi bellowed. "These are the most dangerous criminals in the ninja world, not a candy bowl with the contents up for grabs! I appreciate you readily stepping in to prevent Raiden's capture, but none of you are going up against them."

Naruto eyed the uncharacteristically irate man. "Okay, one? You're not the boss of me. I'll fight who I want. Two. If we don't fight, who will? These are Uchihas here, and as stuck up as it sounds, they might be the only ones who stand a chance. Which you should know, and be proud of. I get that you're scared shitless, hell I am too. This is my kid they're after, my son and daughter going up against Madara. But we gotta try, man. And we gotta be ready."

Itachi's face was stony, but his children sided with Naruto. All except Hiroko. She was subdued. They left, leaving Itachi to be comforted by Gaara.

* * *

Juro and Yukio followed Kenta and Kenji to their workshop. Kenji cast a glance at them. "What do you two want?" He had little patience for his younger siblings, especially these two. So annoying.

"Got something to show you," Juro said with a gleam to his black eyes. "Think you might be interested."

Kenta led the way into the dusty shop. He stood casually, arms folded, while Kenji leaned his elbows on the table, already resuming work on something he'd left there. "Make it quick," he griped. "I got shit to do."

Yukio pulled the gun he'd taken from Raiden's bag, out of the waistband of his pants where it had been hidden. Juro had a sack slung on his back. He opened the drawstring on it now to reveal several boxes of ammunition, and a thick book on firearms. Kenji eyed all these things but did not leave the table.

"This," Yukio said as he held the gun up, "is called a gun. We thought you'd be interested in it. It's a weapon. It makes a loud sound when it goes off and shoots a bullet into you."

Kenji frowned. The terminology was strange and he didn't see how something so small could be shooting anything. A bow and arrow were much larger. Those were the only weapons he knew to 'shoot' things. He came around the table, but did not take the gun. "And why would I be interested in that?" He asked dubiously.

"I was shot with it. It goes boom. Don't you like things that go boom?"

Kenji narrowed his gray eyes. "Does it hurt? Is it an effective weapon?"

Yukio looked down at the gun. "It hurt some. There are bigger guns in Wyatt's world, as you'll see in that book Juro has. Wanna try it out?"

"Okay." Kenji gave a shrug. He saw that Yukio curled his finger through the gun and pointed it at him.

"Where do you want it? I don't advise anywhere on the torso. The bullet could seriously damage internal organs before we got you to a hospital." Yukio said.

"Uh…" Kenji looked down at himself. "Leg, I guess." He was still highly in doubt that something so devoid of sharp edges could cause the damage his brother was describing.

Yukio nodded and took aim at Kenji's left thigh. He clicked something on the gun and his curled finger squeezed inward. Kenji saw these things, watching how Yukio worked this weapon. The sound and pain caught him completely by surprise. From the corner of his eye he saw Kenta jump at the loud report. Then Kenji was holding his leg, cursing.

"FUUUUUUCK!" He gave a muted roar through his teeth. That was all. He became quiet, examining the bloody hole in his pants with narrowed eyes. He held the area around the wound as Kenta came over and ripped the hole wider, looking at the entry point. He looked up at his twin's face.

"Did it hurt very much?" He asked.

Kenji grit his teeth, the pain screaming in the meat of his muscle. "It's bad, but not unmanageable. Look, it barely makes an entry wound. The damage is inside." Kenji looked up at his younger brother, his interest caught. "Let me see that thing." Yukio brought the gun over. Kenji took it, turning it over and over in his hands.

"I didn't see the object it shot," Kenta said as he probed delicately at the wound. "How could something move so fast? Where did the flash of fire come from when you shot it?" He asked Yukio.

Juro bounced over. "The answer to both questions is that the gun ignites a propellant that sends the projectile, the bullet, out toward its target. The propellant is gunpowder. Kind of like a tag, but not quite. I think it's like the flash powder used in fireworks."

Kenji listened attentively, ignoring his leg. Now he understood why his brothers had thought he'd be interested. The gun was like a bomb. A bomb propelling an object. Join the two and you had a gun. Fascinating.

Apparently Kenta thought so too. He took the gun, aimed it at his arm and pulled the little tab as he'd seen his brother do. His eyes widened as the bullet tore a chunk of meat away from his bicep. He dropped the gun to grab his arm.

Yukio scooped it up, his ears ringing and the sulfuric stench burning his nose. "It's only really effective if you shoot someone in the head or heart. So you want it? Maybe study it and try to build another? I'll leave the book for you and the boxes of bullets."

Kenji nodded, watching Kenta examine his wound.

"Oh, and you need to get that bullet out of you as soon as possible," Juro added. He left the book and ammo on the worktable. "We're off to finish repairs on Dad's house."

The two boys left. Kenta grunted while looking at the gun Yukio had left on the table. "Interesting."

"Very," Kenji agreed as he located a kunai and went to work retrieving the bullet.

* * *

Kaito walked home slowly. He hadn't spoken up to claim one of the Akatsuki before they were all gone, and he doubted anyone had noticed. It was easy to be missed among his siblings if you kept quiet.

The day his dad had told everyone about Akatsuki, after Uncle Sasuke and Naruto had shown up, was bad. Today was worse. It wasn't just hearing their talents and fighting abilities for him. He had intimate knowledge of those abilities. He remembered when Akatsuki had kidnapped him and held him for weeks. He remembered it vividly.

The second he opened his door, the girls rushed him and bombarded him with demands to play or go to the park. Kaito just wasn't in the mood. "Go play by yourselves," he said shortly.

"But Daddy," Mari whined.

"Go!" He barked. "Leave me the fuck alone." Kaito went up to his bedroom, noticing Hanabi's hurt look as he passed her, and slammed the door. He locked it for good measure.

Kaito dropped himself face first onto his bed and bunched a fat pillow under his face. He stared out the window.

He supposed he could have spoken up to volunteer himself for slaughter. But he had responsibilities. He had a wife. Kids. One on the way. All well and good for everyone else to want to fight. They hadn't been in Akatsuki's clutches to know how deadly they were. They didn't have a family counting on them to provide and be there every fucking second. Maybe Uncle Sasuke and Naruto knew Akatsuki somewhat, but they had two awesome kids that could fight. Kaito's family was nothing like that. Hanabi wasn't even combat savvy anymore; she stayed pregnant. And if she wasn't pregnant, she was tending to the brats they already had.

Sometimes, like now, Kaito wished bitterly that he'd never met her. All she did was drag at him with her constant need of him, her smothering love and dependence. At fourteen he'd been sure she was the one, the meaning of his life and the definition of happiness. Now at twenty-one, all he knew was that he'd been a sex-drunk idiot who'd knocked up the first girl he'd fucked, and had been forced to marry her.

But that wasn't entirely true. He loved her. He loved her very much. As different as she was now, he still sometimes caught glimpses of the haughty, aloof girl she'd been. Her passion was unchanged and she adored Kaito with crushing intensity. And yes, sometimes he _was_ crushed. He understood that she loved him more than he could love her. She depended on him in ways beyond her physical needs. He was everything to her while she was… oh hell, she was sometimes a burden.

Kaito pushed that thought away. He would never hurt Hanabi. Not for anything in the world and that included not getting himself killed. They had a good life and were happy for the most part. He did his best to be there for her and take an active hand in raising his children. He didn't want his kids growing up without a father. He knew what that was like. It was just… they leaned on him so heavily sometimes, the weight was too much. Hanabi was not on good terms with her family. Kaito was her family. Kaito and the girls.

He loved his family. Bad moments and all.

Her timid knock sounded on the door. Kaito got up and unlocked it, letting his wife creep into the room as he went back to the bed.

"Kaito? Is everything all right?" Her voice was still as low and husky as it had been when he'd met her. He turned to her and decided he would lean on her for a change. Lord knew he needed to lean on someone.

"Actually, Hanabi, it isn't." And when he told her of his kidnapping, of how it had changed him, of how terrified and close to death he had been, he realized that he had never spoken about his time with Akatsuki to anyone. He told her how they were all coming back, new and improved. Hanabi listened without interruption. She lay beside him, propped against some pillows, the mound of her stomach pressed to Kaito's side. He could feel the child kicking strongly inside her and rested his large hand on her belly.

"Are you afraid?" She asked him.

He traced her navel with a fingertip. His answer was a whisper. "Yes."

And she could feel him trembling slightly with his fear. Kaito, her strong giant. Hanabi's mouth tightened and her eyes hardened. She would not let anything threaten her husband. "What will you do?"

"I was thinking of leaving. With you and the girls. Until it's all over. But… I'm not a coward. Afraid, yes, but no coward. Raiden is family. Whatever his name, he's part Uchiha and the Uchihas don't abandon blood. I'll send you guys away."

Hanabi knocked his hand from her belly and sat up. "No."

Kaito was shocked. She never displayed temper. "Hanabi, it's the only way. I won't have you and the girls-"

Hanabi scrambled off the bed. She paced briefly before swinging to him. Kaito was further amazed to see her Byakugan on.

Her voice cut the air like a whip. "I will not have my man facing danger like this alone! What do you think this is, some exclusive club for the Uchihas? Yours is not the only strong family around, Kaito." She was beside herself, magnificent in her fury.

"Come to bed," he said thickly. His cock was hard as a rock at seeing her rage.

She came. He spent long minutes indulging himself in her familiar ripe body, before satisfying the lust she'd awakened. He was a bit rough towards the end, but she withstood him in silence. She did not participate or climax during his attentions, her anger too hot for pleasure. Kaito noticed, finished pleasing himself with her and collapsed by her side. He turned to cuddle her. She let him.

Hanabi watched dispassionately as he fell asleep. When he was snoring softly, she smoothed the faint worry lines from his forehead and kissed his beloved brow. Then she got up.

***

Downstairs, she called her children to her sharply. They came, Miki whining about the TV show she was missing. Hanabi told her children to get dressed, and that they were going to their aunt's house. Miki protested vociferously at this. Hanabi waddled to her daughter and slapped her to silence.

Miki stared up at her mama fearfully, holding her stinging cheek. This was not the gentle woman she'd known and disobeyed for the six years of her life. This was some dangerous creature with scary eyes. It would behoove her to step carefully and keep quiet, the rebellious girl surmised.

***

Hanabi showed up at Hinata's door. She didn't often go to her sister's house, but this was an urgent matter requiring that hatchets be buried. Hinata and Hanabi mended most of their differences over a lengthy conversation. There were tea and tears, hugs and promises of letting bygones be bygones.

And then Hanabi came to the point. Hinata listened in tight-lipped silence. "Is that right?" Hinata breathed.

"Yes," Hanabi confirmed. "An Uchiha, all of the Uchihas, are in trouble. As wife to an Uchiha that makes it a Hyuuga affair."

Hinata nodded in agreement. "I will inform them. Shino!" She called suddenly.

The large Aburame entered the little private den belonging to his wife some minutes later. "Hinata," he bent to kiss her cheek.

"Shino, the Hyuugas are going up against Akatsuki with the Uchihas. I, of course, will lead my family." She went over the information regarding the S-class criminals and their return to the world. She looked at him expectantly.

"If my wife goes, I go," he said quietly. "And as head of the Aburame family, they will follow me."

Hinata sniffed in satisfaction, turning to her sister once more. They had much catching up to do.

Sai, as Shino's closest friend, heard of the impending threat from him. He chose to stand by Shino. Kiba, as Sai's partner, chose to stand by _him_. All of the Inuzukas chose to stand behind Kiba, eager to sink their fangs into Akatsuki. Since Ino was married to a Hyuuga, she heard about it. Because Chouji and Shikamaru were her former team mates, they heard about it. Though it was kept secret, the news spread like wildfire among the elite until, by the time the next day rolled around, Naruto was met at his door by a mob of his friends. They stood clustered on his porch.

"Hi guys," he said uneasily. "What's-"

"Oh, shut the fuck up," Lee surprised everyone by saying. Lee never cursed. "You thought you'd hog the sweetest fight to ever come along in history all to yourself? You and Sasuke? Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"How dare you think to keep us out of it," Hinata snarled viciously.

"Most inconsiderate," Shino rumbled.

"It's like you're spitting on your friends," Chouji said reproachfully.

Sakura regarded him with a dangerously inscrutable expression. "Former team mates don't treat each other like this." She balled her fist and let fly with one of her chakra punches. Naruto went sailing through his hall to crash into the living room wall.

The assembled friends murmured in appreciation and left. Wyatt, who'd been standing at the door with Naruto, went to the blond hesitantly. "Mr. Naruto, sir?"

Naruto spat out a mouthful of blood. "Violent bitch," he muttered. But he was secretly touched that his friends had decided to have his back. He stood up. "I'm fine, Wyatt. Let's go before anymore delays show up."

* * *

Neji looked at his servant. "Who did you say it was?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, Neji-dono. And an unnamed boy. They request to see you at once." The man waited stiffly to be told to either show Naruto in or kick him out. He expected the latter. Not a soul who lived in the estate could help but remember the human cyclone of destruction that had descended on them, and broken Neji's legs.

Neji glanced at his crutches. They were leaning against the wall. His legs were slow to heal; Naruto had pulverized the bones, making even Ino's considerable skill largely ineffective. Sakura had likewise only been able to improve his condition slightly from what it was. He went around in his wheelchair most of the time, the crutches too painful to use.

Naruto had efficiently ended his career as a ninja. Neji couldn't even be intimate with his wife. His eyes were cold discs of anger more often than not these days. The worst part was that he couldn't even exact revenge. Not as he was. And he would never recover.

He suddenly wanted very much to see Naruto. "Send him in," he told the servant.

The man bowed and left. Naruto came in the main room a few moments later, a strange-looking boy walking silently behind him. Naruto began speaking before Neji could voice his hate. He surprised Neji by getting to his knees and placing his hands on the floor. He bowed his head to the floor in front of Neji and spoke from this position.

"Neji. I know there is nothing I can say to excuse what I did. I was mindless. Sasuke had just told me he didn't want to be with me anymore. I'd just found out about the kiss and was given to believe that you two had slept together. I wasn't myself, Neji. And regarding Sasuke, I'm always going to be a little bit crazy, so please stay away from him. But I would like to offer my deepest, humblest, most sincere and heartfelt apologies in honor of our past friendship and the fact that you named your first son after me. I don't expect forgiveness, but I have brought a peace offering. Wyatt?"

Neji was staring down at Naruto's head. The use of the boy's name caught him off guard. The boy came forward and laid his glowing palms on Neji's legs, making the Hyuuga flinch. Then he gasped, clenching his jaw at the painful sensation of his bones and muscle tissue knitting together seamlessly. His legs straightened, filled out. They were made whole before his disbelieving eyes. The boy, Wyatt, removed his hands and gave a timid little smile.

He stood up, throwing the wheelchair brakes into place. Fine… his legs were completely fine! Neji took a few painless steps forward, stopping when he came to the blonde head still bowed in submission.

Neji lifted his foot high and stomped on the back of that exposed neck, smashing Naruto's nose into the floor. They both heard the crunch as the nose broke, but Naruto remained in his penitent position. Neji flexed his legs, a grin stretching his face.

"Get up, Naruto."

Naruto raised his head from the floor and sat on his heels. He didn't touch his nose or acknowledge it in anyway. He kept his eyes downcast. Wyatt cast horrified looks between the two men, the violence frightening him.

Neji studied the bloody face. The man was truly contrite. Now that he had his legs back and had exacted some meager form of payback, Neji was in a much more charitable mood. He gave Naruto a very small bow and told him again to stand up. When the blonde had complied, still keeping his eyes down, Neji spoke. "I can't forgive you right away, but I'm at least open to the possibility now. I didn't know Sasuke had told you that," he said carefully. "Or that you'd thought I'd be so stupid as to have sex with him." Neji eyed Naruto's downcast features warily. "Are you two… separated?"

Naruto swallowed blood before he spoke. "No. We've resolved all our problems. I just hope you and I can, as well."

Neji nodded. Remembering that Naruto had just told him to stay away from Sasuke, he said, "You know I didn't initiate that kiss, right? He was drunk."

"I know. Now. Neji, I'm sorry it happened, what I did, but… I'm kind of irrational when it comes to him. So…"

"Watch myself around him. I got it," Neji said. He was relieved. It was a warning about Naruto's lack of control, not a threat. That made all the difference. Neji held a hand out to the blonde.

Naruto frowned, not feeling worthy of the offer. Instead of taking the hand, he bowed again. Very low.

Neji dropped his hand, understanding that Naruto's guilt would take awhile to fade. He turned his attention to the soft-looking boy who had healed him. "That was an amazing healing jutsu, Wyatt. What village are you from? Are you in training to be a medic-nin?"

Wyatt cast nervous eyes to Naruto, not sure how to answer. The blonde spoke as he straightened from his bow. He met Neji's eyes for the first time since entering the room. Neji couldn't be sure if they were watery because of his guilt or because of his broken nose. "He's from another world," Naruto told him. "Raiden's friend. He's not a ninja. They have other powers where Wyatt comes from and his family is very strong in them."

Neji's eyes brightened. "I see. How extraordinary. Well then, Wyatt. I thank you for giving me back the use of my legs."

Wyatt hesitated then bowed as he was learning to do. Naruto gave a small nod of approval before saying that they would leave Neji to his duties.

Neji watched them leave, amazed at how his day had turned out. Then he looked out the window. Noon. Ino would be sitting down to a lunch break at the hospital. Neji grinned wolfishly, striding out of the estate to celebrate his legs properly. He wondered how long they'd be able to fuck standing up.

* * *

Hiroko went through the motions of her daily life absently. Her mind should have been occupied with thoughts of Akatsuki and it was. But it was occupied more with what Kabuto would do now that Orochimaru was apparently coming back. His words kept turning around and around in her head. How his feelings were real and how he'd never felt this way for anyone before. Then she would admonish herself. Real or not, his feelings didn't concern her. He was evil. And the fact that he was capable of kindness only made him that much more dangerous.

She couldn't understand this sudden soft spot for him. She'd sat down and really thought about it. Were her feelings for Konohamaru gone? After careful consideration she was relieved to find that they weren't. But they weren't active. Her feelings for her childhood love were largely dormant. They were never returned. She was forced to ignore the hurt she felt whenever Konohamaru smiled at another woman. Kabuto had come along and showed interest in her, real interest, and Hiroko was horribly afraid that her love-starved heart would develop answering feelings if something wasn't done soon.

She would go to him tonight and tell him to leave the Fire Country, Hiroko decided. She would tell him that she had no choice but to turn him in unless he left and forgot all about her. She was betraying her love for Konohamaru and that could not be allowed to happen. She loved only him, Hiroko told herself sternly.

That night she waited until the village was asleep before dressing in black and slipping out of it. Several hundred yards away, chakra masked, Itachi followed like a passing shadow.

***

Kabuto dropped from a tree at seeing her hesitantly approach the water's edge. She called his name softly, barely louder than the breeze blowing a strand of her hair from her dark hood. Hiroko turned at hearing him. She went to him swiftly. Kabuto felt his heart swell painfully at seeing how eager she was for him. He grabbed her to him when she'd caught up to him, his face lowering to her neck, pushing her hood back. "Hiroko-hime…"

Hiroko had run in order to get this meeting over with quickly. "Kabuto, you have to leave," she said urgently. "My father has sworn to kill whoever has been visiting me. He knows I've lied and-"

She had been speaking quickly, absently pushing his body away from hers as he tried to gather her close. Now he silenced her with his lips on hers and Hiroko didn't pull away immediately. Kabuto moaned at feeling her yield, even briefly.

They both felt the oppressively heavy chakra at the same moment. Kabuto pulled back, straightening to look behind Hiroko. Hiroko screamed behind her hand, turning to see her father stalking toward them, his eyes glowing red in the light of the three-quarter moon.

"Run," Hiroko screamed at the gray-haired man, but Kabuto didn't budge. He faced Itachi squarely, his face stiff and resolute.

Itachi stopped before them, his hands by his sides. He spoke to Hiroko without looking at her. "Your betrayal is beyond my ability to express. Of all people, Kabuto. You would protect this man, lie to me for him, meet him in secret and entertain his lust? I will deal with you later."

To Kabuto he said, "Any last words?"

"As a matter of fact," Kabuto said evenly. "I want to marry your daughter. She knows of everything I've done, including to Sasuke-kun. She has feelings for me. If you want to kill me, I understand, but I will fight for her."

Hiroko gasped. "Liar! I never said I had feelings for you, you monster!"

Kabuto smirked, but didn't take his eyes off Itachi. His words had had the desired effect. Mangekyo Sharingan whirled into place. Itachi had seen the kiss, he would believe his eyes rather than his daughter, especially if, as he said, she'd already lied to him.

Itachi attacked. Hiroko didn't dare go to Kabuto's defense, her father's words still fresh in her mind. Kabuto fought well. He fought hard. But after a few minutes, Kabuto vanished with a puff of smoke after a particularly vicious blow from Itachi. Itachi pulled back and sneered. "Clone," he said. Then, "Coward." He turned to find Hiroko watching from some distance away.

Hiroko flinched but knew running away would be pointless. Her father stalked to her and dealt her a stunning backhand to the cheek. Then he swung his hand again and hit her, open-palmed, on the other cheek. Hiroko fell to the grass, sobbing out apologies. Itachi reached down, grabbed a fistful of her cloak and shoved her in front of him. They made their way, with Hiroko stumbling, back to Konoha.

***

Kabuto watched from his place hidden in the trees. Thank god he'd had sense enough never to meet Hiroko in person. It had always been a clone. He spent a few minutes wondering if he should really pursue her. He decided that no woman, no matter how delicious and beautiful, was worth Itachi's wrath. He felt regret. Perhaps he would be able to get at her some other way, at some other time. For now, though, he suspected Itachi would leave no leaf unturned in searching for him. Fire Country was about to get very hot. Kabuto turned and leapt away through the trees, running through possible countries to hide in. He sighed. It had been fun while it lasted.

* * *

Konohamaru, newly returned from his mission, was banging on Hiroko's door for a fourth time, contemplating breaking it down when Itachi came striding up, dragging Hiroko herself by an arm. He bowed low to the elder Uchiha. "Itachi-senpai. I was just coming by to see if Hiroko was all ri-"

Itachi saw the way the man's eyes widened at the sight of his daughter's bruised face. Several things went through his mind at once. The younger man was here at an odd hour, checking on his daughter. There was more than polite concern on his face. There was anger, outrage, possessiveness and violence. The last was most likely aimed at whoever had hit Hiroko, ergo him. Itachi, hurt to the quick that his own child could commit such an atrocity, made a decision. "Konohamaru-san. Do you have feelings for this wretch?" He shook Hiroko's arm in disgust.

Konohamaru stopped staring at the bruises on Hiroko's face, brought up short by the unexpected question. "Um, sir?"

"I asked a simple question. Yes or no?" Itachi grated between his teeth.

The younger man squared his shoulders. "Uh, yes, sir. I do."

"What kind of feelings?" Itachi ignored Hiroko's moaning squeak.

Konohamaru's eyes went to where Hiroko stood trembling. He swallowed hard, but he had to tell the truth, didn't he? "I… think I'm falling in love with her, sir. I'm not sure she has feelings for me still, but-"

"She is an accomplished liar," Itachi spat. He threw Hiroko toward the brawny man. Konohamaru caught her, steadying her against his broad chest. "Bring her to the council building. You will take her to wife immediately, I am done with her."

"WHAT?!" Konohamaru and Hiroko screeched.

"Quickly, I don't have all night," Itachi tossed over his shoulder. It wasn't lost on him that almost this exact scenario had played out when he'd arranged Sumiko's marriage. Was he doomed to find men for all his daughters? He stopped when he realized they weren't moving. "What is the problem? You said you want her, correct?"

Konohamaru stammered. "Y-yes, but I doubt she wants me as a husband and I'm not sure I want a marriage forced on me."

Itachi took a few measured steps nearer to Konohamaru, grateful for having been able to at least raise Hiroko; he'd been privileged to overhear a few whispered conversations between her and Sumiko. "She's lusted after you since that incident with the Genjutsu. If she has told you otherwise, she has lied… which she seems to do a lot lately, the miserable, treasonous-" Itachi seemed to force himself under control. "Will you have her or not?"

Konohamaru, while afraid of Itachi, was not easily intimidated. "Sir… I can't just marry her. If something is going on that you're angry about-"

"Fine. If you will not take her, she will be exiled to Sunagakure. I will not have her disloyal face anywhere near me." Itachi turned to leave.

"Daddy, no," Hiroko sobbed in a weak voice. She stretched her hand toward his retreating back. "_Please_ no."

"Don't speak to me," he said without turning. "Konohamaru-san, I will expect you at the council building in one hour. If you do not show up with her, I will assume you have decided against taking her. Either way, I will have nothing to do with her." Itachi seemed to consider something before he walked back and snatched a handful of Hiroko's cloak off of her. Then he vanished.

Hiroko sagged, but Konohamaru supported her long enough to fish in her cloak for her house key. He guided her into the darkened entryway and turned on the light. Once the door was closed, he turned to her with a hard expression. "Start talking," he said.

She had no choice. She didn't want to be exiled away from her family and just then, Konohamaru seemed like the only salvation available. Oh, but how she hurt! She'd never screwed up so badly before. She was the good daughter, the one who, next to Sumiko, always did everything perfectly.

Konohamaru listened in stark disbelief at hearing how Kabuto played into all of this. He didn't judge or accuse, but his face darkened at hearing of the midnight meetings and the kisses. He stopped her with a hand.

"Do you love him?" He asked.

"No! Never!"

"Why then?"

"I don't know…" Hiroko wrung her hands. "I guess he… gave me something no man has ever given me."

Konohamaru didn't like hearing that. "And what about me? Is what your father said true? About your feelings for me?"

But even now, faced with her father's terrible decision, Hiroko could not admit her feelings for Konohamaru. She would not be one more notch on his belt. Her father had thrown her at him like a piece of meat to a dog and Konohamaru, despite his protests, had snapped at the chance. She could tell by his face. Love her? She sincerely doubted it.

Konohamaru read the stubborn look on her face. He quelled his sharp disappointment. "The way I see it, you have two choices. You can marry me or pack your things. Which is it?"

Hiroko didn't have to think very hard. Forced or not, she would have Konohamaru. She was keen to erase the memory of Kabuto and how close she'd come to succumbing to whatever darkness he'd been offering. Here in Konoha, she might eventually win back her father's trust. But not if she was sent to rot in Suna.

"If you'll have me…" She said quietly. "You haven't asked."

"Will you marry me?" He asked impatiently. Honestly, women were such sticklers for some things.

She nodded. The question had been curt.

***

They made it to the council building with minutes to spare. The council members, extremely put out at being woken at such an hour, witnessed the signing of the documents and marriage contract. Itachi said there would be no formal wedding. He turned his back on the new couple without a word of congratulations.

Hiroko burst into tears as her secret dreams of marrying Konohamaru in a big romantic wedding were torn to shreds. Her new husband escorted her home. He did not approach her or speak to her once there, leaving her to her tears.

* * *

Kiba threw on a robe as he jogged to his door. Whoever was pounding on it had better be ready to run. Akamaru stood from his dog bed in the corner of the living room, ready to attack if Kiba gave the word. Sai came and stood in the hall.

He smelled him long before he opened the door. "What," Kiba growled. "You have any idea what time it is?"

Itachi held up the swatch of cloak. "Do you detect a scent on this? Other than my daughter's that is."

Kiba snatched the dark material and held it to his nose. He sniffed, frowned, sniffed harder. He held it down for Akamaru to sample. A low rumbling began in the animal's throat. "That's what I think," Kiba told his companion. To Itachi he said, "I've smelled him before. That's Kabuto's stench."

Itachi nodded tightly. "I will pay you to track him."

"Now?"

"Right now."

Kiba nodded and went to get dressed.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Ok, a few things. 1. I'm on facebook. Link's on my profile. Don't ask for my real name because I won't give it, lol. I'm shy.

2. I've been told in a review that my characters have too much personality and are unrecognizable. The person went on to give constructive advice on how to fix that problem, but I doubt it will be evident in this chapter or the next...or the one after that, since despite this advice I'm not sure how to fix this. Even so, it was hard to keep writing after reading that. I don't like the idea of messing up, knowing I'm doing it, and then keep doing it. I just can't put this story on hold though, sorry :S. But I am trying to improve and I promise to work on my writing.

3. I know I said before that training will be in part 2 of this story. There is some training in this chap, but this is not part 2 and this is nothing (hopefully) to what the real training will be like. We're still in part one, guys, so bear with the tedium of of these relationships until the 'porn' (fighting) starts happening.

4. **Swallowing Dante** said the most wonderful thing: That I'm meeting all their expectations of a great writer. XD XD

Thank you so much for the wonderful and amazing reviews! I love you guys!

Beta: Blood zephyr

* * *

Chapter 17

Itachi led Kiba to the waterfalls, dawn now a gray visitor that was quickly approaching. Kiba took over from there.

Akamaru sniffed the very spot Kabuto had stood in while kissing his daughter, Itachi saw. He saw that Kiba had also caught the scent and absently followed both man and dog as they bounded away into the trees. Itachi's mind went back through the years.

When he'd first heard from Pein that Orochimaru was hunting the only other Uchiha body available, he'd felt anger, but had been reasonably certain that Sasuke was safe in the village. He'd had his informant there keep an eye on his brother, though, just to be sure. But Orochimaru had made contact. Itachi had received this news late, not long before other news of Sasuke's kidnapping had reached him. He'd been forced to hide his fury over the incident while in Akatsuki, but he'd secretly tracked down his brother. He'd discovered how Orochimaru and Kabuto were abusing Sasuke but had been unable to rescue him. Not then. He'd been forced to take a chance on a child, Naruto. An exceptional child, a Jinchuuriki, but a child nonetheless. Itachi had wagered heavily on the demon in Naruto aiding the blonde in Sasuke's rescue.

Naruto had gone beyond even Itachi's paltry expectations and recruited help. The boy had really done the job properly. Itachi had arrived just in time to stop Orochimaru from following the fleeing children. He'd wanted to go after Kabuto as well, but as it was Itachi had left Kisame in a nearby town, telling him he needed a few hours alone. He'd led the shark nin to believe he was meeting a whore for sex. He couldn't waste time going after Kabuto when the man had fled.

He'd never gotten over missing Kabuto. He'd set out to hunt and kill him once and for all several years ago, but then Sasuke had gotten pregnant and the plan had been put on hold. Then Akatsuki had attacked, followed by Sasuke's death… Things just kept happening and soon Kabuto wasn't quite as important as other matters in Itachi's life. But he hadn't forgotten.

The recent invasion scare was Kabuto's doing. Itachi was aware of it only because he'd heard of Hiroko's involvement in eradicating it. He'd felt nearly debilitating joy and pride at his daughter's auspicious beginning in ANBU, while also feeling a renewed kindling of his lust for Kabuto's demise. There wasn't a single redeeming quality to the bastard; he was suitable only for killing.

And now his daughter had been found consorting with him? It galled Itachi, infuriated him almost worse than what Hiashi had done to his family. A part of him felt like any enemy of his should be an enemy to all Uchihas. Another part could not understand how his own flesh and blood could allow Kabuto to touch her, even knowing all that the man had done. How could Hiroko allow him to walk free after the threat he'd posed to Konoha? After what he'd done to Sasuke, if she truly knew about it? She had no loyalty to her village or her family. As such, she deserved to be exiled. Certainly once her ANBU superiors discovered her treachery she would be dismissed. How the Hokage would respond remained to be seen. Unquestionably, Hiroko would be seen as a threat to village security. How could she have been so stupid?

Itachi writhed inwardly at the shame she'd brought on the family. Handing her to Konohamaru-san had been too good for her. He might exile her yet.

Kiba stopped briefly at a place in the trees where Kabuto had rested. He glanced behind him to make sure Itachi was keeping up, then took off at top speed.

* * *

Akiko had night shift this week. Dawn was approaching, so her shift was almost over. Hers and three other units were patrolling this section of Fire Country, but there were no threats, no untoward occurrences. She felt she could indulge herself.

The woman was older, twenty-five, but that didn't bother Akiko. She'd found her working in ANBU when she'd signed on and had been in pursuit ever since.

This week, her prey had finally succumbed. The woman, Kaori, was a quiet type, good fighter, diligent worker. Her mask, something resembling a mongoose, was pushed up on her damp hair. It clunked against the bark of the tree as her head went back, her hand dropping to the black hair pushing between her thighs. Her other hand grabbed at an overhead branch. A soft sigh escaped her. "Akiko…"

The younger woman smiled around the flesh in her mouth, casting an eye at the ground fifty feet below when Kaori shifted her feet. The limb they stood on was wide enough, but if Kaori went just a few more inches to the left… Akiko stopped what she was doing long enough to guide her companion into a reclining position. Kaori relaxed on her elbows, her legs around Akiko's shoulders, as she watched the younger woman resume her previous activities.

Akiko spread the dark nether lips with her thumbs and let the new light of the rising sun illuminate the glistening folds. Kaori's scent was ripe with sweat and desire, making Akiko's mouth water. The small nub of the woman's clitoris quivered, erect and throbbing. Akiko covered it with her mouth and sucked, hard yet slow. Kaori keened to the leaves above her, her thighs shuddering at the expert ministrations.

Just as Kaori hovered on the brink of coming, a sound reached Akiko's ears. It was not a forest sound. It was high, like the voice of a child. Kaori bucked once and let out a scream, her orgasm arriving just as Akiko picked her head up to listen. She covered the shrieking woman's mouth with a hand. There the sound was again.

"Ken-chan, I think we're going the wrong way."

Akiko leaned over the side of the wide branch she was sprawled on, narrowing her eyes toward the voice. Off in the distance, she saw four individuals. The group of men was dominated by an imposing figure. Even at a distance, she could make out the aggression in the man. She shuddered. Akiko's dislike of aggressive men, recently brought to light thanks to Asami and Gaara's lengthy sharing sessions, worked though her. She suppressed it, as she always did, to focus on her job.

She stood up, gesturing to Kaori. The woman was still gasping from her climax, but she got hastily to her feet. Akiko now spotted the smallish pink-haired girl attached to the largest man's shoulder. It had been her voice that had disturbed the stillness of the forest morning. As Kaori put herself to rights, Akiko dropped down in front of them, halting their progress. She landed lightly on one knee, her hand behind her, gripping her ninjato. As she straightened, she took in their appearances up close.

***

There were no identifying forehead protectors. Each one carried a sword, even the girl. Their clothing was not like anything worn in the Five Great Nations. Akiko ran through her memory of attire worn in other, lesser nations and could find no match for what she saw. She tensed, but did not access her bloodline limit. She spoke authoritatively, her voice sharp in the still forest air. "Who are you? State your reason for being in the Land of Fire."

Kenpachi spoke before Hitsugaya could stop him. "We've been walking for days, woman. Step aside. I can feel him not too far away. Is there a town up ahead?"

Akiko widened her stance as she felt Kaori drop down beside her. She tightened her hold on her ninjato. "To whom are you referring? Are you lost, not to know the land you're walking in?" Her eyes darted to the other men in his entourage. The one with the feathers on his eyes was smiling slightly, looking at the shocked expression on the bald one's face. The white-haired one just looked annoyed. The pink-haired girl bounced up and down happily.

"His name?" Kenpachi scratched at his face. "Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. We are unfamiliar with this place. Do you know him?"

Akiko relaxed slightly. "I do. What do you want with him?"

"He visited us some time ago. I want to see him again," Kenpachi said with a sudden grin. "He and that man with him."

Akiko exchanged a glance with Kaori. "Go alert gate security that I'm coming with foreign visitors," she told the woman. Kaori nodded behind her mask. To the assembled men she said, "Follow me. And if you intend on harming Uncle Naruto you will have my family to deal with."

Kenpachi's grin widened as the short woman turned her back. They'd been lucky enough to meet a relative! He followed her, his companions falling in step behind him.

Madarame Ikkaku wiped sweat from his dome. Never, in all his life, had he seen anyone so breathtaking. No one had even come close. He was aware that he'd been staring, that Yumichika had caught him at it, but honestly, what was he supposed to do?

Her skin was a creamy white. Her hair was darkest black, seeming to swallow the very light from the morning. But her eyes, Ikkaku thought. Her eyes were too much for him to look at for long. Lustrous, ebony, large. Her lashes were long, thick miracles that tangled at the outer corners where the top and bottom ones met and fought for space. Her mouth had a natural curve to it that hinted at smiling even when she wasn't. Her brows were flattened S shapes that complimented her face perfectly. Her body was athletic, her ass curvy. The swirling tattoo on her arm seemed specifically designed to ignite his lust as it accentuated her bicep.

Ikkaku sighed despondently. He'd never thought it would happen and now it had. He was not happy. Yumichika heard the sigh and stifled a laugh.

***

Akiko jumped through the trees, moving at the height of her speed. Her escort kept up easily, not taxed in the slightest. At the gate, the Chuunins let her through, provided she remained responsible for the visitors. They informed her that they expected to hear personally from Naruto about his relationship with them. Akiko nodded shortly.

She sensed them taking in the village as if they'd never seen one before. She did not turn around to stare at them, but she caught the stares of villagers as the swords were pointed at. Their clothing also received comment.

Akiko rang her uncle's doorbell once she'd entered the Uchiha compound.

Raiden and Wyatt were engaged in a wrestling match on the living room floor, having been kept up by another night of sex between Sasuke and Naruto. Wyatt was losing spectacularly when the doorbell rang. Raiden leapt up to answer it. When he opened the door his mouth dropped open.

"You!" He pointed at Kenpachi. "I remember you, we stayed in your house!"

Kenpachi eyed the kid curiously. It took him awhile to remember the small boy that had joined the ryoka after their arrival. His brow cleared. "It wasn't my house, it was the barracks. But yeah, I remember you. You've grown. Where's your dad?"

Akiko interrupted Raiden's response as Wyatt came up behind him. "You know these people?"

Raiden took in the rest of the visitors. "Oi! Hi, Yachiru!"

"Hi, Rai-chan!"

Akiko surmised that he did. "They're here to see uncle Naruto. Can I leave them with you?"

Raiden nodded happily, stepping aside as the men entered. "He's still sleeping, though."

"Whatever," Akiko said. "Just make sure he alerts gate security about these people." She turned and walked toward her own house, already yawning. Ikkaku watched her leave, noting the slight sway of her hips. She'd brushed by his arm on her way out the door. She smelled sweaty and delicious.

* * *

Raiden shut the door and turned eagerly to the guests. Yachiru hopped from Kenpachi's shoulder and skipped over to him. She was a little shorter than he was, but considerably taller than she had been. She threw her arms around his neck in a choking hug. "I bet we'll have lots of fun," she said into his hair.

Wyatt hated her on sight.

"Where's your father, boy?" Kenpachi was looking around. His eyes traveled to the ceiling. A smile split his face. "Ah. There."

Raiden hastily removed Yachiru's arms. "Uh, why don't you let me go get him? I'll be right back." He ran up the stairs, banging on Aimi's door on his way to his parents' room.

He listened cautiously at their door, but didn't hear any sounds of fucking. He knocked.

"Get lost," his pop mumbled. Raiden knocked again.

"If you love life, walk away," Naruto yawned. Raiden knocked a third time.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Raiden braced himself. The clone wrenched the door open angrily, a fist balled and ready to launch. Raiden hurried to speak, holding his hands up defensively. "Those people from that spirit world are here. The big one wants to see you, Dad."

The clone disappeared. Raiden deemed it safe to enter. He pushed the door open slowly and found his dad sitting up, hair corkscrewed from his pillow. Pop was sleeping. "Run that by me again?" The blonde said.

***

Kenpachi's shark-like smile was evident as he saw the blonde coming slowly down the stairs, disbelief and dread all over his face. The black-haired one, whose name the tall captain could not recall, was right behind him. A girl was with them, but Kenpachi didn't immediately notice her. His attention was on Naruto.

"Ha!" Kenpachi leered. "Finally! Ten years! I've waited too long. Come. Fight me, Naruto."

No 'hi, how are you, how's it going'. Just 'fight me'. Naruto almost choked. He masked his cursing retort with a fake yawn as he stared blearily at the group of men. Jesus, he'd only gotten thirty minutes of sleep when Raiden had come knocking on the door and for what?! "Are you kidding me?" He asked thickly. "You came all the way here just to fight me?"

"Haven't stopped thinking about it since the last time."

"How'd you get here?" Naruto asked. He saw Sasuke moving into the room, discreetly taking up a position several feet from him: fighting stance. He saw that Sasuke had his sword on his back, too. God, this was some shit.

"Technology," Yumichika answered in his pleasant voice. "The man working on your case succeeded a few days ago."

Naruto nodded. To Kenpachi he said, "I really don't want to fight you… but if I do, will you guys leave?"

Hitsugaya stepped in. He'd had more than enough. "Uzumaki Naruto, I am Captain Hitsugaya of the 10th Division. It should be stated that we are here without permission from our commander. We have no way to get back."

Raiden spoke up. "That's easy. I can send you guys back whenever you want. Or my sister can."

The visitors' eyes turned to the boy, and then the black-haired girl behind him. As one they looked back at Naruto.

"Well," Kenpachi said. "I don't know that I'll want to go back right away. There might be other strong people around. Is it too much to ask that we be allowed house room in order to inspect the local offerings?"

"We are not here to start a war," Hitsugaya said between clenched teeth.

"We already have a war coming our way," Sasuke spoke up. "We don't need more problems. You fighting the village would be too much trouble."

Kenpachi turned to him with interest. "War? Fighting! We can assist…"

Naruto scrubbed his face with a hand. "With all due respect, I doubt you can. You remember I have a demon inside me? Well the ones coming all have demons as well. You'll be killed instantly, most likely, and that's no way to repay the help you gave us."

Hitsugaya, Ikkaku and Yumichika groaned. Naruto had said the exact wrong thing.

"No!" Kenpachi breathed in awe. "You lie. More like you coming?" He stepped close to Naruto, making the shorter blonde swallow and tense his body. The captain's six and a half foot frame towered over him uncomfortably. "I want to be here when they come."

Naruto spotted an opportunity. "Really? I don't know. It's going to be hella risky. Even before they had the demons, these were the strongest, most dangerous criminals in our world. You guys just might not make it. That would be unfortunate." He really poured the regret on thick in his voice, matching his face to his tone. He blinked up at Kenpachi with wide eyes.

"Sounds like my kind of fight. Can't be worse than Aizen and his crew, neh?" Kenpachi threw over his shoulder to his companions. "What do you guys say?"

Madarame and Ayasegawa shrugged in acceptance. Yachiru clapped her hands. Hitsugaya glared.

"There you have it," Kenpachi said, turning back to the blonde. "We'll stay and help you fight."

Naruto sprung his trap. "I don't know, man. That kid there-"

Hitsugaya spluttered in outrage.

"-says you guys aren't supposed to be here. I think I'll get Raiden to send you guys back, no offense."

Kenpachi snorted, reading the challenging look in the blue eyes correctly. "What do you want?"

Naruto smiled. "Nothing much. If you want to stay, you have to swear not to approach me for fighting. Or Sasuke. Or anyone in the village. No one, really, except those people I told you about. Deal?"

"How many of them are there?" Kenpachi asked. He had no problem negotiating.

"Ten, possibly more if they summon anyone or anything."

"Hmm. You realize we may be sucked out of your world at any time if Urahara succeeds in finding a way to bring us back? That might happen before these people show up. I need at least one fight before I go if that happens. Give me _some_thing, shit."

Naruto sighed. "All right. _If_ that happens, I'll go to your world and fight you. _One_ fight, mind you. That's it. Okay?"

Kenpachi beamed. "You got yourself a deal, kid."

Naruto relaxed. Now what to do with them?

***

Sasuke asked if they were hungry. While fixing breakfast for everyone, it somehow came about that an offer to house the people for the duration of their visit was extended. Hitsugaya accepted on everyone's behalf. Raiden and Wyatt, who'd raided the fridge during the night, did not eat with the men. Yachiru stuck by Raiden's side and Aimi… Aimi couldn't eat just then. She stood in the living room, absently listening to Yachiru and Raiden catch up as she stared at _him._

She'd thought he was interesting when she was a baby, the last time she'd seen him. That meeting had been so brief, though. Now he would be staying in her house. And he was more than interesting. He was beautiful and powerful and… and… and she didn't know what, but she was wholly in the grip of her first crush. She sat weakly on a chair, staring at him as he ate, with her heart in her eyes. His chakra, sensed acutely by her, tingled through her body in a way that made it difficult to think.

Kenpachi ate heartily, unaware of this perusal.

After awhile, Naruto cast an eye at the wall clock. "Aimi, Wyatt, you guys are going to be late. Get a move on, Sasuke's already packed your bentos."

Wyatt made note of the way this new girl claimed all of Raiden's attention and left without a word. Aimi also stood, accepting her papa's kiss on the cheek and the bentos he handed her wordlessly. She cast an eye behind her at Kenpachi before the door shut.

* * *

It had been decided, in the interest of toughening Wyatt up and giving him something to do, that he would join Aimi's team. Today was their first day, though Aimi had met her sensei the other day to be informed who her team would be. He walked silently beside Aimi as they made their way to the training grounds. After a few minutes, he turned to her.

"That girl. Is she Raiden's girlfriend or something?"

"You know Raiden doesn't have a girlfriend," Aimi said distractedly.

"He didn't seem to mind her all over him."

"Raiden's too nice sometimes."

"You know the girl well?"

"Not at all."

"I hate her," Wyatt confessed. Aimi did not respond.

***

At the training grounds, Masaru and Ryota were already present. Lee-sensei stood up and greeted them enthusiastically. "Aimi-san, Wyatt-san! You're both late! You will all run ten miles."

Ryota groaned. Masaru nodded, keen to begin. Aimi said nothing and Wyatt stared in shock. "Ten miles?! But sir-"

"Sensei," Lee crowed jubilantly. "You must call me Lee-sensei."

"Lee-sensei, sir, I can't run ten miles!" Wyatt couldn't imagine what the man was thinking. They were kids!

Lee walked forward and rapped his knuckles smartly on Wyatt's head. The blow would have been painful to any village kid, but forgotten soon afterward. Wyatt keeled over, unconscious. His team mates looked down at him. Lee spoke brightly. "I will not tolerate complaints on our first day together. This is a beautiful time. You will show me the vitality of your youth and I will assess what I am working with. By the looks of Wyatt-san, I won't be working with much. Are you all so weak?"

Eager to prove that he wasn't, Masaru began running. Aimi followed him, her thick braid bouncing along her stout back. Ryota cast an eye at Lee-sensei's cheerful face and followed his brother. Lee looked after them a moment, before bending down to Wyatt.

He touched a point on the boy's neck. Wyatt's blue eyes fluttered open and he groaned. "Oh, god. I'm going to hurl." And he did just that. When he was done, he said in a weak voice, "Mr. Lee-sensei sir, I need to go home. Can I have a pass please?"

Lee smiled benevolently. Then he reached down and snatched the slight boy to his feet. "What you need is to move double time to catch up to your team mates or you can have my foot in your hind parts. Now move, Wyatt-san! You're in the springtime of youth! Enjoy it! Move, move, move!"

Wyatt, scared by the demonically happy gleam in this man's eyes, moved. He ran as if his life depended on it, struggling to catch up to the faint dots that were Aimi and her cousins.

* * *

Naruto had decided to train with Raiden. He and the kid were just outside the village gate. The blonde had informed gate security that his guests would be staying awhile and that he would be responsible for them. When asked what village they came from, Naruto said it was someplace extremely far away. He gave them a name from Wyatt's world: Village hidden in San Francisco.

They walked about a mile before Naruto turned to his son. The kid was radiant with happiness. Naruto suspected it had something to do with Wyatt and now Yachiru. The fact that he and Sasuke weren't fighting anymore probably didn't hurt. Whatever the reason, Naruto was happy to see his son was no longer crying so often. "You still scared about Akatsuki?" He asked him.

"Yeah, a little," Raiden admitted. "But not so much now that you're here." He squirmed, shut his eyes briefly before saying in a rush, "Love you, Dad."

Naruto, absurdly touched at this rare display of affection, tousled the boy's hair. "I love you, too."

Raiden scrunched his face, smiling and squinting in the bright sunlight.

"All right. We're just going over basics. We'll be doing stamina today. Keep up or there'll be consequences, hear?"

"What are we doing?" Raiden asked.

"Let's take a page out of Lee's book. He always starts off with running. And no chakra, got it?"

"Aw, Dad!"

"I mean it. You're too used to folding and Booming as it is. Your muscles are probably all atrophied." Without another word, Naruto turned and was gone, loping along easily.

Raiden cursed under his breath and hurried to follow, his arms pumping for speed.

* * *

Lee assessed his team from where he jogged behind them. His eyes narrowed at his findings.

Masaru was stolid, eager and already Lee's favorite. He was huffing and out of breath, though they'd only gone four miles. The boy was heavy. He was strong, but he pushed himself too hard, using up his energy unnecessarily.

Aimi ran easily, surprising Lee with her endurance. She was heavier than Masaru, yet wasn't out of breath at all. She paced herself well. Lee was highly impressed.

Ryota had proven to be more athletic than he looked. He ran nimbly, slightly winded, but still with plenty of miles left in him. No problems there, Lee decided.

The Jounin looked behind him, shading his eyes. Wyatt had to be a mile away, walking, not running. He dragged his feet, weaving from side to side as if drunk. Lee shook his head. Naruto had told him the kid was no ninja, but this was just sad.

Lee and his three students reached the five mile mark and headed back. Masaru had to take a brief break, leaning on his knees. Ryota turned right around and kept running, though slower than before. Aimi jogged on placidly, seemingly able to run indefinitely. When they'd gone two miles back the way they'd come, they came across Wyatt's prostrate body. Lee told the others to go on ahead. He knelt next to the boy.

***

Wyatt was gasping, his face beet red. He was soaked with sweat, a stitch burning in his side. Every muscle in his body quivered in pain. He looked up at his teacher and managed a weak smile. Surely the teacher, Lee-sensei, would give him first-aid. If a kid collapsed in gym class back home, he was seen to immediately. Wyatt put his arms up to be lifted.

Lee smacked the hands away, dragging Wyatt to a standing position by a fistful of his drenched shirt. "Up! You still have to reach the five mile mark and get back. Run, Wyatt-san!"

Wyatt stared in disbelief. He swayed, trying to make the man understand. "Mr… Lee-sensei, I can't. I really can't, I'm dying. Can't you see that I-"

Another knock on the head. This time Wyatt dropped to his knees, but remained conscious. He grabbed his head as tears came in a sudden rush. He let them come, miserable beyond belief. If he'd been capable of it, he would have gone home right then and there, back to Earth. He didn't even have the strength to orb, though. Which was interesting. He hadn't known fatigue could affect his magic. Lee squatted down in front of him.

"Wyatt-san. Look at me."

Wyatt raised his streaming eyes to the dark ones of his teacher, expecting to see another happy grin. He didn't. Instead, he saw the first serious expression he'd seen on his teacher's face.

"Why are you here, in our world?" Lee asked.

"To be with Raiden," Wyatt answered immediately. "And help him."

Lee nodded. "If you're going to be here, and especially if you're going to help him, you need to become stronger. You won't survive otherwise. Not everything can rely on your abilities. You have to strengthen your body, or you will be a hindrance to Raiden. Do you want that?"

Wyatt sniffed, wiping his running nose. "No. But I can't do this, sir. I can't run and-"

Lee stood up. "Nothing is impossible. Difficult, painful, but not impossible. You can do this if you dig down and find some motivation. I will not accept excuses." Lee pointed away from himself, toward the five mile marker. "Two miles there and five miles back. Come, I will run with you."

Wyatt lurched into a shambling jog, the muscles in his legs screaming. He only kept from screaming himself by clenching his jaws shut. Lee kept his word. Wyatt was going so slowly, though, that he didn't have to run. He kept up with Wyatt by walking swiftly, maintaining a steady stream of encouragement.

* * *

His dad was tireless. On and on and on he fucking went. Raiden lagged about a hundred yards behind, running gamely, but seriously in pain. His legs hurt, his hips hurt at the joint, his back, his arms. The blood pounded in his head and his heart was working overtime in his chest. Instead of his arms pumping smoothly the way his dad's were doing, his hands clawed at the air, as if pulling himself forward.

Naruto glanced behind him. Then he turned back around and ran a little faster. Raiden was ready to die. He squeezed out a drop more speed, noting that the sun had climbed to midmorning. They'd been running for about three hours, Christ. _I'm not going to make it, _Raiden thought faintly. He blinked sweat from his eyes, wincing at the sting of salt.

* * *

Wyatt fell, threw up, fell again, walked, was harried back into his staggering lurch, and finally, finally made it back to where Aimi and the others were sitting in the grass. He promptly passed out. Lee left him.

"All right, students! Wonderful start. While Wyatt-san takes a little breather, let us get down to Taijutsu. Assume this stance," he instructed. His team copied him.

They trained hard for the rest of the day.

* * *

Sasuke had a surprisingly uneventful day with his new houseguests. He'd expected Kenpachi to be a serious pain in the ass, but the large man slept a good portion of the day away. So did Hitsugaya. Yumichika explained that the captain of the 10th Division thought sleeping would help him grow. Yachiru amused herself in the garden behind the house. Sasuke was left with Ikkaku and Yumichika. They sat in the kitchen as afternoon dragged towards evening, sipping tea.

"I heard that girl who brought us say Naruto is her uncle, but to be honest, she looks more like you," Ikkaku said to Sasuke during one of the few silences.

Sasuke offered a small smile. "That's because she's really my niece, not his. All my brother's kids call Naruto uncle."

"Oh." Ikkaku tried to sound casual. "She seems like a fighter, what with her gear."

"She is. She and her two sisters are not people you want to get angry with you." Sasuke noticed a light kindle in Ikkaku's eyes. "Why?"

"Yes, why are you asking about her," Yumichika said mischievously.

Ikkaku's mouth tightened. "Just curious. Will we be meeting the rest of your family, Sasuke?"

"If you want," the Uchiha shrugged. "We can go tomorrow, if you like. I don't know where my brother has gotten off to, but you can meet his kids. Come to think of it, it's probably a good idea if they get to know you since we'll all be fighting together."

Ikkaku nodded. On top of her physical flawlessness, the girl was a fighter. Could she be any more perfect? He noticed Yumichika's shoulders shaking with silent mirth and smashed his heel into the man's instep beneath the table. That shut him up effectively.

* * *

Around six that evening, Raiden folded himself atop his bed with a bitten off moan. Twenty minutes later, Masaru walked into his room with Wyatt slung across his back. He greeted Raiden and dropped the boy on the other bed. He left without another word.

Wyatt cried openly, now that the silent redhead was gone. He groaned and gasped and twisted on the bed as his muscles all cramped at once. Raiden rolled off his bed, thudded to the floor and squeezed his own eyes shut as his legs shrieked in agony. He tried to crawl to Wyatt and couldn't even manage that. He pulled himself along the floor with his hands, and dragged himself up to Wyatt's bed. He had to push the howling boy aside to have room, but he managed. "Where does it hurt?" He asked him.

"Everywhere! Oh, god!" Wyatt was crying harder.

Raiden noticed how Wyatt was clutching his legs and managed to sit up. He straightened the legs out, flexing the feet and pressing down on the knees. Wyatt's noise lessened in volume. Raiden took off Wyatt's shoes and pants, and dropped them by the side of the bed. He got Wyatt's sweaty shirt off and dropped it atop the pants and shoes. In his underwear, Wyatt let Raiden straddle his waist with his knees as the other boy took his arms one by one and massaged the sore muscles.

Wyatt had expected to regain consciousness in the hospital. Instead, he'd woken to find Lee-sensei holding his lunch out to him. He'd been told to perform the easy-looking, but far from simple moves that the rest of the team was doing. By then, he'd stopped complaining, just waiting for the nightmare to be over.

What Raiden was doing now helped. His hands were hard and warm and very soothing on Wyatt's tortured muscles. He groaned in pained relief as they unknotted, relaxing under the steady pressure Raiden exerted. "Thank you," he sighed.

Raiden nodded. "Bad, huh?"

"You have no idea. I have new respect for you and ninjas. No wonder you took out those bullies the way you did. Ouch… oh, right there."

Raiden dug his thumb into the muscle on Wyatt's shoulder as instructed. "Don't be so quick to think I don't know what you're going through. My dad put me through hell today. I doubt I'll ever walk again. Just sitting like this is killing my quads. We ran the whole fucking day, can you believe it? I didn't know my dad had it in him. I certainly don't. And tomorrow Pop is taking me out. I'll be dead in a week if they keep this up."

Wyatt turned over and let Raiden work on his back. "Yeah, Lee-sensei expects me back tomorrow, too. I don't think I can go."

"You'd better. I don't want to be the only one suffering. Plus, Lee-sensei will just come here and get you and then give you more work than if you'd just gone in the first place."

"Oh my god. Is that normal?"

"For him, yeah. Each teacher has his own style of teaching. You should have seen Lee's teacher. A million times worse."

"Wow. Hard to imagine." Wyatt twisted and sat up. "Want me to do you? I think I can call up my magic now. I can heal you."

Raiden grimaced. "My dad already thought of that. He says no healing. He'll be able to tell, too. Just massage my legs please." He undid the button on his knee-length shorts, toeing off his sneakers with difficulty.

Wyatt, feeling somewhat better, pulled the shorts off. Raiden took off his own shirt. They paused, Raiden still sitting in Wyatt's lap, Wyatt sitting up now. They realized they were mostly naked in each other's presence, but couldn't grasp the significance of this. Their brains didn't, at least. Their bodies were another matter. Raiden felt that hungry, tense, about-to-fight feeling sweep over him. Wyatt felt a fluttery sensation in his stomach, especially when Raiden's eyes turned red.

"Um… are you okay?" He asked Raiden hesitantly.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Your eyes are red. Does that happen a lot?"

Raiden blinked. "I… don't think so."

"Are you going to bite me again?"

At hearing the word, the feeling in Raiden intensified sharply before receding again. "Do you want to be bitten?" He asked in a low voice. Then he frowned. He'd meant to say no. Why had he asked Wyatt that?

Wyatt swallowed. He shook his head. He did not want to be bitten again at all. He still had the bruised teeth marks from the last time. "You, uh… still want me to rub you?"

"Yeah." Raiden got off Wyatt's lap and stretched out next to him. Wyatt shifted, sitting on Raiden's calves as he kneaded the big muscles of his thighs. He paused at his friend's wince. "Keep going," Raiden said. Wyatt saw that fangs were lengthening over Raiden's bottom lip.

The sun was setting. It cast long, warm fingers of dying light into the bedroom. It gilded Raiden's skin and hair. It fell across his half-closed eyes so that the red brightened to something jewel-like. Wyatt kept his eyes on Raiden's beautiful face as his hands worked independently of his mind. They traveled up past the waistband of Raiden's underwear to his smooth, faintly rippled stomach. He rubbed there, moving his hands in slow circles. A purring sound escaped Raiden, making Wyatt stop again.

"Don't stop." Sunlight glinted on the fangs. "That feels good."

Wyatt continued, aware that he was hot and sweating. After awhile, Raiden's hands came up and rubbed along Wyatt's arms as the other boy moved his hands to Raiden's chest. Wyatt was leaning forward now, tilted over Raiden's body. He scooted up a bit so that he wouldn't fall on Raiden's chest.

Raiden remembered his dad telling him to walk off this feeling, but that was out of the question. He hovered on the brink of understanding, the feeling of Wyatt on top of him and rubbing his chest too good to walk away from. Wyatt's hands were soft, smooth. His thin chest rose and fell with his shallow breathing and his legs gripped Raiden's waist firmly, steadying himself as he kept his balance. Raiden's heart sped up.

His hands slid along Wyatt's arms until they came to his shoulders. He pulled gently, only wanting Wyatt closer to him.

Wyatt resisted, but Raiden was too strong. His body lowered slowly until he was lying along Raiden's length. When he was stretched out at last, his body erupted in an explosion of tingling sensation, his scalp prickling with it. He gasped.

Raiden stiffened at the bolt of pure awareness that shot through him. His hands tightened on Wyatt's back and his breathing stopped for a moment. Then it resumed and understanding came at last.

He wanted Wyatt. The way his dad constantly wanted his pop. Oh Jesus.

He didn't know what to do. Wyatt's eyes looked frightened as they stared at his mouth. The look made Raiden aware of Wyatt's mouth in turn, and _that _had his body going up in flames.

_This is it, _Raiden thought in wonder, feeling his heart hammer. _The wild animal feeling. I'm going to bite him and I can't stop myself, oh help me god!_

Wyatt was fascinated. He could feel how Raiden's body warmed up noticeably; feel the steady thud as the other boy's heart galloped frantically. Those fangs looked wickedly sharp and he couldn't take his eyes off of them. Raiden's hands tightened on his back, pulling him closer. Wyatt tensed, thinking he was going to be bitten again.

That's what Raiden thought he was going to do when he pulled Wyatt down to his face, but that wasn't what happened. Instead, his lips touched Wyatt's briefly, a light brush, before Wyatt leapt up and off the bed. He had the back of his hand to his mouth, his eyes wide as he backed up until he hit the bedroom door.

Raiden rolled lithely from the bed, standing amidst the discarded clothes. He didn't apologize or approach, only stared at Wyatt.

Wyatt, for his part, suddenly discovered his power pouring back into him. He orbed his clothes to him, hastily donned them, and didn't bother with the door. He orbed himself out of that room.

Raiden felt him materialize downstairs, near his pop. He smiled at the empty room. That was twice he'd made Wyatt run away. He wasn't perturbed in the slightest. Not now that he knew he was attracted to him. Raiden shivered deliciously at this knowledge. He wished the kiss had been longer. He'd hardly gotten a taste. That wasn't right. _You keep on running, Wyatt. I'll catch you. Oh, yes I will. There isn't a world you can run to that I can't follow you to. _

He turned and crept into his bed, wanting, for the moment, to be alone with his new thoughts.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I took liberties with Yachiru's height in last chap, making her a bit taller than she should be, and Hitsugays's in this one. Hitsu is listed at 4' 4", but I had to stretch that just a bit. Next chap you'll find that I altered Yumichika's height from 5' 6" to 5' 9".

I want to thank all the many people who gave me such positive feedback in advising me not to mess with my characterization at all. It meant a lot to me and I am greatly appreciative.

And the reviews! So many awesome reviews from my awesome readers, I swear you guys are like my second family. Those of you who've added me on facebook, know ch 19 is on its way. For quicker updates on where I am with writing a particular chap u can add me on yahoo, same name.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 18

The night of her wedding, Hiroko closed herself in her room, sobbing wretchedly into her pillow. Konohamaru remained downstairs, she assumed. He did not come and ask if she was all right or if she needed anything. Amenable though he'd been to marrying her (and she could not, for the life of her, understand why that was), Hiroko thought he was probably thinking of bedding another woman. This thought added to her misery.

How could her father disown her? If nothing else, it was one less Uchiha for his precious clan. She was close to her father, they had a loving relationship. How could he do this to her? She hadn't met with Kabuto to 'entertain his lust'. Her only crime, as she saw it, was in trying to help him instead of turning him in. She hardly felt her father was being fair.

When morning rolled around, she found Konohamaru gone. There was a note on the door saying he'd gone to request leave from work for both of them, in deference to their marriage. Hiroko suspected Konohamaru would also gloat to her poor team about how she was now off limits. It made her stomach hurt to think how sad her team would be.

The thought made her realize that hers was a marriage of convenience. She was basically only married to Konohamaru to prevent her exile. She took a moment to consider his motives in marrying her. The idea that he'd done it out of the kindness of his heart, only to keep her from being exiled, did not seem plausible. One did not give up their freedom and half the women in the village for no reason. Hiroko let her mind touch hesitantly on the idea that he might really love her. She pulled back quickly from that thought. If ever she entertained that supremely unattainable fantasy, she would be destroyed with grief. There was only so much she could take.

But how to go on with him? She was married. _Married. _Her heart fluttered violently in her chest at remembering. Especially when she thought of how she was now his to touch. Would he try to claim his marital rights? Would she let him? She didn't see how that would be right. To her way of thinking, lovemaking was an intensely personal act meant to be shared between two people very much in love. It was not something done just to satisfy one's lusts.

She would tell her new husband that they would behave as friends, nothing more. She was grateful for his assistance and would of course respect him, but that was all.

* * *

Akiko fell into bed fully clothed, the way she usually did. She'd hardly gotten two hours of sleep before Asami, Akane and Sumiko were barging into the bedroom and jumping onto the bed. She groped for the kunai in her weapon's holster, lunging at the first warm body she could reach.

Sumiko disarmed her and had her arm behind her back with shameful ease. "Ugh, what the hell do you people want? You know mornings are my time to sleep when I have night duty." Akiko was always grouchy if her sleep was interrupted.

"Hiroko married Konohamaru last night," Sumiko squealed.

Such demonstrative behavior was unlike her. Akiko turned over after her sister released her. "No way. You serious?"

Akane grinned. "Yup! Apparently some shit went down and Dad forced her to get married or be exiled. Udon just told Su a little while ago and Konohamaru told him."

Asami, noticeably calmer since her past had come to light, spoke in an excited voice. "I wonder how her wedding night was. Girls, we have _got_ to get over there and throw her a party or something. Should we invite the boys?"

"We have to tell them," Sumiko said. "They have to know. Oh, it's so dreamy! Udon is a perfect gentleman, bringing me flowers and candy and everything, and we go out almost every night, but Hiroko's saga with Konohamaru is so… I don't know, romantic!"

Akiko pushed up to a sitting position. She yawned. "Okay. We'll throw her a little party, but first let's go congratulate her. Akane, you can go tell the boys."

Akane wrinkled her nose. "I can't, I have work. But this impromptu wedding puts me in a nice mood. I think I'll see if Ibiki will be up for a little fun today on the job. I seriously love fucking with that man." She jumped from the bed and was gone.

"And I need to get to the hospital," Asami said. She left, her new habit of wearing less revealing clothes evident in the pale blue dress she wore. It swung flirtatiously around her knees as she hurried from the room.

***

Sumiko looked down at her sister. "I heard about what happened to her. Gaara told me. I'm not sure if he told Hiroko, I think he said he couldn't find her. Why didn't you guys ever tell me? Why did you keep it to yourselves? We're family."

Akiko sighed, rolling back into her pillow. After a moment she spoke in a muffled voice. "It's not as easy as you make it sound. It was awful, Su."

The older girl rubbed her sister's back soothingly. "Is it… why you prefer women?"

"I guess. I mean, at least with women I know I'm stronger than most of them, and I'm definitely a match for the rest. Men are just so rough."

Sumiko laughed softly. "Not all men are like that. Udon isn't. What about all the men you claim to have been with?"

Akiko turned her head to look at her sister. "I actually only slept with one, about two years ago. He was thirteen and his prick was nice and tiny. The whole thing was over within, like, ten seconds. As for the rest," Akiko shrugged, "I only go after people my age or younger. Preferably younger. They're shy and timid and unsure. I tease them, they kiss me, and that's about it. 'Sam was always the one who went after older guys. I guess because Hiashi was older."

"So… you don't actually like women, you just like dominating them?"

"Well… I like them well enough. I don't think I could ever love one, though."

"And what kind of person _would_ you love? Surely not the virginal boys you've experimented with?" Sumiko was puzzled. Her younger sister was very confusing.

"I don't know. But definitely not someone aggressive and leaking testosterone."

* * *

Konohamaru was in a very good mood. At headquarters, he'd informed the entire building that he'd gotten hitched. There'd been catcalls and speculation on the rushed and hushed wedding. He quashed thoughts that he'd knocked his bride up. When it became known that his wife was none other than Hiroko, Konohamaru had needed to look sharp. Half the males present were suddenly exuding killing intent. Hiroko's team especially had needed to be reprimanded by the captain. Konohamaru had told them not to come to the house, as they were planning to do, unless they wanted a fight on their hands. The woman was his and he wasn't about to share.

Udon had congratulated him, catching the weighty glance his roommate gave him; there was more to this wedding than what was being said. Konohamaru whispered the details to him while signing some paid leave forms. Udon had been shocked. Then he'd left to tell Sumiko the good news about her sister.

Now, walking back to the Uchiha compound, where he assumed he'd be living from now on, the thought of having unlimited, unmonitored, uninterrupted time with Hiroko set his heart pounding and his balls to aching. She loved him. Her father had said so, even if she wouldn't admit it. That meant her declaration when she'd been a girl had been true. Maybe she hadn't waited for him to be her first as she'd sworn, but she hadn't stopped loving him. Konohamaru would take what he could get.

He opened the unlocked door and found her sitting downstairs in a patch of sunlight. Stopping in the living room archway, Konohamaru took a moment to drink in her beauty.

The light made her pale hair white. Her dark gold lashes were lowered, reading a book. She had on a white blouse and white shorts. Her thick, divinely shaped thighs were exposed, her calves curled under her. He felt his cock swell along his leg, imagining burying himself between those thighs. That led him to thoughts of what she might be like in bed. He wondered what would please her. Was she sensitive or experienced, or maybe aggressive? He tilted his head as his eyes ran up to her heavy breasts, trying to recall if he'd ever had a virgin. Not that it mattered, since he didn't think she was one. But on the off chance that she was… No, he decided. He'd never had a virgin. As many women as people seemed to think he fucked, it was far from the numbers he usually heard in relation to himself.

He straightened from where he'd been lounging. "Hiroko?"

She looked up, taking the iPod earphones out of her ears. Closing the book, she uncurled herself from the chair. "I'm glad you're back. I think we should talk."

Konohamaru's ready smile faltered. That didn't sound good. "Okay. What about?"

"About us."

Definitely not good. "I'm listening."

"Right. Well. I think, since we were forced together, that we should treat this marriage as the business arrangement it is. I needed help, you offered it, I accepted and that's that. I don't plan to disrespect you or shame you in any way and I would appreciate it if you extended the same courtesy to me. We'll be friends, like we have been. All right? And… about what my father said. He's a man, what does he know of a girl's heart? So… yeah. That's it." She gave a bracing smile, as if trying to make the best of a bad situation.

He was quiet after her little speech. How did she always have the power to hurt him? Konohamaru took the time to make sure he didn't curse her to her pretty face. When he was reasonably certain he had control of himself he spoke in a low voice.

"I see. Allow me to inform you of a few things. Number one, nobody forced me into anything. I was made an offer that I was perfectly capable of refusing. I married you because I want you, not because you needed help. There have been women in far more dire straits than you find yourself in, who've begged me to marry them. I didn't. Neither were you forced. If the idea of marriage to me was so repugnant you could have taken yourself off to Suna. You didn't. Number two, by disrespect and shame, I take it you mean other women. You expect me to be celibate while being 'friends' with my wife. No sex, whatsoever, from any quarter, is that it? What do you think this is?"

Hiroko stammered, worrying the book in her hands as she tried to come up with an answer. "No, I… I didn't mean that. I meant-"

"Oh, so you plan on consummating this marriage then?"

"No, well… I mean…"

"Yes? What? What do you mean?"

Hiroko lowered her gaze to the floor. "I just meant… that I didn't want you to get all high-handed and try to order me around. I already know you'd prefer to be with your women."

Konohamaru sucked in a breath at the whispered insult. "You _know _that, do you? You know nothing. You make me sound like some rutting stag, incapable of discretion or restraint. Maybe you should take the time to get to know me. I'll help you along by taking my own advice and ask you a question. How many men have you known sexually?" The question was hard.

He would gloat at her ignorance of men, Hiroko decided. He'd think her just another silly little virgin, of which he'd probably deflowered many. "None of your business."

Konohamaru threw up his hands. "You know what? You are the same ice bitch that you were at your welcome home party. You only smile and act friendly to stupid shits like your immature team, but when faced with a real man you give him the cold shoulder." Then he remembered how they'd gotten into this mess in the first place. "Maybe you gave it up to Kabuto, huh? I thought he came into your room against your will, but maybe you let him in willingly. Wouldn't put it past you, you cock-teasing whore." He stormed out of the house, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the windows.

***

Hiroko fell onto the chair, her legs suddenly strengthless. She held her book very tightly. Her eyes were dry, her face stiff with insult. Whore? Cock-tease? She hurled the book through the nearest window, shattering it completely. As an afterthought, she took the little end table by her chair and threw that through the window next to it. "I hate him," she screamed to the empty house. Jackass!

No. His words hurt, but she would not let him anger her. He was mad at not getting another woman, this one his wife. She would not react to his petty rage.

Taking a breath to calm her nerves, Hiroko set about cleaning up the broken glass.

* * *

Sasuke saw Wyatt appear in a shower of blue lights at his elbow, glancing up at the ceiling fearfully. Yumichika and Madarame looked on with interest. Their host had described this boy and his unique powers earlier, but witnessing them was something else.

Wyatt sat at the kitchen table with the men as Aimi walked in the front door. Sasuke smiled at her, holding an arm out to give her a one-armed hug. She came to him, sweaty and red-faced, but seemingly all right. Sasuke was proud to note that she was in better shape than Wyatt had been in. "How was it? The first day with Lee can be a little rough."

Wyatt snorted.

"Good," she answered as her eyes scanned the kitchen and hall. She seemed to be looking for someone. "Lee-sensei said if I keep up the way I have been, he'll give me a special prize. Me and Masaru."

"That's my girl," Sasuke said smugly. "Go on and wash up, you reek."

***

Sasuke turned his attention to Wyatt. The boy was trembling. He asked if everything was all right and received a jerky nod. It was clear that everything wasn't, though, so Yumichika and Madarame tactfully left Sasuke with the boy. Sasuke leaned back in his chair, studying his son's friend.

"Wyatt?"

"Yes, Mr. Sasuke?"

Sasuke paused at being addressed that way. Nothing he and Naruto said could convince the boy to just call them by their names. "You know that while you're here, we're your family. We're responsible for you and look after you like our own. So if anything is bothering you, it's important that you understand you can come to me or Naruto for help." Sasuke took a moment to drain the last of his tea before pushing the cup aside. He leaned forward on the table, fixing Wyatt with a steady look. "Now. I know he's your friend and all, but if Raiden has done something, you need to tell me. The boy enjoys too much license as it is. You can be sure he'll be punished if he's doing something you don't like."

Wyatt was horrified. "Raiden would never hurt me! What kind of person do you think he is?"

Sasuke smiled slightly. "I know the kind of person he is. He can get pretty forceful when he wants his own way sometimes. And I don't mean hurting you. I don't think he'd do that. But if he tried to get you to do something dangerous or-"

Wyatt's brow cleared. "Oh. No, it's nothing like that. It's just… there are things about him I don't understand."

"Like?" Sasuke prompted.

That was hard for Wyatt to go into. Raiden had told him that he wasn't a demon, even though he could change his appearance to look like one. He'd told him his pop had received a bite containing DNA from some mutant (this was how Wyatt interpreted what Raiden said) that could change at will when enraged. The DNA had passed to Raiden. Then there was the actual demon spirit in his dad. Raiden had said it was a fox, immensely powerful. He'd gotten some of the fox power as well. What Wyatt didn't understand was whether or not Raiden was in control of all these powers or not. Up until the bite, he would have said yes. Raiden had never _not _been in control. But now… he didn't know. He began with a question.

"Is Raiden part… animal?"

"Animal?" Sasuke repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Because of the fox in Mr. Naruto. Is Raiden part fox?"

Sasuke thought about this. "I would have to say no. He's got some aspects of Kyuubi, like healing, but I wouldn't say he's part animal, no."

"Well… he's… has he ever lost control of himself? And done things?"

Now Sasuke was suspicious. "I've never seen him lose control, but then I've never seen him in a situation that would cause him to. What exactly are you asking?"

Wyatt frowned. He felt like he was betraying Raiden by talking about these things, but he had to know. "Raiden's eyes turned red and he bit me. Then today they turned red again and he… tried to bite me again, I think." That last part was a lie. Wyatt knew what Raiden had been doing, he just couldn't face it.

Sasuke dimly recalled Naruto mentioning a bite, but he'd been half asleep. He didn't remember exactly what had been said. "I see."

"What does it mean when his eyes go red?"

"Depends. I've only seen Raiden's eyes change when he's stressed. By that I mean fighting. Maybe stressed is the wrong word. I think his eyes change when he's feeling a strong emotion. In that respect he's like Naruto. Back before he could control his demon, Naruto's eyes would change whenever he was in danger or up against someone incredibly strong. Later, when he and I became physical, they would change when he felt like fu- like being intimate."

Wyatt listened in rapt absorption. Sasuke hazarded a question.

"What was Raiden doing when his eyes changed and he bit you?"

"Hugging me. And today, just now, I was rubbing him. We're both sore. He had fangs, too. Why does that happen?"

_So it's like that, _Sasuke thought. "Well. For Naruto, lust sort of activated Kyuubi the way fighting did. For Raiden, it's probably a chemical reaction. Hormones kicking in and accessing the more aggressive side of his nature. Now that I think about it, he might have that from Kyuubi too. Foxes, like all animals, choose their male mates by choosing the strongest. The alpha male, if you will. The males, in turn, display their strength and worthiness in a lot of ways. They'll hunt the female, showing her how strong they are. Not saying Raiden is exactly like that, but the aggression is there and probably the biting is from Kyuubi, too. Most canines bite in play and love. Naruto is a biter. And knowing the kid the way I do, he'll go after what he wants… which seems to be you. Wyatt," Sasuke said delicately. "Is there something between you and Raiden? It's okay if there is."

Wyatt felt like his face was ablaze with embarrassment. He decided to ignore the question. "I just want to know he's not going to turn into a wild demon thing and attack me."

"Oh," Sasuke said, trying not to laugh. "Well, I doubt he'll turn into a _demon _per se… you know, this is very similar to what I went through with his dad. When the time came, Naruto was just so aggressive, it scared me a bit. I had to submit to him, which didn't sit well with me at first. I spent a lot of time trying to come to terms with a load of issues regarding… my body," Sasuke wisely refrained from saying sex. "But in the end, I decided I wanted to be caught. By him. Decisions," Sasuke said meaningfully. "Food for thought."

"Decide, sir?"

"On whether or not you can tolerate Raiden, his… interest, and whatever it might make him do. If you can't, you'd better let him know. Unless I miss my guess, if you don't definitely say no, he'll assume it's yes. He'll see it as a chase. That, too, can be attributed to whatever foxy genes he has."

"Oh god." Wyatt covered his mouth in dismay. Sasuke laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Wyatt, it's completely normal for people to feel attracted to others at this age. There's nothing wrong with it. Now if Raiden were interested in a girl, I would probably feel differently, but since it's a boy I feel I can be lenient."

"But… I'm not like that, sir."

Sasuke raised a brow. "Well. Then I guess you'd better tell Raiden, no?"

He didn't think Raiden would try to have sex with this frail boy before him, not yet anyway, but Sasuke thought it safe to assume some kissing and groping might take place. He turned his head, hiding his grin. It really was too funny. Poor Wyatt looked as if he'd been told Izanami herself was after him.

* * *

Aimi showered, changed, and worked at brushing her hair until it was dry and shiny. The thick stuff usually gave her trouble, but she stuck with it, dragging the bristle brush through the abundant mass until it slipped through the dark strands easily. She studied herself in the mirror. She looked normal, not as if her heart were trying to come out of her chest (which it was) or that anything dramatic had happened (which it had). She turned and went to her window. That girl, Yachiru, was pulling apart a worm in the garden. Aimi folded herself down to the vice-captain's side.

Yachiru glanced up at the serious-looking girl. "Hi!"

"Tell me everything about your captain," Aimi said. "Leave nothing out."

"Why do you want to know?" Yachiru asked warily. She was protective of her Ken-chan.

Aimi didn't want to divulge the real reason. She held her new emotions close to her heart. "Because I want to know. Now tell me."

Yachiru's face closed up. She did not like this strange, quiet, intense sister of Rai-chan's. "No." She let her reiatsu leak out, knowing it was powerful, in an effort to cow Aimi and have her acknowledge a vice-captain's superiority.

Aimi's eyes shaded from blue to yellow in response to the pink chakra leaking out of the girl before her. If Yachiru wanted to fight dirty, so be it. Before the vice-captain could protest, Aimi latched onto her arm and folded them both.

They ended up on a plateau in a mountain range, God only knew where. Yachiru glanced around wildly, furious at the nerve of someone to dare move her against her will. She let out the full force of her reiatsu.

Aimi eyed the cat shape hovering over the girl. She let her own chakra out, full blast.

Yachiru shrieked as she'd never done in her life.

* * *

Yumichika went into the guest room they were all sharing with Ikkaku at his heels, and sat on an available part of the floor. The captain and Hitsugaya were snoring on the two beds. His bald friend stretched out in front of him.

"So," Yumichika began. "You plan on talking about it? I confess, this is quite a surprise. I never thought you'd fall in love, certainly not with a woman. Or is it love? Maybe I misunderstood the sappy look you've been walking around with."

Ikkaku grabbed his sword, turning irritated eyes toward the bob-haired man. "Keep talking like that. I got no problem taking this outside."

"So it _is_ love?" Yumichika dodged the blow aimed at his face. Hitsugaya hissed at them to have some consideration for sleeping people.

Ikkaku lowered his sword and tucked it at his side, throwing his head down onto his bent arm. He stared moodily at the ceiling. "I don't know about love," he said finally. "But I've never wanted anyone so much. Oi, beauty freak," he addressed his listening companion. "Did you think she was beautiful?"

Yumichika called up the girl's face in his mind. Her hair was definitely beautiful- glossy and well-cared for. But he'd found her face to be plain. Nothing remarkable about her at all. All black and white, no color. Bland black eyes, common fair skin. Her body had been likewise average. No excessive curves, though her ass had been nice. Her muscles were slight, but there when one took the trouble to look. She walked assertively, had a belligerent way of speaking. Definitely not beautiful.

He didn't bother saying any of this. "Will you pursue her?"

"Maybe." Ikkaku scratched at his chest. "After observation. She might be taken. I can't imagine that she'd be free, just waiting around for me to drop by."

"And if she is?"

A sickle-like grin. "I'm not opposed to a fight."

Yumichika chuckled. "What if she isn't interested? She didn't look twice at you today."

That sobered Ikkaku up. He glanced at the expression of clear enjoyment on his friend's face. "I'll be sure to make life as unpleasant for you when you fall hard for someone."

Yumichika snorted hard enough for Hitsugaya to snarl at them again. "Not likely. I prefer uncomplicated encounters. And judging by what I've seen here, these 'ninjas' will have no one to my liking."

Ikkaku resumed study of the ceiling as Yumichika pulled out a mirror to admire himself. Unlike the fifth seat, Ikkaku enjoyed both sexes. He and Yumichika had sampled each other in the past, but they decided that they preferred to remain good friends. Best friends. He knew Yumichika and his narcissistic ways drove most lovers away. His friend might sound nonchalant and say he preferred relationships without entanglements, but the truth was they were both lonely. Ikkaku had never dwelled on it, immersing himself in violence and fighting… but those were cold companions at night.

* * *

Ibiki had been out of the village for most of the day, only coming back as evening approached. Akane watched as everyone else left while Ibiki remained, making sure their work had been done correctly.

They didn't have any people scheduled to be interrogated these days. Work consisted of a bunch of paperwork that Akane hated. Still, she scooped up a file and went with it to Ibiki's office. She waited.

***

Ibiki, satisfied that all was in order, went into his office sometime later to fill out the report on his activities outside the village. He found Akane sitting in the small wooden chair opposite his desk, filling out paperwork. He grunted in approval, took a seat in his desk chair, and began his report.

Perhaps half an hour had passed when he happened to glance up and caught Akane fanning herself. Even as he watched, she undid the first three buttons of her blouse. Ibiki was forced to admit that it was uncommonly warm in his office. He thought no more of it as he continued filling out the report. He still had three pages left to complete.

A few minutes later a rustling sound caused him to look up. Akane's blouse was completely undone, the halves exposing her lacy black brassiere. A single bead of sweat trickled from her face over her jaw, undulating into the dip of her neck. It rested there a moment before continuing down to her collarbone. It slipped lazily over the swell of her breasts, where a tattoo of a Sharingan sat. Over one of the tomoes, to slide into the valley of her breasts, where it was lost. A wet trail marked the path it had taken, conversely leaving Ibiki's mouth dry. Akane grasped one half of her blouse and fanned the material against her flushed skin. Ibiki hastily dropped his eyes.

He could have told her to leave or close her shirt. But she was being so responsible, staying late when everyone else had gone home. He'd been privy to so much of her wilder side lately that he'd missed seeing this first version of her that he'd become acquainted with. It was honorable of her to choose to suffer in this heat while doing her job. He would let her find relief from the heat however she chose. It wasn't as if anyone was around to see.

A minute later he was shrugging out of his long coat, hanging it on the back of his chair. When he turned around, she had her blouse completely off. She sat virtually topless, her navel ring – Ibiki stared at it intently for all of three seconds – catching the faint light. Her shoulders were dewed with sweat and an inappropriate image of sucking it off of her slammed through his mind.

Ibiki cleared his throat and dropped his eyes to his report. Such an indecent thought. He'd never had such a thought, had never done such a thing. Likely it had come from reading those books of the Kazekage's. Ibiki had received an education, the likes of which left him sleepless at night. He tried to concentrate on the work in front of him.

Akane stood and located an aged electric fan beneath a stack of old files in a corner. She took it, set it on the end of the desk and plugged it in. She had on a very light skirt that came to just above her knees. Once the fan was plugged in, she switched it on to its single setting and stood in front of it. It oscillated to and fro, blowing hot air on first her then Ibiki. When it came back to her she lifted her skirt a few inches, cooling her sweaty thighs.

Ibiki saw that she had on a garter belt around one thigh. It was black with a small gold heart on it. It held her kunai. The fan blew her skirt up a few more inches, just for a second, so that he glimpsed her white underwear. It was satiny, moist, showing the shadowed cleft of her sex. Ibiki could not look away.

Akane seemed to become aware of his gaze after a moment and lowered her skirt with an embarrassed duck of her head. She sat back down and picked up her file.

He got on all right for the next twenty minutes, though the room seemed to grow hotter instead of cooler. The fan brought her smell to him every so often and it was a while before he realized that he was staring at the same page, at the same paragraph, without taking in a single word. Alert to any sounds coming from her side of the desk, he jerked slightly when she stood up. She came around the desk and leaned across him, reaching to slip a paper out of the drawer to his left.

Ibiki leaned back in his chair, giving her room. Her torso stretched across his lap, right in front of his face. Her sweaty shoulder passed within an inch of his mouth and suddenly he couldn't help himself. His mouth latched, open and hot, onto her skin and he tasted her.

Akane squealed in surprise, then managed to end up straddling his lap. Ibiki, in a fit of uncharacteristic lust, dragged his tongue over her shoulder and up her neck. He hesitated at her mouth, but she grasped the back of his head and pulled his face to hers.

It wasn't disgusting at all this time. This time it was wet and greedy and warm. He caught on to the action of her tongue quicker this time and managed to ape her method of kissing. She arched against him and Ibiki slid his hands up the sides of her legs, the texture having him murmuring in desire, to grab her buttocks and jerk her against his groin.

Akane gasped at the intimate contact, throwing her head back and exposing her neck. Ibiki buried his face in it, rubbing his jaw in her sweat and feeling her moan vibrate through her throat. His fingers slid under her panties to grip her buttocks directly. The muscles flexed in his palms and then her mouth was on his again, her legs clamping tightly around his waist.

She sucked him, licked him, and moaned his name. That was what had him finally coming to his senses. He pushed up from her, surprised to find that he had her spread out on his desk. His report was stuck to her back when she sat up and he peeled it from her skin. The fan stuttered indignantly from where it had been knocked to the floor. With numb shame, Ibiki dropped his eyes to where his hand was down the front of her underwear. He was cupping her quivering womanhood and she was smiling at him unabashedly.

He backed away from her, stumbling over an apology as he tried to hide his erection. Akane hopped off the desk with a pleased grin.

"Don't apologize," she said happily. "Playing with you is just so much fun!" She found her blouse and threaded her arms through the short sleeves. She fairly skipped to the door where she turned around and pointed to the far corner. "You might want to switch that off before you leave, though."

Ibiki saw her eyes lower deliberately to the bulge in his pants. She licked her lips, winked at him, and was gone with a flip of her sable hair.

***

He sat down and put his head in his hands. What had come over him? He'd _never _reacted like that to anyone, male or female. And Akane, the impossible reprobate, had enjoyed it. It worried him, this slip in his fastidiously maintained control. He saw himself as someone dependably even-tempered, if somewhat dour and unimaginative. This… frivolity his passionate wife-to-be displayed, and his response to it, did not fit his perception of himself.

When his body had calmed down sufficiently, he donned his coat and prepared to leave. His report would have to wait until he'd had a cold shower. Just before he switched off his office light, he remembered her parting comment. He went to the corner and searched there. He found what she must have been talking about behind a dusty crate.

A heater. Switched on to full power.

The vixen had set the whole thing up. Ibiki debated whether or not he was angry. In the end, he grudgingly decided that these sexual games were her way of telling him how much she wanted him. He felt an uncomfortable emotion take root in his chest. He lifted his hand to his face and inhaled her essence, his mind working methodically with the knowledge that he was falling for his own bride.

* * *

Sumiko and Akiko had done a thorough job informing the family of 'Ko's surprise marriage. By the time the moon was rising, everyone, Sasuke and Naruto included, was making their way to her house, hastily bought presents in tow.

Naruto's otherworldly visitors were with them as they walked the short distance to the pretty house. Yachiru and Aimi had been found in the backyard. The pink-haired girl had flown to her captain the second he poked his head out the door looking for her. She clung to him, trembling and silent. Kenpachi looked between his vice-captain and the black-haired girl questioningly. Something had frightened Yachiru, but the girl wouldn't say what it was when asked. Kenpachi found this very interesting; nothing frightened his vice-captain, ever.

Yumichika ribbed Ikkaku mercilessly on the way, admonishing him not to faint at seeing the girl of his dreams again. "She's not the girl of my dreams," the third seat said. "I could never dream up anyone as perfect as her."

"Next you'll be bringing her flowers, singing her songs…" Yumichika rolled his eyes extravagantly.

Ikkaku grunted. Admittedly, he'd been openly dumbstruck at seeing her the first time, but he had himself well in hand now. His usual gruff exterior was back in place. "Just wait till the one you're meant to be with comes along," he sneered. "I'll make your life hell, just as you're doing to me. I really expected better from my lifelong friend."

Well, that little guilt trip shut Yumichika up nicely.

***

Hiroko was deep in conversation with one of her sisters when Sasuke and Naruto arrived with their kids. She received their gifts, kissed their cheeks and responded politely when introduced to the strange-looking guests. She bowed to each of them, pleased when they bowed in turn.

"Welcome to Konoha," she said amiably. "Allow me to introduce you to my family."

Perhaps it was a habit with meeting anyone new, but Itachi's kids, even grown to adults, always lined themselves up in age order whenever being introduced to anyone they didn't know. They did so now, automatically, as Hiroko pointed them out and said their names.

"Kaito, my eldest brother. Hiroto, my twin. Kenta, Kenji, twins. Sumiko. Asami, Akane, Akiko. Yukio, Juro, twins. Shouta. Ryota, Masaru, Kei…sorry, that's Ryota. _That _one is Kei. Triplets."

Ikkaku made careful note of the name he wanted. He introduced himself to the line of people first. "Madarame Ikkaku, third seat of the 11th Division."

***

Yumichika had never seen anyone or anything, outside of himself of course, as stunning as the man he was staring at. He introduced himself without hearing a thing he said. Coming out of his bow, he returned his eyes to the man whose name he'd noted as carefully as Ikkaku noted Akiko's.

***

Asami managed to keep breathing. Just keep breathing, she told herself. Breathe normally. Really, though, he took her breath away. She'd never seen a male remotely like him. He was obviously not a boy, but looked like a boy. He was her height exactly, which put him at around five-foot- two. She lowered her eyes quickly when he felt her staring at him and glanced her way. She felt an urgent need to get her sisters alone to discuss this development. Was she actually _attracted _to him?

***

"Pretty decent reiatsu you all have," Kenpachi stated. "One of you feel like f-"

"Ahem," Naruto said into his fist.

Kenpachi muttered under his breath.

Yachiru slid off her captain's shoulder. She walked right up to Shouta and said, "You're pretty. I like your eyes, they look like gold."

Shouta stared in bafflement as the ice was broken and everyone else laughed. The strange girl took his hand and shamelessly pulled him to a corner. He was made to sit as she plied him with questions. Kenpachi noted that his vice-captain seemed to be in better spirits than when he'd found her after his nap.

* * *

The night progressed, _sake_ flowing for those old enough to drink it, games springing up between the younger kids. Wyatt eyed Raiden warily, but the latter only seemed interested in talking about perfectly safe subjects such as training and wondering what Wyatt's family was doing. Wyatt relaxed.

Aimi had fun with the triplets. Thinking Hitsugaya was a quiet soul like herself and close to her age, she tried to engage him in a game. He rebuffed her stiffly. She retreated, her feelings hurt. She glanced at Yachiru, but that girl was still afraid of her. Aimi didn't know why; all she'd done was show the girl that her chakra was more powerful than Yachiru's. She was glad she had information on Kenpachi now. She watched him where he stood against a wall. He seemed bored.

Akiko looked up at feeling someone standing at her elbow. She was in the middle of listening to Akane's account of what had happened with Ibiki and a laugh brightened her eyes. She frowned, trying to recall his name. "Ikkaku, right?"

"Yes," he smiled crookedly. "And you are Akiko." His eyes raked her different attire. Shorts and an odd top that showed her midsection. A hat on her head, the bill pointing backwards. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Akiko turned to him fully. "Sure. What do you need?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could train with me. I don't want to lose my edge while I'm here and until these people you plan on fighting show up…" Ikkaku gave a shrug, leaving the sentence open.

Akiko was pleased with the request but skeptical. "Wouldn't you rather train with one of my brothers or my uncle?"

"Your uncle said you were a good fighter."

Akiko beamed. "Oh. Well, then. I guess I can spare an hour for you before my shifts. That work for you?"

Ikkaku felt a small shiver of triumph. "That works fine. I warn you, I won't go easy on you."

"Neither will I." She was perfectly serious.

* * *

Yumichika eyed the exchange enviously. He wasn't as bold as his friend. He preferred a more discreet approach, seduction, and anticipation… He sent a narrowed sidelong gaze to where the man was slouched against a wall, listening to one of his brothers speak.

His arms were folded, but the sleeves were pushed up to show taut muscles. The body was hard, tall. Tanned skin a shade or two lighter than Ikkaku. Long hair, thick, curly and lustrous. Gorgeous gray eyes, simply _gorgeous. _

Those gray eyes glanced at him and Yumichika tensed, thinking it was an accidental look. It wasn't. The eyes held his for five eternal seconds before looking back at the brother he was listening to. Yumichika unclenched his stomach. So the interest was returned then. How utterly fabulous.

* * *

Hitsugaya was still seething over Aimi's assumption that he was a playmate. He tightened his arms, where they were folded over his chest, glad that no one else approached him. He didn't like parties or social gatherings. He always felt out of place. It was some consolation to see that Zaraki looked as uncomfortable as he felt. This entire situation was that man's fault. Idiot.

A prickling sensation made Hitsugaya glance around until he spotted her. She was staring at him again, that green-eyed girl. Why did she keep looking at him? People didn't stare at him. They respected him if they knew him, and respected his Zanpaktou if they didn't. This kind of blatant gawking was unheard of. He stared back, willing her to drop her eyes first.

She didn't. Hitsugaya turned away from her in cold dismissal.

A few moments later, one of her sisters walked up to him and handed him a drink. He spent a few seconds recalling that her name was Akane. "Thank you," he said with a nod to his drink.

"Sure." She sipped from her own drink, leaning against the wall next to him. He wasn't left too long wondering what she wanted. "I see my sis is interested in you."

Hitsugaya saw Akane tip a finger toward the green-eyed girl. "Sorry?" He asked.

"Mmhm. Due to recent events I didn't think she'd be interested in anyone anytime soon. Word of advice. You listening?" Akane brought her face close to his, making the captain pull his head back.

"Yes," he said cautiously.

"Good. 'Sam's been through hell, so don't approach her. The fact that she isn't over here right now, shoving her tongue down your throat must mean the interest is pretty heavy. Just let her come to you, 'kay?" Akane gave the flabbergasted Hitsugaya a friendly pat on his arm, causing him to slosh his drink. She sauntered off to resume a conversation with Sasuke.

Interest? Hitsugaya glanced at where the green-eyed girl had been standing, but she was no longer there. His mind whirled in confusion and shock. Females never displayed interest in him. He was always seen as too short or too young. He'd never received interest from anyone but demented children.

He looked down into his drink. The dark surface of his cola rippled in concentrated rings as his hand trembled. Had Akane said something about a tongue down his throat? Hitsugaya hardly even allowed himself to have thoughts like that, so unlikely was it to happen.

His white brows drew together. He did not need to be advised not to approach anyone. He never approached anyone, because he was never drawn to the opposite sex… or anyone, for that matter. It had been made painfully clear, time and again, that despite his age, he would never be seen as anything but a child. Certainly not as someone with sexual needs. Never. He worked at just being able to receive acknowledgement as a legitimate captain of the Gotei 13.

Hitugaya's senses buzzed; wherever she was in the room, he could feel her staring at him again. He did not look up from his drink.

* * *

Akamaru could not use shunshin for extended periods of time. They had to leave him behind to catch up later. Kiba was grateful for the training he'd received while in exile. His body hadn't yet lost the conditioning he'd picked up during that year. He took care to maintain it for just such emergencies.

Kabuto's scent had strengthened several hours into the chase. They'd picked up their speed, tracking the motherfucker like no tomorrow. Their prey had caught on to the tail and the scent ripened with fear. Kiba put on another burst of speed and Itachi kept up, leaping along at his side as if he was Kiba's shadow.

Now they were close. He expected to have a visual in another mile or two. He glanced at Itachi and saw his Sharingan in place. Good. Kiba had a nagging feeling that things were about to get nice and ugly. "Yo. We're close. How much you got left in you?"

"Don't hold back. I can maintain this pace or faster if necessary." Itachi's voice was slightly winded, as was Kiba's.

"Well in that case," Kiba grinned. He dropped all pretenses and pressed forward at the top of his speed, his body straining as wind whipped his bushy hair. By his side, Itachi matched him, ponytail and dark cloak flapping behind him.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: I forgot to mention this in my last note, but Udon and Kaito are up on my DA page. Thank u, wonderful readers, for the reviews, PMs and comments. Thank u for reading. I think there might be one or two chaps left to this part one.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 19

Kabuto was tiring. Hell and shit, he'd been running non-stop for the better part of a night and a day. Masking his scent hadn't worked. He had chakra left, though the constant drain from powering his flight would soon see to that. He had one option left to him, but he didn't want to use it. He'd done it to escape Hiroko when she'd captured him, and had needed a disturbingly long time to recover.

Besides, the jutsu required an unheard of one-hundred and sixty-eight hand seals. He'd been able to do that while Hiroko and the rest of his captors operated under a mild Genjutsu he'd cast. It took a frighteningly long time to set up, required complete precision in chakra control. If he tried to rush it, and slipped up on one of the seals by even the smallest degree, it would be disastrous.

He didn't have that luxury now. If he stopped even for a moment, they'd be on him. As it was, they couldn't be more than two miles away. Kabuto looked around, blinking sweat from his eyes. He thought he might be near Wave Country. If only there was some hole he could crawl into, just long enough to set that jutsu up…

* * *

The party went on late into the night. Hiroko found herself cornered by her sisters and telling everything about Kabuto and their father and Konohamaru. She sighed morosely when it was all over.

Akane snorted. "You really are full of shit, you know that 'Ko?"

Hiroko gasped. Asami was nodding in agreement and Akiko was looking on with a slight frown. Only Sumiko seemed as outraged as Hiroko. "How dare you say that! 'Ko has been through a hard time-"

"Shut up," Akane waved dismissively at Su. "She is. First off, she's too dumb to tell the difference between infatuation for Kabuto and love for Konohamaru. She actually thought she was falling in love with the asshole and now she's gone and screwed her career in ANBU because of it. She betrayed the village. Worse, she's pushing the man she loves away just because she's too proud to admit she loves him." Akane fixed Hiroko's shocked face with a hard glare. "Listen here, bitch, and listen well. I'm not going to have you coming back to the village and giving Uchiha women a bad name. If people see you as a traitorous whore, they'll think we all are and despite dad's obsession with the clan, I share his pride in our family. Get over yourself and give Konohamaru a chance. Forget what we said about him. If he's willing to marry you, that means he's worth taking a shot on. Obviously he has feelings for you. And stop worrying about him cheating on you. You don't have proof of that. Do you honestly think anyone in her right mind would want to mess with Uchiha Hiroko's man? And risk having their minds ripped from them? Not bloody likely. But even if they were, they'd damn sure think twice about messing with our brother-in-law. 'Sam, Akiko and I aren't just known as predators of the male populace. They wouldn't risk pissing us off and I can tell you now, we will make sure the village knows Konohamaru is off limits. So. Kick these people out, put on some sexy lingerie and lose your virginity properly. Konohamaru's lucky to have you and it's time you showed him that."

Akane sat back, sipping at her drink. Hiroko looked to Sumiko, who looked back with a tentative nod that Akane was right.

Naruto announced they were leaving soon afterward, with his guests. That seemed to be the cue for everyone else as they left one by one, wishing their sister the best and making lewd comments. Hiroko was left alone to ponder the wisdom of her sister's words.

***

The harpies walked the short distance to their own home in a mild state of excitement. Akane was still jazzed off the progress she was making with Ibiki (she _still _couldn't get over how beautifully he'd risen to the occasion). Akiko was contemplating another chance with Kaori until she remembered that yesterday was her last day on the night shift. Tomorrow would begin her week of morning shifts and Kaori always worked nights. Then she remembered the strange request from that bald man Ikkaku. He seemed like a nice quiet type, not threatening at all. Sparring with him should be fun.

Asami didn't know how she felt. On the one hand, the prospect of finding herself attracted (seriously attracted) to someone felt strange and out of place. She'd only been attracted to a handful of people in her short life. The rest of her conquests had been purely physical. Her spirit still felt tender and bruised from having to face what happened to her. The breakthrough made her step back and take a good long look at herself and the kind of person she was, not something she was in the habit of doing. It made her realize that she put on a pretty convincing act for everyone, but it was just that… an act. She'd been disgusted with herself, ashamed. And she'd found that she didn't necessarily like the person she was.

Faced with these truths, she'd discovered that she no longer wanted to be a ball-busting bitch. Gaara was supportive and approving of her new attitude, helping her further discover that she didn't like all the attention she used to get from men; she'd only needed it to affirm her power over them. So saying, Asami had stopped dressing in her provocative outfits and ceased her flirtatious act almost immediately. Now that her shame and humiliation were out in the open, Asami found a quiet sort of peace inside herself, one that was reflected in her calmer disposition and conservative, yet feminine new sartorial preferences. She was happier, not constantly angry and annoyed. She was kinder, approaching work and the people she associated with, with enthusiasm now. People were starting to notice and see her as someone other than the village home wrecker. She'd made a cautious friend or two.

But now… On the other hand, she'd never felt the pull of attraction this strongly. She felt like it had the power to unravel all the progress she was making with herself and have her regress to her previous ways. Something about that white-haired youth (man? boy?) just _pulled _at her. It wasn't just his beauty, either. There was something clearly unobtainable about him, something… the only word Asami could come up with was dangerous. But dangerous how? She didn't think it was anything to do with fighting, though she sensed he was strong. And she didn't get the impression that he was dangerous to everyone, outside of the normal danger most fighters exuded. No, he was dangerous to _her _specifically and this added infinitely to his allure.

Hitsugaya. Asami mouthed his name to herself as her sisters entered their house and they made their way upstairs. She was consciously enchanted by his looks and mystery. The few times he'd met her gaze had made her knees weak. It was only by virtue of her stubborn nature and pride in herself as a strong woman that she'd been able to maintain the eye contact. She knew Akane had said something to him of her interest and that made the attraction all the more delectable; she was aware of him and he knew about it.

Once in the bedroom and stripped of outer wear, the girls climbed into their huge bed and cuddled up, Asami in the middle as usual. She snuggled between her sisters' smooth arms and sighed in contentment.

"Don't get too comfortable yet, 'Sam," Akiko said with restrained anticipation. "We noticed you and that kid. Or whatever he is. Give us the details and leave nothing out."

"There's nothing to tell," Asami hedged.

Akane pinched her, right on the soft flesh of her thigh. "Yeah, right. You were ogling the poor guy. Come on, you don't need to hide it from us."

Asami chewed her lip. "I'm not hiding. I just… feel it's too soon for me to be thinking of guys."

"But you are thinking of him, right?" Akiko buried her face in Asami's neck. "Whether it's the right time or not."

"Yeah," Asami admitted. "After the whole thing with Dad and Gaara I didn't think I'd feel anything ever again. Not for a guy. But I do. And it's weird. I mean… am I really a slut?"

"No," Akane said. "Working where I work, we get into psychology a lot. I think you're attracted to him because he's nothing like the men you've gone after. And nothing like Hiashi. He looks like a boy, for one, and he doesn't put off that whole 'I'm male and my dick is the biggest' vibe. He's got a quiet intensity going on."

"Yes," Asami agreed. She turned to Akane. "He does. He seems so steady and in control. A person someone can lean on and… who doesn't go around thinking he's god's gift."

Some silence greeted this. The girls each had their own thoughts. Sleep was coming to claim them. Akiko yawned, hugging Asami tighter. "You want him?" She sighed.

"I don't know," Asami said around her own yawn. "Pretty scared to do anything right now. And he probably isn't interested. I'm not forcing myself on anyone ever again."

Akane murmured something sleepily, but it was lost to the night. All three girls were snoring softly.

* * *

For the next week things fell into a routine. Wedding plans moved forward, training continued, little hearts palpitated with first crushes…

And an elaborate seduction was taking place between several individuals.

Yumichika strolled through the quaint village, enjoying the spring weather. Though nowhere near as filthy and violent, in an oddly reassuring way it reminded him of Rukongai. It had the same kind of dusty provinciality. He knew where he was going and took his time getting there.

The fifth seat had purposely let the anticipation build between himself and the man he intended to have shortly. Yumichika and Ikkaku both had been shown around the village until they knew it well enough to go around unescorted. Yumichika had seen the man around. Glances had been exchanged. Once, when Yumichika had gone into a local restaurant, the man had been there. That had been a particularly tense run-in. They'd sat side by side at the bar, not looking at each other, yet each acutely and dizzyingly aware of the other. Yumichika's elbow had brushed his as the man lifted a drink to his lips and it had been as if a bolt of electricity had shot between them. They jumped, yet still did not look at each other or speak a word.

But now, Yumichika felt things had marinated enough. He walked calmly, his body heated and flushed with excitement. He was thankful for the loose _Shihakushou_ uniform. It masked his stiff tumescence. He could feel it where it pressed along his belly in hot demand.

He reached his destination and paused outside the door, wondering if the man's brother might also be inside. He decided to risk it as he placed his hand on the knob and entered. A bell jingled overhead, announcing his presence.

***

Kenta added a thimbleful of flash powder to the rudimentary design of a gun he and Kenji were working on and jumped back. He wasn't quite quick enough; the resulting explosion was more flash than fire, but it still singed his shirt and blackened his arms where he'd thrown them up to cover his face. He looked down at his smoking shirt and the multitude of holes in it with a faint grimace. Kenji was better at this sort of thing, but he was off getting more supplies. He'd told Kenta to work on the gun while he was gone.

He pulled off his shirt and examined it in the light from the high windows of the shop, noting how sunbeams pierced the thin material to make small discs on his chest. The bell on the front door jingled and Kenta turned around.

It was him. The man he couldn't stop thinking about.

Under normal circumstances, Kenta was not much of a people person. If he felt the need, he paid for sex and got it over with in a timely manner. He was not someone who sought attachments or indulged in attractions. He kept to himself, not feeling a need to speak unless he had something to say, nor was he overly demonstrative of his emotions. In this respect he was much like his father had been in his youth. It had been noted on more than one occasion, by more than one person, that Kenta was the most like Itachi in personality out of all his children. All this wasn't to say that he didn't know how to have fun or that he didn't have feelings. He was just very reserved.

The night Uncle Sasuke had come over with these guests, Kenta had felt an uncommon leap of chaotic feelings at seeing Yumichika. He'd never seen any male like him, had never imagined such good looks existed outside of women. It was indecent and thoroughly magnetic because of that indecency. He'd watched how the man stared at him and was pleasantly surprised to know the attraction was returned. The episode in the restaurant had caused Kenta to go home directly and satisfy himself with a soapy hand. He'd looked at his stern visage in the mirror over the bathroom sink and thought: _This is serious. _

Now here Yumichika was, meeting his gaze as he twisted to see who was entering the workshop. Kenta saw the way the pale purple eyes scanned the interior of the space, likely looking for Kenji. He knew Yumichika was sensing that they were alone. His pale hand dropped to the lock on the door and twisted it home. The sound was simple yet emphatic in the stillness of the shop. Kenta turned all the way around as Yumichika flipped the 'open' sign to 'closed', and pulled the shade down over the window in the door, hiding whatever might take place within from passersby. Kenta lowered the hand holding his shirt as he felt, with a touch of wonder, his heart kick into overdrive. The prospect of sex never got him this worked up.

***

Yumichika took a moment to just stare. The man, Kenta, had had his back turned when he'd entered the shop, giving the shinigami a view of tanned, muscled perfection that tapered down to a lean waist. Two deep dimples sat to either side of the indentation of Kenta's spine. The very top of the rock hard ass could be seen from the low-riding and faded jeans.

When he'd turned, there'd been mild surprise on Kenta's face. Yumichika ran his appreciative gaze over the prominent pectorals, the abdominals. The long hair was swept up into a loose, messy knot that left curly tendrils dangling down the nape of Kenta's thick neck.

***

They regarded each other as Yumichika began a slow, deliberate advance. Kenta didn't back down or ask what he was doing here. They both knew, just as they both knew what was going to happen. Yumichika stopped when he was within touching distance. His cock pulsed urgently in his _hakama_ at catching a whiff of the sweat and sulfur emanating from Kenta. Close to, Yumichika's five-foot- nine was somewhat dwarfed by Kenta's six feet and the breadth of his well-developed body. It didn't bother him. Holding the grey eyes with his own, he reached up and grabbed the back of Kenta's neck. He pulled him down into a devouring kiss.

_Strong, _Kenta thought. _He's much stronger than he looks. _He'd suspected, at catching the continued interest the shinigami displayed, but now he knew for sure that this slight man with the unearthly face would want to top. Kenta wasn't in the habit of bottoming but he found the contrast between the man's appearance and personality a thrilling stimulant. He moved his tongue against the active one in his mouth, bringing a hand up to fist in the orange collar Yumichika wore.

The kiss was hard. Nothing soft or hesitant. This was something between two men, both quietly and obscurely aggressive.

Yumichika dropped his hands to Kenta's jeans and undid them. Kenta pulled back from the kiss, letting his zipper be pulled down. Yumichika pushed both jeans and black boxers down, noting the red and white fans on the underwear. Kenta's cock sprang free. It was short in relation to its girth, incredibly thick and uncut. A respectable seven inches, the shinigami judged. "Nice piece you have here," he purred. He spent a few seconds fondling it. "Undress me."

They were the first words spoken between them. Kenta obeyed, hesitating with his hand over the sword until he received a nod of permission. He set the weapon on the table behind Yumichika, removing the rest of the slender man's clothing with quick, sure movements. When Yumichika was nude, Kenta stood back and looked his fill.

The body was pale. Smooth, but leanly athletic. It was far from weak, only looked that way. Kenta took these things in absently as he stared at what Yumichika had to offer south of his waist.

It had to be as thick as his wrist. Limp, Kenta knew it would hang three or four inches past the hairless white sac housing a pair of fat balls. The head was nearly the size of a lemon. Kenta had to swallow, feeling his entire body ignite like a match set to flash powder. He never would have guessed that such a slight man could be packing such a weapon.

Yumichika gave Kenta time to look at him as he walked forward again and pushed the man to his knees. He went willingly enough, but a flash of the gray eyes told Yumichika this was not a familiar position. The shinigami took hold of his cock at the base and slapped the young man's face with it a few times, making a meaty thwacking sound. Kenta's face tightened, perhaps in anger at this dominant gesture. Still, he licked his lips, moistening them before he closed a rough fist around the shaft and slid the wide head into his mouth.

He felt a sinful sort of excitement at tasting his first cock. It filled his mouth completely, making his jaws creak in protest. Yumichika grabbed his hair, forcing him to swallow more. Kenta choked, unable to breathe, and pushed Yumichika back until he could draw breath.

Yumichika let himself be pushed. For the moment, he was captivated by the way Kenta's cheeks bulged around him, the way his hot mouth quickly picked up a rhythm and began sucking strongly. He had to put his head back, the instant pleasure mounting high as he tried to regulate his breathing. He only allowed himself to look away from Kenta for a moment, though. He wanted to feast his eyes on the man's perfection.

The light gray eyes did not waver from Yumichika's face as the shinigami felt the warm tongue flick at his slit before swirling slowly around the head of his cock. His dick was becoming slimy as saliva and precum mixed to coat the shaft. His balls were filling up, starting to ache, especially when one brown hand came up to stretch his sac out to its full extent. Kenta let them snap back, causing Yumichika's cock to pulse in his mouth and leak more of his arousal. Kenta took hold of the pale, smooth length of the vital organ he was blowing and began a steady, brutally hard pumping motion. Yumichika cried out strongly, both hands snatching at Kenta's bobbing head.

Kenta didn't stop or acknowledge the pulling on his hair. His knot came undone, his hair spilling down his back to stick to his sweaty skin. He yanked on the balls and cock with hands and mouth unmercifully, throwing his pent up emotions into the act, causing Yumichika to yell incessantly. The noise turned him on, making him close the swollen sac in his fist as he gave a final vicious suck that had the balls emptying their load in a rush down his throat. He had to swallow quickly to catch it all, humming at the rich flavor, which made Yumichika beat at his shoulders in desperation. He kneaded the balls in his fist, milking every drop from the gasping man above him. Only when Yumichika had been squeezed dry did Kenta slide the semi-erect dick from his mouth, dragging his lips over the sensitive head intentionally.

Yumichika rested a hand on the dirty table behind him, catching his breath. Kenta stood and watched him, idly rubbing his own cock with one hand as he kicked his work boots off and stepped out of his jeans. When the shinigami had recovered he pushed away from the table and shoved Kenta against the wall.

He only held him there a moment, running hooded eyes over the hairless brown chest. He smiled to himself as he lowered his mouth to Kenta's armpit, mouthing the lush hair there, tasting the bitter sweat. He sucked leisurely, and was rewarded with the first vocal response from the beefy man; Kenta moaned. Yumichika dragged his tongue across the tight buds of his nipples before burying his face in the other armpit, giving it the same attention.

Kenta raised his arms to hold onto the exposed pipes running along the low ceiling, giving the shorter man plenty of room to work in. He leaned his head on one of his arms, gritting his teeth at the erotic sensation of having his pits laved with that careless tongue. He shuddered weakly, dropping one heavy arm onto Yumichika's slight shoulder. "Nnng."

Yumichika took his time, coming back to the erect nipples several times, exploring the hollow of Kenta's throat, murmuring along the muscular column of his neck, before working downward. Kenta's cock was drooling heavily, a long, thin, silvery thread of the stuff connecting the hidden head to a small puddle on the concrete floor. Yumichika grasped the foreskin and eased it back, exposing the broad head of Kenta's piece. He studied the tiny lips of the slit with a small smile.

It was noted by both men that Yumichika couldn't close his hand completely around Kenta. The shinigami spent some moments torturing another moan from the standing ninja by rubbing the foreskin back and forth over the head of his cock. He grabbed the shaft at the base, squeezing it and making it swell deliciously. When the bulbous head was nearly purple and full to bursting, Yumichika leaned forward and took it into his mouth with difficulty.

"Oh… _God,_" Kenta rasped. He was completely down Yumichika's throat. He could feel the sinuous undulation of the man swallowing and Kenta felt his knees giving out. He stiffened them, feeling wild sensations racing from his balls, over his perineum and anus, to lick up his spine. He arched as Yumichika proved to be quite an accomplished cocksucker. A pipe creaked ominously as Kenta pulled on it in his lust. Both men were immediately doused with a fine, warm spray of water as the pipe was tugged loose. Kenta released it, finding support in the wall behind him, but a steady mist drizzled down anyway, slicking both men with moisture.

The slow slide of water rivulets over skin heightened each man's arousal until Yumichika was humming strongly on the flesh stretching his jaws and Kenta was quivering with strain. When it was evident Kenta would come, Yumichika stood up, forcefully turning the larger man around. "Bend over. Spread your ass and let me see your pucker."

Kenta complied, keeping his legs straight as he lowered his head till it was level with his knees. He reached behind him and spread himself, feeling water from the pipe hit his entrance and trickle over it towards his throbbing sac.

Yumichika had to swallow the rush of saliva that seeing the hairless hole brought forth. He longed to taste, but he let the anticipation build, watching how the water gathered in a tiny pool in the wrinkled orifice before overflowing and matching the ridge of flesh leading to the heavy balls. Finally he teased one fingertip in the tightly closed hole, massaging the water around in small, gentle circles. He knew a virgin when he saw one and the knowledge pleased him greatly.

His bobbed hair was drenched. It dripped on the meaty globes of Kenta's ass as he leaned down to lick the clean crack free of water. Kenta shivered at feeling the tongue; it was warmer than the water.

Yumichika pushed his finger forward, entering Kenta when the muscles had relaxed enough. He twisted the digit around, moving it back and forth so as to accustom the younger man to the intrusion. Already Yumichika's dick throbbed for the tight heat, but he was patient. When the ring of muscles had loosened somewhat, he introduced a second finger. After a hiss from Kenta, he pushed in a third. He spent long minutes working them back and forth, rubbing the long muscles in Kenta's back as he did so.

At last it was time. They both wanted it. Yumichika instructed Kenta to brace his hands on the wall. When the Uchiha was in position, Yumichika touched the head of his cock to the wet opening, watching as the muscular man tensed. He grabbed the tanned hips and widened his stance, bracing himself.

***

Kenta's mouth opened wide at the incursion, at how it stretched him to the point where he had to dig his nails into the wall to keep from yelling. The water eased the penetration, but still. He'd never had anything reduce him to yelling. He had to breathe deeply, panting out the air in harsh gusts as he felt that long, thick cock sliding up his chute steadily. He closed one hand into a fist on the wall, clenching his jaws around an oath. Yumichika's preparation had done nothing to ease this painful entry. When Yumichika's balls slapped warmly against his own sac, he did groan.

Yumichika's sweat mixed with the water running down his face. To say Kenta was tight was to say the sky was blue on a clear day. Oh, but it was almost unbearable. He leaned against the mounds of Kenta's ass, letting his head clear of the mind-blowing pleasure. They both panted, almost faint with their respective reactions. After an unknowable time, he began moving, his body dictating that action be taken.

Now Kenta did make noise. He cried out in a low moan at the feeling of his ass being slowly plundered, straightening up to lean his chest against the wall. One hand stretched up, the fingers digging at the hard surface as Yumichika accelerated, increasing his pace. Kenta's ass was leaking moisture, lubricating things so that the large organ slid in and out with less discomfort. He shuddered, suddenly feeling an exorbitant amount of pleasure bake through him in a restless heat wave. He pounded the wall with his fist.

Yumichika took it as a signal to stop holding back.

Kenta's hair was between them as Yumichika leaned against his back, digging out the virgin hole furiously. Kenta bucked, barking out a curse, but he was soon moaning loudly, licking the wall in pleasured abandon as Yumichika muttered thickly in his ear. Kenta's other hand fisted around his weeping cock and jerked frantically.

Yumichika was nearly mindless, the sounds the quiet man was making pushing him past his own characteristic control. He slurped up water and sweat from Kenta's back, feeling the ass muscles tighten around him savagely as the other man came hard. He was right behind him, flooding the man's hole with his come as he was milked by Kenta's long orgasm.

They slid down, gasping and shaking. There was a pool of water and cum on the floor beneath them that neither man noticed, as Kenta rolled and pinned Yumichika with his body.

* * *

"Ha! You call this fighting! Come at me seriously, you weak female! Come! Come! Come!"

Ikkaku punctuated each exclamation with a blow from his weapon. He had originally wielded it in _naginata_ form, but Akiko proved sufficiently skilled to necessitate the released _sansetsukon_ form of his Shikai. Madarame only harried her because she seemed to get stronger whenever she was angry and he wanted to see if he could piss her off enough to pull out some more powerful attacks. She wasn't weak by any means.

They'd been doing these little sparring matches for a week now. Akiko had seemed unpleasantly surprised at discovering Ikkaku was far from quiet, as she'd previously thought. Still, she put away her dislike to perform quite satisfactorily against Ikkaku's brutal attacks. He did hold back somewhat in the beginning, until he discovered how much better she was with her 'Sharingan'. That was a word he quickly came to know in regard to the girl and her particular family. Ikkaku thought of it as a human form of Shikai, and the Mangekyou he'd heard about, the Bankai. It was interesting.

But his attention remained focused on Akiko. She moved gracefully, but was an absolute beast in combat. She was aggressive against Ikkaku. A ruthless, shrieking demon of stunning speed and violence. It was all he could do to keep up with her, she was that good. He'd never seen a female fighter like her. He'd thought briefly that Soi Fong would be a match for her, but no. No woman in the Gotei 13 would be able to withstand this whirlwind of fury, whose black eyes flashed when Ikkaku called her weak. Well, maybe Yoroichi.

Right away it had been decided that she would not use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu on him, just as he would not use Kido or release his Bankai. The limitations tested their hand-to-hand skills, but Ikkaku was enjoying himself thoroughly.

***

Akiko wasn't. Each match was almost a fight to the death as far as she was concerned. Ikkaku annoyed the living shit out of her. At first she'd been terrified of his overly forceful nature, the way he was wild and loud and violent. But then her blood lust kicked in and she welcomed his aggression, pitting her own against it the way no one in ANBU wanted to because they were afraid of her. But now that he kept taunting her, he only annoyed her and that made her see red, ready to tear his throat out with her teeth if she could manage it.

She launched herself from a tree in a calculated move and let out an infuriated roar when he countered smoothly. Reading his movements was difficult; he was extremely versatile, switching between styles the moment she thought he'd become comfortable using one or another.

Ikkaku slammed her to the forest floor and held her there with a foot. His weapon returned to normal as he sheathed it. Akiko whacked at his leg with her ninjato, angered further when he didn't wince or cry out in pain. He removed his foot and extended a hand toward her, grinning widely.

She took the time to arm sweat off her face before taking his hand. He'd never made the offer before, despite flinging her to the ground a multitude of times during the past week. His hand was hard as he pulled her up easily. Her body bumped his briefly before she quickly moved away.

***

He did not release her hand. She raised a dark brow, glancing pointedly at where his hand grasped hers. He did not take the hint, staring at her. She met his gaze, unwilling to be intimidated if that was his game.

"You don't have a boyfriend," Ikkaku said suddenly. "Or a fiancé like your sisters."

Akiko failed to see the significance of this. "So?"

"I've seen you look at women, but you don't have a steady female friend either."

She tried, unsuccessfully, to yank her hand out of his. "Why are you telling me this? Let go of me!" She pulled harder, beginning to panic. A quick glance around the forest showed her what she already knew: they were alone. He could hurt her and no one would be around to help her.

"I'm telling you because I'm interested in you," Ikkaku said.

Akiko ceased her struggles for a bare second, digesting that. However, that seemed an admission of an impending attack. A memory of finding Asami beaten and bleeding rose in her mind as she pulled frantically at her hand. "Let me go!"

Ikkaku didn't, going on to explain himself. "You didn't succumb to me during our matches, so I have to change my strategy. Will you go out with me?"

Akiko opened her mouth and screamed. "_Let go of me right now!"_

He released her, sending her sprawling on her ass again. He realized with shock that she was afraid. Of him. "What's wrong?"

"Leave me alone," Akiko screeched. She scrambled to her feet and was soon leaping through the trees, but Ikkaku chased her, catching her easily with Shunpo. She ran into his arms and he held her, pinning her flailing hands by her sides as he stared at her hysterics in befuddlement.

She kicked and screamed. She beat at him with her hard little fists, her red eyes streaming with tears. She bit at his chest, cursed him, thrashed her head from side to side. Had he not held her arms down so tightly, he was sure she would have seriously hurt him.

She weakened after a long time. That and the fact that he wasn't doing anything to her finally penetrated her petrified mind. She began to feel stupid. Enough so that she stopped screaming and just shivered and sniffled in his arms. When she'd been silent for a while and he was sure she wasn't just recovering so she could scream again, Ikkaku tilted his head to look into her eyes. "What in god's name is wrong with you, woman?"

"Please let me go," she hiccupped.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"I said let me go."

"When you tell me what you're so scared of."

"I said-"

"I can stand here all night, I have nothing better to do. Unless you tell me what your problem is, I will."

Akiko tried to step on his foot, but he lifted her against him, preventing that childish trick.

Never had she been this close to a man. Boys yes, men no. His chest was disturbingly strong and masculine, instead of thin and youthful. His arms were hard instead of soft, and he did not bow to her wrath the way boys did. She could feel his erection digging into her thigh and it made her quail in fear…

But he wasn't doing anything with it.

He didn't paw her or leer at her or do anything but hold her as if she weighed nothing, looking at her with concern. The way Asami had been raped, and the way Akiko saw men respond to her sisters, led her to believe all men were sex-crazed animals. She'd never wanted to come across one, secretly thinking that she would suffer Asami's fate. She would die if she were ever violated like that.

But Ikkaku wasn't doing any of those things, blatantly manly individual that he was. It left her feeling confused. What had he said? That he was interested in her? And yet he'd done nothing untoward since that statement.

Akiko brought herself under control, leaving her musings behind to consider that she might hang in his arms indefinitely. He had no right to demand private information and she told him so.

"Maybe I don't," he retorted, "but I'm asking just the same."

"Fine," she bit out after she failed to successfully knee him in the groin. "Since you are too rude to mind your own business… My sister was attacked when she was little. Raped."

Ikkaku dropped her, landing her on her ass for a third time. Akiko growled and bounced back up, throwing a punch at him that he didn't block. He also didn't budge at the impact. "You think I would do that to you?" He asked as if she weren't snarling in rage. "I would never hurt you."

She stalked away from him, spinning back to fix him with a glare in the setting rays of the sun. "What do you want? Your interest isn't returned."

"I can see that. And I can see that you have issues. Too much baggage, to be honest. That said, I might as well leave you to your fear of men. Before I do that, though…"

He was suddenly right there, closing his arms around her again. She'd recently spent so much unmolested time in this position that no alarms went off to warn her. His heat surrounded her before she could question what he was doing and then his mouth was on hers, forcing her unresisting lips apart.

A bit of attention needs to be given to the difference between being kissed by an intimidated boy and an aggressive man who knows what he wants. Akiko had no hope in hell of dominating the kiss; Ikkaku bent her backward easily, her shocked lips yielding and pliant as he drew her tongue into his mouth. Tongue was something rarely introduced when kissing a boy and if it was, the boy's tongue was properly afraid of her teeth. _This _tongue seemed bold enough to withstand teeth… if Akiko had dared to bite. She wasn't sure what he would do if she did and was too caught up in the new sensations to try.

Desire, the likes of which she'd never experienced (seriously, _never_, not even with women), had her whimpering wordlessly as it twisted her guts, making her put her hands shyly on his shoulders. He possessed her independent nature, mastering her with ease as he slanted his head. Her hand traveled over his bald pate and Ikkaku moaned, briefly sucking on her tongue hard enough to draw blood. Akiko's clit pulsed once, sharply, in response, swollen to the point of pain.

He let go of her and stepped back, bringing her hand from around his neck. "I suppose that's all I'll ever have of you," he said huskily. He swallowed, reaching up to wipe a drop of saliva from the corner of her mouth with his thumb. He sucked the moisture from his finger, noticing her shiver as she watched. "Goodbye Beautiful."

***

He left her. The man had the nerve to vanish and leave her panting and aching for more. Akiko's head lowered dangerously. She'd had nowhere near enough of that kiss. How dare he leave her! Too much baggage? She'd been dumped, she realized with a gasp. Dumped good and proper before she'd had a decent chance to see what he was offering!

Oh… hell… no.

Fear of men temporarily forgotten as lust fueled her mind, Akiko leapt into the trees and pointed herself toward the village.

* * *

Asami wasn't in the process of seducing Hitsugaya, but she did make an excuse to stop by her uncle's house every day that week after work. Only the big one and Hitsugaya were home from the guests. The bald one was off with Akiko and the pretty one took long walks around the village. Yachiru was stalking Shouta.

She let herself into her uncle's house, perfectly aware that he and Uncle Naruto were out training Raiden. This time of the day, Aimi and Wyatt were still with Lee-sensei. The big one and Hitsugaya were alone. And the big one was sleeping. How someone so violent could be such a slug, she didn't know, but she was grateful. She found Hitsugaya reading a book on village history when she quietly entered the living room.

***

Hitsugaya looked up at feeling her presence. He was used to seeing her now. She stopped by regularly to see if they needed anything while their hosts were out. Contrary to what Akane had said, this girl, Asami, did not approach him. Her manner was perfectly correct at all times. She even remembered to call him captain Hitsugaya whenever she addressed him, which pleased him. No one else here seemed to bother. Naruto had said straight out that captain Hitsugaya was too long to say. He addressed him with 'yo' or 'hey'.

The one thing Asami did that wouldn't let him dismiss Akane's words was the fact that she stared at him. A lot. Sometimes he stared back, but she didn't seem embarrassed by it. Now was no exception. She advanced into the room after asking how he was with her hands behind her back, her face serious.

Once he'd taken the time to really look at her, he found she was beautiful. It was a strange thought for him, since he wasn't in the habit of noticing women in that way. He knew interest would never be returned and so schooled himself to see all women as either co-workers or distant acquaintances. Anything sexual in him was duly ignored until the urges had ceased to trouble him. Decades of that had successfully left him thinking that attraction between him and anyone was impossible.

But she was so beautiful. Her eyes were long and cat-like, like his, and a soothing shade of green. Her face was always fresh and framed by her honey-colored hair. Her clothes were simple summer dresses or modest slacks with conservative blouses. She had a silver bracelet she wore on her left wrist that had her family's crest engraved on it. This crest was mirrored in the small studs in her ears. She moved elegantly and confidently. There was something about her manner that reminded him of Hinamori. A wounded sort of approach to life, as if she'd suffered something. He'd witnessed an argument between her and one of her sisters, so he knew she wasn't so reticent all the time, but still, he found her appealing.

And her stares were starting to affect him. Surely no one would stare unless they were interested? It was beneath him to ask, but he didn't know how else to find out for sure. And if he did find out for sure, what then? He had no experience with the opposite sex. Or any kind of sex. What was done in these kinds of situations?

***

"Hitsugaya Taicho, do you require anything before I leave?" She asked in her calm voice.

"No. Thank you." He cast around for something else to say, but could think of nothing. He looked down at the book in his hands, her gaze making him warm.

"Oh. Well then I'll go."

He looked up to see her bowing to him before she turned around and left him. Her dress had matched her eyes today. He heard the front door open and close. She was walking away, toward her own house, presumably. He frowned at the empty room, having a short, but heated internal argument with himself.

* * *

Asami actually had been heading home before she realized she had to check on an elderly woman at her home today. She changed directions and headed out of the compound.

The woman was fine. Asami rubbed her swollen joints with medicated ointment, helping her into bed and placing a hot water bottle under the blanket with her to ease the woman's arthritis. "Thank you, dear," the woman smiled.

"You're welcome. Remember, Ino will be checking on you tomorrow. She'll do a physical for you and make sure your meds are refilled. Can I get you some tea before I leave?"

"That would be lovely."

Asami hummed to herself as she worked. Each day she saw him, she told herself she would tell Hitsugaya that she liked him. But she couldn't. In the first place, that sounded so lame. In the second place, he would think her crazy; what was he supposed to do with her 'like'?

***

She locked the old woman's door behind her, placing the key beneath the flowerpot on the stoop before turning to make her way back to the compound. Night had arrived while she'd been with her patient.

This time a hand didn't clamp over her mouth when she was attacked. She was shoved roughly behind a closed clothing store. She caught herself on her hands as she activated her Sharingan, at first thinking she was being mugged.

"So. You go off on a mission and come back with a new attitude and some boring clothes. Where do you get off thinking that entitles you to leave us hanging?"

The voice belonged to someone Asami had slept with several times. This particular bastard liked dominant women, so she hadn't bothered with him often. She whirled, suddenly afraid at the use of the pronoun 'us'.

She was surrounded. There had to be fifteen at least. They were all men she'd fucked at one time or another, a few of them married. She backed away and felt the point of a kunai dig into her back. An arm snaked around her throat, cutting off her scream.

Scared though she was, Asami fought. She was known for her temper, among other things, and she erupted in violence, handling three of the men in quick succession. She used Genjutsu when she could pause long enough to cast one, but relied heavily on Ninjutsu.

Working in a hospital did not give one an opportunity to hone battle skills, though. Technically, she was a medic first and a ninja second. She was not given missions and couldn't actually remember the last time she'd been called upon to do combat. Besides, she was a harpy. She was strongest when fighting alongside her sisters, not alone.

They overpowered her eventually, bringing her down and covering her mouth to stifle her pleading screams. One scream did make it past a thick hand, but she was cuffed into submission. A hand was already dragging at her panties.

Asami was blacking out, weak with terror as her nightmare came to life around her. Her fear drained her of the will to fight, her body knowing and dreading what was coming. _Oh god please, _she thought desperately. _Please not again. Please, I'll kill myself if it happens again!_

A hand pressed on her throat as a kunai nicked her in slicing through her dress. Asami closed her eyes as her panties came off, sobbing pathetically.

***

"Souten ni Zase!"

Asami felt a cold wind pass over her, felt small shards of ice falling on her exposed skin as her attackers yelled. She was suddenly left alone, the grasping hands leaving her hurriedly. There were screams from the men, strange sounds of something chasing them, cutting off their pleas. She opened her eyes and saw some creature made of ice apparently extending from someplace in the shadows by the building she was behind. She did not move, only lay where she'd fallen, staring numbly at the way the creature, a dragon, froze the men.

After a time, she realized everything had stopped and all was quiet. Footsteps crunched over broken ice shards as they approached her. They stopped by her side and she looked up at her rescuer.

"Are you all right?" Hitsugaya asked in his low voice. His eyes rested on her torn clothing, on the bruising of her face, before turning angrily to where the men stood frozen in flight.

Asami looked up at him, and knew the danger he posed to her at last. She fell in love right then, completely, without reservation or regret. He could hurt her, quite a bit now that he had her heart, but she willingly accepted this danger.

When she continued to remain silent, Hitsugaya sheathed his sword with a practiced move, sliding it home down his back. He held out a hand to her and she took it, holding her dress closed with the other. He started to comment on her injuries, but she hugged him. She threw her arms around his neck and held on tightly, shaking violently.

He let her hold onto him for the moment, too surprised at this breach in etiquette to do otherwise. The feel of her pressed to his body was something he immediately ignored, out of habit and a sense of wrongness. The girl had been attacked; it was most inappropriate for him to think of the way her breasts pressed against his chest, or the fact that her almost nude body was generating a lot of heat. After a moment, he raised his hands and tentatively put them on her slim back.

At feeling them, Asami pulled back enough to look into his eyes. Tears spilled over her eyelashes as she hitched in breath. "You saved me," she whispered.

***

After she'd left he'd decided to speak to her. Her house was only a short distance from Sasuke's in the Uchiha compound. Once there, he'd rung her doorbell a few times, wondering just what it was he planned on saying. No one answered. He'd already turned away in relief, intent on heading back the way he'd come when he'd felt her reiatsu, distant but agitated.

Now he only looked at her face, so close to his. Not a lot of light penetrated this small space behind the store, but it was enough to see by. What was he supposed to say to her comment? It felt strange having his hands on her back. Her arms around his neck were starting to unnerve him. The whole encounter was starting to unnerve him and he began to pull away.

And then she was kissing him.

Hitsugaya's eyes went as wide as they could go, his body rigid with astonishment. He visualized an exclamation point hovering over his head, that's how unprepared he was for the contact. His hands jumped away from her back to wave uncertainly in the air… then came back to settle in their former position as she continued to press her wet lips to his. He only stood there, letting it happen. He noticed her lips were smooth and soft. He wondered how his lips felt to her.

**

Asami pulled away when she was done. She didn't care that he hadn't kissed her back. That was actually how she preferred it. She'd only been expressing her gratitude and her new feelings. Lust wasn't involved in it at all. He stared at her with his beautiful turquoise eyes, his thin white brows drawn together in a frown. "Why did you do that?" He asked.

Her arms were still around his neck. She started to lower them, but his hands tightened imperceptibly on her back. She dropped her gaze. "I wanted to say thank you. And…"

He waited, but she didn't continue. Hitsugaya figured it was now or never and spoke of the idea that wouldn't leave his mind. "Your sister mentioned you have an interest in me." He left it at that. Once the words were out of his mouth, he wished he had them back; he sounded like some desperate adolescent… but the girl _had _kissed him and no matter how green he was, he knew that was not a common method of thanking someone.

She met his gaze again and admitted it. "I do."

Oh. Well… shit.

Hitsugaya deepened his frown as he worked up his courage. He supposed he could admit to himself that her interest in him sparked an answering curiosity of his own. Carefully going over what she had done, he brought his head to hers and recreated her kiss, pressing just as hard as she'd done, for exactly the same number of seconds. Finished, he paused as he pulled back. He felt he'd done a good job of it, since she was smiling. The feeling kissing gave him was powerfully physical, making his hands tremble on her back. He suddenly felt too big for his skin.

"I want you to come home with me," she said. "I want to know everything about you."

He did not object. Perhaps there would be more kissing.

* * *

The day after his dad trained him in stamina, his pop took him out and announced they'd be doing Taijutsu. Raiden remembered that morning like it was only an hour in the past...

Kick, dodge, parry, punch, chop, block, duck, duck, duck… run away.

"Get your ass back here, boy, where do you think you're going?" Sasuke had hollered. Raiden had reluctantly returned to the fight.

His pop's blows landed like sledgehammers. He was able to withstand an hour of this, but they kept at it for most of the day, until Raiden could barely move. He was good at Taijutsu. Good enough, anyway, to handle his business, but this was too much. And still his pop kept him at it, critiquing his speed, his technique, and his sighs of fatigue. At the end of the day, he'd folded himself to his bed, as before, and found Wyatt trying to muffle his shrieks of pain with his hands.

"Want me to-" Raiden began to offer.

"Stay away from me," Wyatt had gasped. Raiden left him alone, aching in every bone of his body.

The next day both his fathers had taken him out. Raiden was fairly certain they had some hellacious torture in store for him and he wasn't wrong. "Ninjutsu today," his dad said happily. "We'll be tag-teaming your butt so make sure you keep up."

Ninjutsu was where he excelled. It was his thing, his comfort zone. But they came at him at the same time, keeping to either side of him so he had to constantly turn his head to keep them in sight.

After awhile he started using his other senses to keep track of them and whatever jutsu they were cooking up, so that was okay. What wasn't okay was the sheer power behind his dad's attacks, the Sage Mode, and the way his pop was so fast and used all those snake techniques. Raiden couldn't summon a fly. Well he could probably Pull one to himself, but honestly. Both his fathers summoned huge ass toads and snakes and it was the height of unfair.

He was transformed by then, using everything he had except Rasenshuriken and his Death Spheres. A few things, such as excessive fire, he was told not to use in case he burned the land to a cinder.

The toads had jutsus too and Raiden was soon reduced to a screaming bundle of nerves and rage, his control slipping as it became clear that he could not take on his fathers when they went all out against him. They literally did not hold back in the slightest. He supposed it was something that he was able to at least withstand them, but he wanted to win. At one point his pop chased him in the air, his wings beating loudly. Raiden flapped away in fright, closing himself in his wings when a fireball was thrown at him. As discovered when he was a baby, his wings had the peculiar ability to block Ninjutsu, or anything chakra based, but not man-made objects or actual blows. He didn't fly often and was soon unable to as his wings gave out. His pop kicked him out of the sky, toward his dad.

And that had ended day three. He hadn't even been able to fold, needing to be carried home by his dad and deposited on his bed. Wyatt had been found collapsed on the stairs. His pop scooped him up and dropped him on the other bed in Raiden's room.

They let him have a few days to recover, which was wonderful. It allowed him to focus on more important stuff. Like that kiss with Wyatt.

***

Raiden lounged on his bed, waiting for his friend to get home from training. He and Aimi had been at it for a week now. He'd noticed his sister slimming down. Wyatt didn't scream quite as loudly when he returned or for quite as long.

He idly formed a Rasengan in his hand, watching his black chakra spin in dense control as he lay on his back.

After seeing the way Wyatt ran away from him, and noticing that the boy didn't so much as brush against him anymore, Raiden had decided to devise a strategy. He meant to kiss Wyatt again, and he wanted his friend willing. To that end, he opted to pretend as if nothing had happened.

Wyatt slowly relaxed around him again. Raiden didn't offer to massage him or touch him in any way. Wyatt was soon lulled into thinking all was fine between them. Raiden wondered if Wyatt was interested but scared, or just not interested.

Last night, he was able to conclude that it was possibly the former.

He'd had a nightmare, another ordinary one, and had woken up to find Wyatt asleep in the bed across the room. He distinctly heard his friend murmur "Raiden…" in a sleepy voice that had the hair on his arms standing up. His eyes had traveled to the odd little tent under the light blanket, near Wyatt's legs and his eyes had widened. Then he'd grinned. Wyatt was having a boner! About him!

The knowledge had kept a goofy smile on his face for hours today, until his pop had asked sharply what was the matter with him.

Phase one was complete. Wyatt was successfully under the impression that Raiden's interest was gone. Time for phase two: attack. Raiden put this part of his plan into motion as soon as Wyatt fell into the room, hanging onto the door for support as he got his legs under him. He threw himself/fell onto his bed and buried his face in his pillow.

"You okay?" Raiden asked in a voice full of concern.

A muffled reply.

"Want me to massage you? I won't do anything besides that, I promise." Raiden held his breath.

Wyatt lifted his head from the pillow, his face red and wet with tears. The time Raiden had worked on his body had been wonderful. He'd actually been able to go back to Lee-sensei the next day. The times he hadn't let Raiden ease his discomfort, he'd felt ten times worse in the morning. He'd hated the large uncomfortable feeling that had settled between them after that ki-… well after. All he wanted was for things to go back to normal. "Okay."

Raiden came over and stripped him of his sweaty clothes, remaining thankfully detached and businesslike. His callused hands settled on Wyatt's perpetually aching legs and squeezed, the hard fingers digging into the overworked muscles to loosen their tension. Wyatt spread his legs on the mattress, groaning in relief as his pain drained away. He flung his arms wide, to either side of his body, and gave himself up to Raiden's ministrations. He sighed. "That feels so good, oh my god."

A small smile tugged at Raiden's mouth. He kept a sharp reign on the feelings touching Wyatt's bare skin brought up. He couldn't be sure his eyes weren't red, since he never felt when they changed, but kept them downcast just in case. Wyatt had his eyes closed anyway.

He concentrated on the thin arms, the trembling leg muscles. Wyatt's stomach was a soft, unresisting cavity. It fascinated Raiden to no end; he didn't know a single soul with a stomach this soft. It was like a marshmallow. Even Aimi, pudgy as she was, was nice and solid. Stomachs were supposed to be hard, with muscles and taught skin. Come to think of it, Wyatt was soft all over. There were tiny muscles, hidden beneath the skin of the arms and legs but these, too, were soft. Raiden stopped working on Wyatt long enough to squeeze his own thigh. It was unyielding, almost like wood. He squeezed Wyatt's and was able to mold the muscles as he wished, making his friend moan.

"All right," Wyatt said as he sat up. "You can do my back now."

Raiden did, noting how easy it was to feel the bones. Wyatt murmured in contentment, completely relaxed.

After, Raiden asked if Wyatt would like to go out and do something. "I mean no training tomorrow, right? Lee-sensei is giving you guys the day off. Not everything is work and pain around here you know. Why not see how ninjas have fun?"

Wyatt had cautiously met Raiden's gaze to see if his eyes were red, and smiled in relief at finding their normal color. Maybe that junk that had happened really was a fluke. "I don't know… I kind of just want to stay here."

"Come on, please? I'm bored as hell. I've been waiting all day for you to get back."

Raiden cajoled until Wyatt finally consented. He pulled on a pair of Raiden's long shorts and a tank. They left the house, talking amiably.

* * *

Wyatt looked up at the chain link fence. "It looks like we're not supposed to go in there."

"We're not," Raiden confirmed cheerfully. "But the forbidden forest is a great place for us to have some fun. We can use our powers as much as we want, since there are no ANBU in here." He jumped and was over the fence in a trice. Wyatt orbed himself to the other side.

They had a blast frying monster centipedes with fire and zapping lightning at other grotesque insects. They had a game of Catch Me, where Raiden folded all over the place and Wyatt tried to catch him by orbing. Raiden made a kind of waterworks show with water chakra. Wyatt couldn't summon water, but he used Projection to make it seem like they were at Sea World during one of the spectacular shows there. Raiden was impressed.

"You know, the way you use Projection is almost like Genjutsu," he said. "I remember your mom saying Aimi has Projection, but I don't think she can do that."

"Nah, what my mom said," Wyatt corrected, "Was that Aimi has an evolved form of Projection."

"Which means what?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it's more or less on a larger scale… like what I can do is pretty much limited to my surroundings and the people within those surroundings. I think Aimi's ability is more like… cosmic. Dealing with worlds and stuff. For instance, that whole altering time thing? That's not common even among powerful people like you and me. Only ultimate power, or beings with ultimate power have that ability and not many of them, either. Theoretically, if she can move time, she should be able to move herself in time."

"So weird. She's just the sweetest little sister, it's hard imagining her being able to do those things."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Wyatt looked around. "It's pretty dark out. Shouldn't we be getting home?"

Raiden walked along the faint path they were using without answering for awhile. He stopped by a stream they came to and knelt by the water. Wyatt sat down next to him, dipping his bare feet in the stream and leaning back on his hands. He did a funny move with his hand and threw up a small fountain of tiny lights. They circled overhead, casting a warm glow over the two boys and the stream. Raiden deemed it was time to attack; Wyatt was as relaxed and unsuspecting as he was going to get.

He glanced at him, watching the way he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Wyatt was getting a tan. The sound of crickets could be heard faintly and small fireflies were coming to investigate the lights Wyatt had cast up, thinking they were potential mates.

"It wasn't an accident, you know," Raiden said abruptly. He kept looking at Wyatt.

"What wasn't?" Wyatt asked without opening his eyes.

"That kiss."

Wyatt turned his head slowly to look at Raiden. The eyes were dark in the faint light, but he could see they were still their secret color. "I don't know what you're talking about." He stood up and walked to where he'd left his shoes. Raiden stood as well.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Why are you ignoring it?"

Wyatt threw down his sneaker. "Why are _you_ talking about it? It's done, it's not going to happen again."

Raiden thought of how he'd worked at making Wyatt think just that over the past week. He ripped that notion away with a certain amount of relish. "Oh, it'll happen again, Wyatt."

Wyatt went still, looking closely at Raiden's face. "What, _kissing? _Me? But… I'm a boy."

Raiden raked his eyes along his friend's body. "So I noticed. Your point is?"

"Well… we just don't do that where I come from."

"You're kidding, right? Your world has gay rights activists, gay parades, gay TV programs, gay flags and God only knows what else. It most certainly is done where you come from."

Wyatt fidgeted. "I meant me, my house. My family. No one in my family does that."

"Well, we're not with your family or where you come from. We're here. With my family. And I can not help but notice that despite hearing me say I'm going to kiss you again, you're still here. What… no orbing away in fright?" Raiden gave a crooked grin.

Wyatt couldn't answer. And he was suddenly very warm.

Raiden shrugged. "If you don't want me to kiss you again, say so. Say, 'Raiden, I don't want you to kiss me ever again.' Go on."

Wyatt worked his mouth. "I-"

"Yeah?"

Wyatt grimaced. He didn't want Raiden to kiss him again, did he? He'd just been so scared and confused and… and ashamed. He'd liked it, and the touching, and the heat and he'd felt so horribly ashamed and guilty. Still, he'd never had thoughts about boys or kissing them or anything. Maybe it was hearing Raiden's fathers have sex every night, but he couldn't shake the feeling that if he was home with his family, he wouldn't have enjoyed it.

Which did not address the matter at hand. Raiden was waiting for an answer and Wyatt's mouth would not let the words pass his lips. For god's sake, all he had to do was say he didn't want to be kissed. Couldn't he even do that?

"You're not going to say anything?" Raiden asked. He measured the distance between them with his eyes. Three or four yards. "Then orb away." He took a step towards Wyatt's still form. Wyatt didn't move.

"I'm giving you a chance here, Wyatt."

He took another step.

"But if you won't tell me no…"

And another.

"And you won't orb away…"

Yet another.

"Then that means you want it too."

A final step. Raiden's shirt fluttered against Wyatt's in the breeze, he was standing so close to him. He looked into the sky blue eyes, at the face that was so serious… at the soft pink mouth. "Tell me you want me to kiss you, Wyatt." His voice was low, barely above a whisper. He could see the vein in Wyatt's throat beating quickly.

"Stop it," Wyatt whimpered.

"Stop what?" Raiden kept speaking in a whisper. "I'm not doing anything. Yet. Say it."

"I don't…"

"Don't what? Want me to move away?"

"No. I…"

Raiden let his breath ghost over Wyatt's lips. "You want me to kiss you. I know it. You know it. We both know it, so why fight it? Just say it."

Wyatt could not look away from those eyes. And he couldn't lie to himself about this. Maybe he hadn't wanted it before, but right now, in this dark forest, with his own magic hovering over them and the stream orchestrating soft background music, he did. He suddenly wanted it very much and it made him want to cry. He closed his eyes and whispered, "I want you to kiss me, Raiden."

Raiden's eyes did change then and, as Mr. Sasuke had suggested, Wyatt made the decision to face whatever happened next. He braced himself.

***

The excitement whirling inside him was almost too much to bear. Raiden didn't waste time, but leaned forward immediately and pressed his lips fully to Wyatt's, feeling everything inside him sing jubilantly. All the years they'd known each other, since birth almost, and _this _was what they really meant to each other. His kiss was enthusiastic, eager as he stepped into Wyatt and hugged his sides.

Wyatt was surprised to feel his guilt and shame melt away. All he felt was his normal feelings for Raiden, multiplied to something a thousand times greater. He actually smiled against Raiden's lips in relief, pulling himself closer to his solid body.

A few moments of pressing their lips together gave way to Wyatt opening his mouth. He did it on purpose, suddenly wanting more and knowing this was how his parents kissed. Raiden seemed amenable… he opened his mouth too, but things sort of got mixed up from there.

They didn't know what to do with their tongues. They slurped busily at each other, trying to make it right, yet knowing something was wrong. Raiden pulled back.

"That doesn't feel like how my dads' kissing looks."

Wyatt nodded. "It seems a lot harder than it I thought it would be. But… I liked it."

Even in the meager light, Raiden could see the blush. "I liked it too. Lets do it again."

They did. And again. And again. They did it until they managed to discover the way to move their tongues in unison, sucking and twisting their heads. Raiden's body, already hot from all the kissing, tingled low down in his belly. He felt his fangs coming out and Wyatt moaned against his mouth, aware of the fangs but not afraid this time.

They ended up on the ground, rolling and kissing. They clung to each other, this first discovery of their bodies completely taking over their minds, until Naruto yelled in angrily Raiden's head for him to get his ass home on the double.

After catching their breath for a few minutes, Raiden reluctantly folded them home.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: So, I have a few things to say in this note.

1. Next chapter will end Part 1 and be followed by a break. I need to hold off writing for this fic while I research for it, and work on a few oneshots and my original. I figure a year is good...just kidding. Idk how long...maybe ten days to a few weeks.

2. Kids are stupid. They do shit they think is right, even when we (as adults) know its not.

3. How do ppl track readers on this site to see who goes to their stories more than once?

4. please let me know if you've found my work in other sites or passed off as someone else's. Was reading about how that happens A LOT.

5. Yall might want to refresh your memories by reading ch 3 of New Bonds for the end of this chap.

That's it. Let me take a moment to say how much I love and appreciate you guys as my readers. I love your reviews, love that you keep reading and hope I can continue to deliver work you guys enjoy.

Peace! Hugs! Other sentimental crap!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 20

Things were very interesting in this world.

Well no, maybe not, since from what he could see of village life it was enough to bore him to tears, but for damn sure Naruto and Sasuke's family was very interesting. A few days ago, the patriarch of the Uchiha family, and someone he'd been personally dying to meet, came back to the village, livid with fury over having missed some enemy. "The treacherous whoreson escaped with clones and some reverse summoning jutsu. Damn him!" the man, Itachi, had sworn. "I will have his eyes. I swear it." And then he'd gone and begun a conversation with the daughters who were about to be married.

He'd spared a moment to appreciate the man's reiatsu, but knew better than to go back on his word and ask for a fight. Still, a guy could dream, right?

About those daughters. The day before Itachi came back, his lieutenant had come back from one of his training sessions with the black-haired daughter. Akiko? That was her name. Madarame came into the house in a sullen mood. He'd slumped down against the wall, grumpily examining his sword.

"You look like you finally lost against that girl," he'd said to the bald man.

Madarame snorted. "Taicho, I would never lose to the likes of her. Not a fight, anyway." His fifth seat had sighed dramatically then, making him tighten his lips in disgust. "But I've lost my heart. If only she wasn't-"

The door to the guest room had crashed open then to reveal none other than Akiko herself. She looked pissed. It made him grin. Pissed off people did some amusing shit. Sure enough, she leveled a finger at his lieutenant and said in furious tones, "No one walks out on me. I say when I've had enough." And then she'd reached out and snatched Madarame out of the room, out of the house. He could guess why his bald subordinate had had a stupid grin on his face ever since.

Probably the same reason Hitsugaya seemed like whatever stick that had been permanently up his ass had finally been yanked out. The diminutive captain went around with a faraway expression on his face until a certain green-eyed girl got off work. Then he would perk up and wait for her to come to the house. He invariably left with her and Kenpachi would hear him creep back into the house late at night.

And while he was on the subject of 'late at night'… The same night Madarame had been snatched, his hosts' son had materialized in the living room with that Wyatt kid, looking guilty as fuck. Naruto and Sasuke had eyed the two boys, the blush on their cheeks, the filth on their clothes, and exchanged a knowing glance. The next morning, he'd been in the kitchen while both men gave a lecture to the boys, who were sitting side by side on matching bar stools. Neither kid looked comfortable. In fact, they both looked like they wished a Hollow would appear and whisk them away.

"Sex," Naruto began, "is a natural thing between two people. It expresses your love for each other and-"

He'd listened while eating his breakfast. Raiden stared at the far wall, his face red, his mouth pursed to a tight little circle, nostrils flared. Wyatt's face shone with sweat, his hands gripping the material of his pants. His head was lowered, hiding his deep blush.

Sasuke had picked up where Naruto left off with a more technical discussion. "The blood then enters the penis, causing it to swell in preparation for copulation. At this point you might notice fluid leaking out of your-"

Raiden had made a strangled sound at that point. Wyatt had uttered a tiny, mortified scream and stammered something about missing a lesson with Lee-sensei. He orbed away. Naruto said that was strange, since Lee had given them the day off… then he turned his attention to his son. Raiden had groaned audibly in dread. He received the rest of the lecture by himself.

He'd gotten up and gone in search of his vice-captain, grinning openly as he passed the beset Raiden.

Try as he might, he could not get her to tell him what had scared her so badly. He'd had to threaten her with demotion before she opened up. And what she'd told him had been so intriguing…

"I've never seen anybody as powerful as she is, Ken-chan." Yachiru spoke in a whisper, watching the doorway as if afraid this mouse of a girl, Aimi, would enter and catch her words. "She's dangerous. To you. To all of us, but especially you."

By now he was completely captivated. _That _powerful?? "And why is that," he'd asked.

"She has a crush on you. She asked me all sorts of questions about you, your life, what you like and don't like. What makes you happy. She actually said she'd go against her fathers to fight you if it would make you happy. She said she was going to look for a sword."

He'd been shocked as well as… well… no, he'd just been shocked, mainly. Crush? He'd had to turn his head aside and snort. Girls didn't develop silly crushes about him. In the first place there were no girls in Soul Society. He sampled the women as he chose, but generally, he was seen as a brute. A few braver women approached him sometimes. They learned that he could be a considerate lover, if the mood was upon him. Most of the time it wasn't. He sought sex when the fights were lacking; he tended to be rough and he usually needed a long time to finish. A very long time. Few women could withstand him.

His interest caught, he'd begun watching her. And when he had, he found that she watched him, in turn, a great deal. She was very quiet, but clearly self-possessed, not afraid as he'd thought. And she was only quiet around him, his lieutenants and Hitsugaya. Around her family she was a laughing, shrieking chatterbox. He'd gone to the training grounds, hidden himself, and watched one of the sessions that seemed to kill Wyatt daily, but which she came home from as if she'd only been at the store picking up eggs.

Whoever this Lee-sensei was, he was a methodical, but stern taskmaster. He didn't hurt the children, but if you weren't born and bred to the lifestyle, you really didn't have a hope in hell of making it through a day with him. Wyatt repeatedly failed at one task or another, but he hadn't gone there to see him. He watched the only girl on the team with unsmiling concentration.

Heavy though she was, she was fast. And when Lee-sensei did individual matches, she was the only one who could endure his blows, dodge the kicks and win round after round of exuberant praise. He noticed that Lee did things with her that he didn't do with the boys. The boys were able to perform Kido (what they called Ninjutsu here). Even Wyatt did his version of it. But Aimi didn't. Still, she was able to counter them somehow, with her reiatsu.

He stood in the trees and let himself feel her reiatsu, really studying it professionally. She did not release anywhere near all of it, but what he could feel made his skin crawl pleasantly. It was like hovering on the brink of an orgasm, feeling her reiatsu. He wanted to see all of it, to know exactly what she was capable of.

To that end, he waited. He forced himself to wait a day. He continued to watch her around the house in such a manner that didn't raise suspicions from her parents (and _how_ two men had managed to have children was not something he cared to think about). She was just as quiet and shy as usual. He actually liked that; what he knew of children seemed to encompass a lot of noise and annoying jabber. When a day had passed, he approached her at night, when everyone was sleeping.

Yumichika had never come home after one of his walks. He learned his fifth seat was shacking up with one of the Uchiha brood. Madarame was being pursued by that wild girl he'd kissed, (Kenpachi had overheard this), and Hitsugaya was mysteriously absent. There was no one from his group, besides Yachiru, to see him rise from his pallet and ghost out of the guest room. Yachiru was sleeping soundly.

***

He knocked on her door softly, having made it his business to find out which room was hers beforehand. He didn't often come upstairs. He paused, while waiting for her to respond, to listen to sounds coming from opposite sides of the hall. From his left came the grunts, growls and wet sounds of his hosts' intense lovemaking. From his right and up another flight of stairs came the distant sound of Raiden and Wyatt giggling. These giggles were frequently interrupted by sighs and kissing sounds.

The knob on the door twisted slowly and one dark blue eye, lidded with sleep, peered up at him through the crack. He waited, but she did not ask what he wanted or invite him in. "Can I enter?" he finally said. He didn't think anybody would hear him, occupied as they all were, but still, he'd pitched his voice low.

She pulled the door wider, rubbing one eye with her fist. He entered, the bells in his hair jingling faintly. Once over the threshold, she closed the door softly. She stood against it and he stood across from her. He'd taken in his surroundings quickly – bed with the covers kicked aside, some books on a shelf, a desk, a hand-woven carpet depicting the Uzumaki whirlpool and the Uchiha fan – but now he just stared at her. He'd never really been up close to the girl.

He liked her looks. He would never say so, but Yachiru's pink femininity was sickening to look at. This girl's black hair and dark eyes went with the dark nature he suspected she harbored. Anyone with that much power had to have deep shadows in them. The hair was a thick mess sprouting from her head to fall to her elbows. It lay across one half of her face, leaving one eye to regard him unblinkingly.

"I want you to show me your power, the way you did for my vice-captain," he said at length.

She only nodded and came towards him. She had on a long night shirt that came to her knees. More of the whirlpool design on the front. She took his hand from where it lay by his side. Having heard Yachiru's account, he knew what to expect. Still, it was a strange sensation, to feel the atmosphere fold and ripple around him.

They were at the lip of a huge crater, somewhere in mountainous territory. The crater was so large that he couldn't see the other side of it. "What's this?" he asked. There was an unimpeded view of the night sky.

"This is where I showed your vice-captain my chakra. There used to be a mountain range here." Her voice was nice and low.

"What happened to it?"

"My chakra happened to it. I let it out all the way… well, I tried to. I had to stop after a few seconds, because of this, so I couldn't really let it _all _out. I just wanted you to understand why we have to Boom."

"Huh?"

She spoke patiently. "If I let all my chakra out, like you want, it will destroy stuff. I have to be somewhere where I can be sure I won't hurt people."

"Like where?"

"Another world. An empty one."

He'd been silent for a few moments, looking at the way moonlight gilded the inside of the crater. After awhile, he nodded. She took his hand again, and he briefly caught a flash of light surrounding them.

They came out in some barren, blasted place, but that was all he got to see before he stepped away from her. He closed his eyes, mastering his roiling stomach with a considerable effort of his will. Some of his evening meal made it up the back of his throat. He swallowed it down with a minor cough. Under control once more, he opened his eyes and turned.

Two moons hung in the sky, full and impossibly close. That was disorienting to look at. The landscape itself seemed to be nothing but rocks. Valleys and mountains of it, all one shade or another of peach.

She was staring at him. "This planet hasn't had life for a long time. I can sense it. It's a little smaller than my world… it has the same atmosphere, obviously, since we can breathe. Zaraki-sempai, you might need to release your own chakra if mine gets out of hand. To protect yourself. I'll try not to let my chakra burn you, but I've never done what I'm about to do."

He felt excitement rising in him, more than he'd felt in years. He lifted his eye patch, noticing how she didn't flinch at the towering inferno of his reiatsu exploding into the atmosphere. He let out every drop, unleashing himself the way he very rarely got a chance to. Such liberation… fuck, it was almost erotic. "Now you, girl."

And so she had. He realized two things before his mind shut down. One, his reiatsu was nowhere near the level of hers and, consequently, would do nothing of note if hers got out of hand. Two, she did protect him from her reiatsu or he would have went the way of the mountain range on her world. That was all he registered. The rest of the time his mouth was open in worshipful awe.

Time passed where they bonded through the unleashing of their power. He sensed her joy in the act, in the destruction, and his joy mirrored hers, matched it. It was a dark joy.

The land they were standing on vanished on contact with her reiatsu. She kept them hovering in the air with some mental ability she had. He could feel where it pressed firmly against his body, like invisible bands. Every other thing that had mass was similarly obliterated. Her hair flew around her head in a tangled black cloud, her eyes were yellow. He'd watched in naked wonder as whatever world they were on was eaten in an ever-widening circle. They were inside some bubble of light she created as space itself became visible, then surrounded them. Her reiatsu bled away in the void of black, and all that was left was them, floating, in her bubble of light.

Of the planet, there was perhaps a third of it left. Knocked off its orbit by the force of her power, it sailed lazily away from them, a misshapen hunk of rock, no more.

Whatever air she'd retained in the bubble was growing thin as he panted. They hung in space, stars around them, the two moons right there… she grabbed his hand weakly and the bubble flashed.

They were back on her world. This time at the bottom of the crater. The sides loomed around them, creating the illusion that they were in the nest of some huge beast.

She was slumped against him, nearly unconscious. He supported her, sat down cross-legged, and let her head rest on his knee.

He set his sword by his side and lost himself in thought.

What would it be like to fight her? Happy and quiet creature that she was, he knew, without being told, that she was made to fight. There was something implacable about her, something… kindred. There was violence in her, he suspected. Great, unplumbed wells of it. If he could tap into that violence, have it fueled with her frighteningly strong reiatsu… he would have the fight of his life on his hands.

He coveted her.

Or what she could give him. Endless fun and excitement, endless _battles. _

But he would be going back to his world soon… or at some point in the future. He doubted the girl's fathers would allow her to visit. And he was not about to let her slip from his grasp. That he was going to have her and keep her was without doubt… he just didn't know how to go about that yet.

She had a crush on him. That's what his vice-captain said. This was significant information, but he could not immediately see how it was significant. It teased at the corners of his mind, just out of reach.

He hated thinking deeply. She stirred on his knee and he nudged her roughly. "Oi. Wake up, I want to talk to you."

She sat up groggily. Releasing her reiatsu like that had probably exhausted her. She sat on her heels in front of him her hands in her lap, looking at him calmly. Had he not heard her speak, he would have thought her a mute. No child he'd ever seen was capable of such immobility, such control of their flapping tongues. Whatever.

"Talk to me," he said gruffly. "Of yourself. What do you think about when you're alone?" He needed a complete picture of her.

"You."

He grunted. "Before I came here, what did you think about?"

A thoughtful silence. "My brother. His problems, Akatsuki com-"

He waved a hand dismissively. "No, I'm not interested in that shit. Nothing about your family or people you know. The real you. Deep inside. What are your desires?"

"I don't understand."

He could see that she didn't. "Secrets. Do you have any? Tell me something about you that no one knows."

Her eyes wandered away from his face, looking aside as she thought. He noticed a small smile form on her lips and he'd thought, _Ah, there. Whatever she's about to tell me, it'll be something delicious. _He couldn't explain it, but there was something sinister in that smile and he approved wholeheartedly.

"I like violence," she said slowly, almost shyly. "I like when I'm in a fight and I-" she looked at him quickly, not sure if she should continue.

"You can tell me. Your secrets are safe with me," he urged. He was nearly panting to hear the rest. "More importantly, you should learn to accept yourself."

She nodded and relaxed her shoulders. "Well, I was going to say that I like it when I get to hurt people. Not nice people, but bad people. People who hurt others. I like… their blood. Their screams."

He studied her. "Your parents don't seem like the type to let you get into many fights. And that wild brother of yours seems protective of you."

"Well… no, Daddy and Papa wouldn't let me get into too many fights. But they don't know about them. Sometimes, at night, I fold to other places where there are bad people and…" She shrugged, leaving the rest unsaid.

He understood. "I bet every once in awhile, something inside you needs it, neh? You need those fights, don't you girl."

Aimi smiled in relief at being understood. "Yes. I do. But my Daddy would be horrified and my Papa would probably just be mad. Kyuubi understands, but he doesn't like me much."

"Kyuubi?"

"The demon in my daddy. When I was small, inside my daddy still, I thought Kyuubi was my parent. He was right there, inside with me, and his thoughts and memories were so much fun. His… The things he did. He loves destruction and violence. When I was in his thoughts, it was like I was right there with him, doing those things. I felt how much he liked doing those things, and I liked it too. He's strong, like me. But Kyuubi hates me, I think because I'm part Uchiha. I did some things to him before I was born, playing with my Sharingan. After, when I was born, I couldn't really talk to him anymore… but I know he would understand why I do what I do."

And so did Kenpachi. She was more the demon's child, and the child of the side of Sasuke that was a monster, than she was Naruto and Sasuke's daughter. She was violence and destruction herself, wrapped up in a happy little girl. He wondered if anyone in her family really understood her. Probably not. She was well-loved, well-cared for… but her silent nature likely stemmed from feeling somewhat apart from them. Though, now that he considered it, Sasuke was kind of on the moody side sometimes.

What interested him the most was how like himself she was. She took pleasure in fighting, something very few people outside of Madarame and Yachiru truly understood about him. If she were a little older-

He gasped as the significance of her feelings hit him at last. Now he knew how he could keep her. He thought it over, watching how she stared at him. If he understood everything correctly, and she really was more demon than human, her 'crush' on him might actually be her recognition of a mate. He freely admitted that, short of one of these demon Akatsuki coming along, he was likely the strongest male she would ever meet. He took a moment to quiet his excitement and feel her out with his own sharp senses. Yes, it was there. An attraction to her that had nothing to do with love or sex, but was a recognition of power. She probably wasn't far off from flowering to full maturity. This crush could arguably be the onset of puberty. Whether or not he was meant to be with her, he didn't know or care. He wanted her.

But first…

"You're very young and I'm very old. You are too young for me to have you yet, but when you're older you will be mine. Yachiru has already told me of your feelings for me, so I don't expect any resistance from you. Now. Take us back."

She stared at him. "Yours?"

"Yes. Mine. My woman."

He expected her to display some form of happiness, the way women did when men made such pronouncements.

Her eyes turned first red, then yellow. A low rumbling emitted from her, shaking the ground where he sat. What the fuck-?

"You don't own me." Her voice held a power it hadn't had before.

He wondered briefly how she was able to affect sound waves like that, that her growl could shake the earth, but he forgot it to address her statement. "I don't own you yet, but once you have a few years on you, I'll be claiming you properly, in every way you can think of. It's a done deal. I'll speak to your parents about it, if you doubt me. No one is going to stop me from having you."

"I might stop you. My brother will definitely stop you if I tell him to. Did you forget he or I can kill you easily?"

No he hadn't. He grabbed her by a fistful of her night shirt and hauled her face to his. He suddenly realized that he'd gone all this time without his patch covering his eye. She wasn't bothered at all by his reiatsu. "I'll take that chance," he said with a grin. "Kill me, though, and you'll never know what it's like to be a woman in my arms. I said you're mine and that's that. I'll wait for you to ripen." He shoved her away from him.

She caught herself and stood up, pouting. After a moment, she grabbed his hand and they were in the living room of her house. She left him to go silently up the stairs to her room. He stood there in the empty room, thinking over all he'd experienced that night. He'd chuckled to himself and headed off to sleep.

* * *

Itachi, for once, was not approaching Gaara for sex. The Kazekage asked if he was all right. After receiving a slanted glance in answer, Gaara left him to his thoughts.

He'd been an idiot, Itachi chided himself. Chasing Kabuto as if his life depended on it, and for what? The man had gotten away in the end. Catching him would be simple, he realized. All he needed to do was have Raiden or Aimi pull the bastard from wherever he was hiding and that would be that. Such wonderful children Sasuke had bred for the clan.

That decided, Itachi put Kabuto completely out of his mind. There were more interesting things to think about.

He'd returned to the village to find Sasuke housing some fascinating people. Apparently, when he and Naruto had gone in search of Raiden and Aimi after he'd… kicked them out (Itachi shifted uncomfortably), they'd met these people on their world. Itachi quite loved them on sight, a rare reaction for him, and one he did not display openly at all.

They were all, save one, strong and healthy men. And they were interested in his girls.

Well some of them were. The one called Hitsugaya had Asami smiling and joyful with his quiet and serious ways. He didn't know what the white-haired youth did, other than listen to Asami talk, but whatever it was, Itachi approved. And it was clear the interest was returned. He did not misjudge the long stares those turquoise eyes gave Asami. Itachi had discreetly asked Hitsugaya how old he was. He'd been given an answer that widened the Uchiha's eyes.

And Madarame Ikkaku! A blessing. A true blessing. Itachi pursed his lips in pleasure just thinking about him. The man was a wild animal of aggression. That was wonderful. He was interested in one of his girls. That, too, was wonderful. The man had taken his bisexual daughter and firmly turned her sights towards him. That was so far beyond wonderful that Itachi didn't have the words to express just what it was. The gleam of possession in Ikkaku-san's eyes, the way he was currently playing hard to get with his daughter… it was enough to make Itachi want to kiss the man's feet. The man had tamed Akiko to his hand quite nicely. He expected to be approached for her hand in marriage soon. Itachi would of course agree, after proper negotiations.

Shouta. The boy was probably too young to beget children yet… no, wait. His voice had changed recently, so maybe not. But that pink-haired girl was too young to conceive, surely. That relationship would have to wait. Itachi conveniently chose not to think of how Shouta repeatedly ran away from Yachiru.

Itachi briefly considered Kenta's liaison with that feather-eyed freak. He moved on.

Kenpachi. It was too bad Sumiko and Hiroko were taken. An excellent son-in-law he would have made.

He got up from the chair he'd been sitting in and went in search of his children. He wanted to see how the wedding plans were coming. Both ceremonies were only a few days away.

* * *

Akiko made her report to the captain before stalking off towards home. She lived in a perpetual rage these days. She grouched and snapped at everyone. Akane and Asami's happiness only made it worse, making her long to slit their throats.

It was all that bald bastard's fault, she thought angrily. Curse the day she'd ever laid eyes on him!

She'd gone right after him that time he'd left her in the forest, only to find him sitting on his ass at uncle Sasuke's house. She'd hauled him out of there, down a few lanes in the compound and stopped at a modest one-story house, currently unoccupied. Ikkaku had wrenched his arm away, looking at her warily.

"You," she'd said. "You know nothing about me to say I have too much baggage. Who do you think you are, kissing me and leaving like that?"

He'd frowned at her. "I'm confused. Are you mad because I left or because you want more kissing?"

"Both!"

That had shocked him. He hadn't expected her to be so upfront about her feelings. "I see. And what do you expect me to do about it?"

Was he dense? Here she was saying she wanted more kissing. Why wasn't he pouncing on the opportunity? All men wanted to have someone willing to submit to their attentions. She made a rude sound. "I expect you to… you know, continue."

He'd had to bite his tongue to keep from grinning. One kiss and she'd fallen. He took a moment to stare off at the twilit sky, letting her stew.

It could be that she was just enjoying the novelty of having a man kiss her. When he wasn't fighting her, he'd made inquiries around, trying to find out about her. He'd discovered that if she was associated with the opposite sex, it was usually some younger male. He didn't want her interest in him, if there was any, to stem from whatever issues she had regarding her sister's rape. He wanted her to really want him, for himself.

He turned back to her. She'd crept closer to him, her face flushed and gorgeous. "I don't think I will. I wouldn't want to add to your fear of men." He said this in a solicitous manner that he could tell infuriated her to no end.

"It won't."

"Well, how can you be sure?"

"Because… you kissing me would help me get over the fear," she said awkwardly. "Now kiss me!"

He affected a hurt expression. "So you would use my feelings for you against me?"

She stamped her foot, screaming between her clenched teeth. Now that he thought about it, that flush might not be from anger. Had he gotten her too hot and bothered and now she wanted relief? The thought seemed to be an accurate one, when he dropped his eyes to the thin top she wore. She'd taken off her vest at some point before reaching him. Her nipples were hard little points. And she was shaking.

Well. That was different. Still, he would not let this slip of a girl manipulate him into servicing her. He waited for an answer.

Akiko watched in disbelief as he was content to stand there staring at her. She should be fighting off his dick by now. "What kind of man are you," she screeched. Her voice was shrill in the still compound.

He didn't answer her. She stalked away from him, punching the side of the little house, which happened to be her own. After a while she turned back to him. "What do you want from me? You called me beautiful. Why did you kiss me if you don't want to do it again?"

The lost and confused tone of her honestly bewildered questions tugged at his heart. Gloriously violent girl that she was, she had much to learn. "Maybe I want to know you."

"Wha-" she cut her impatient whine off, arranging her features to a more mature expression. "You asked me to go out with you. Fine. I accept."

He'd smiled. "Good. We can go now if you like."

She'd agreed.

That had been days ago. Not once, during all that time, had he kissed her again. They went out every night after she got off work. She talked about every topic under the sun and he listened, enthralled by what she considered boring crap. Then he would talk, describing Soul Society, his life, past battles. She had to admit, his world sounded fascinating. And the battles he'd survived were highly interesting. She asked questions and he answered. He asked and she answered. Sometimes he touched her hair, which made her shiver. Once she'd touched his arm.

And afterwards, she'd go home, lock herself in the bathroom, and masturbate savagely until she came. She would envision his body, remember his kiss, how it had felt to be held off the ground by him…

She couldn't understand it. He wasn't even handsome, though he wasn't ugly either. His voice was cocky, his smile too smug most of the time. But his strength excited her terribly, and she longed to have that bald head rubbing all over her.

***

They'd stopped their sparring matches, so she didn't have that to look forward to as she stomped her way into the house. She was about to head upstairs and shower when a presence that shouldn't be there caught her attention. She stopped, listening to the silent house.

It was dark. She knew Akane was probably 'working late' with Ibiki, and Asami was off with Hitsugaya. She should have the place to herself.

She prowled noiselessly through the downstairs rooms. Her kunai slipped into her hand just as quietly.

He was sitting at the kitchen table, in the dark, eating from a tub of ice-cream he'd likely found in the freezer. He sucked a mouthful from his spoon as he looked up at her silent entry. "Asami let me in before she left. Hope you don't mind?"

She sheathed her kunai, reaching to flip on the lights. "What are you doing here?"

"Leave the lights off," Ikkaku said. "Why I'm here? Got tired of playing games. You really are too desirable to keep away from, you know."

And before she could ask what that meant, he was gone from the chair, crowding her against the fridge as he kissed her roughly. She whimpered in need as the arousal that constantly simmered below the surface these days flashed up to swallow her whole. His mouth was cold at first, tasting of butterscotch ice-cream. She dropped her mask that she'd been holding and threw her arms around his neck, using his bald head to give herself leverage as she pulled herself up against him. His six feet dwarfed her but she managed to climb him so that he got a hand under her and then she was safely anchored against the fridge by his weight.

More. She needed more of his delicious tongue, dear God, she couldn't get enough of him! She made growling sounds as she let him dictate the kiss; how hard, how slow, how long… she gloried in it, in the way he did what he wanted with her. And yet he liked it when she got wild, she could tell. She rubbed her palms over and over his sexy dome, making him shudder uncontrollably. He hoisted her higher, his tongue down her throat, eating her face viciously. And still she wanted more.

Her breasts ached where they were flattened against his chest, and her pussy burned and wept where his hard stomach pressed into it. She ground herself against him, pulling at his shoulders, his head, his face… she punched him on his back, needing more from him and not getting it.

Ikkaku quite understood. He just hadn't thought she would welcome the full brunt of his desire.

Keeping her in place with his hips, he leaned back and ripped her vest and shirt off. Her small breasts jounced from this treatment. He lifted her by her armpits and latched on to one dark peak, suckling strongly.

She screamed, digging her nails into his scalp as her body quaked in his grasp. He walked with her to the kitchen table and dropped her onto it, tipping the thing dangerously for a moment with her weight. The table slammed back onto all four legs and Ikkaku released her breast long enough to snatch her pants off of her, taking her shoes with it. She was naked, reaching for him, not giving him a chance to look his fill. "Please," she begged. "Oh, please!"

He sucked two fingers briefly, before shoving them deep inside her, catching her hiss of pain with his mouth. She was unbelievable tight. Not a virgin, but close enough that it made no difference. He supported her with an arm behind her back as he frigged her fast and hard. Her inner muscles sucked hotly on his fingers, making little wet sounds.

Akiko turned from his kiss to bite his shoulder, trying to keep another scream in, trying to keep from losing her mind. Whether by accident or by virtue of whatever experience he had, his fingers curved upward, hitting her sweet spot dead on. Pleasure built in her in a crescendo of painful intensity, her muscles locking and tightening in preparation. Ikkaku was about to find out very shortly-

"What the hell-?" he grunted in surprise.

That she was a squirter.

Scalding liquid shot out of her pussy in a high-powered stream, drenching his arm to the elbow and splattering the floor in a flood. He pulled his hand out of her, looking at her face. "Don't stop," she gasped. The aftershocks were wracking her body so that the words came out jagged and disjointed.

Ikkaku had heard of this happening to some women but had never been fortunate enough to bed one who was capable of it. He quickly shed his clothing, sucking her juice from his fingers, before plunging them into her dripping cavern again. He started off slow, making sure to note the exact location this time, drawing out the buildup until she cursed him furiously, her eyes red and dangerous. He stopped teasing her, moving his hand the way she wanted.

It came quicker this time. He was ready. He bent and let her gush hotly all over his head, grinning and moving his head in a circle to get all of it. "Haha, yeah!" he growled. "Come all over me, baby. Soak me with it!"

The aftershocks lasted longer this time, making her sob brokenly as she writhed on the table. Her fluids dripped onto the floor and off of Ikkaku. He watched her a moment, enjoying her pleasure as if it were his own. Then he bent again and rubbed his bald head strongly on her twitching nether lips, feeling them spread open on him.

"Ahhhh! Oh, yes!" she cried.

He rubbed and massaged her labia, loving the feel of her wet heat, the bud of her clitoris on his head. He pressed with just the right amount of pressure and soon she was coming again, though she didn't squirt this time. The way those hairless pink lips fluttered on his scalp had him rearing up and quickly positioning himself at her core.

Akiko supported herself weakly on her hands. She was trembling, her body still jerking from her latest orgasm. She saw him grab his member and she let out a gasp. "No." It was thick and, to her eyes, long. His cock was slightly curved upward. She tried to close her legs but he blocked her with his body. "No," she said again. "No!"

Ikkaku let go of his organ long enough to gather her close. He made shushing noises against her sweaty hair, her naked body absolutely heavenly against his. "Okay. I'll wait a bit, but honestly woman, you're not a virgin."

"But that thing is huge!" she whispered against his shoulder. "It will hurt."

"And then it will feel good. I promise. Please, Akiko…" He kissed her, silencing her protests. She moaned, kissing him back hungrily, tasting her juices on his mouth. His fingers twisted her nipples sharply, making her scream in lust, the sensation shooting down to her clit.

Ikkaku kissed his way down her body until his head was between her thighs again. He covered her small wet pussy with his mouth, sucking insistently, making her arch her back and cover her own mouth with a hand. She shouted something unintelligible behind that hand, her thighs jittering on the table as he pushed his tongue as deep inside her as it would go. He slid it back and forth a few times before fastening his mouth onto her clit and sucking as he slid two fingers inside her again. This time she came almost immediately, making his ears ring with her shriek. He opened his mouth wide, catching the sweet liquid until his cheeks bulged with it. He straightened up and spat it all over her quivering body, making sure he got her face and hair.

Akiko gasped at the spray, but then he was kissing her again. She felt him nudging at her entrance with his cock and tried to protest again. God, but just him touching her there with it had her afraid.

"You're killing me, Akiko," He hissed against her mouth. "I want you, I love you-"

She squeezed him hard around his chest, burying her face in his neck. He stroked her back, her come squelching between their bodies. He murmured another plea and she broke. It wasn't like she didn't want him, too. "Okay," she whispered.

He reared back and positioned himself, holding his rock hard cock steady as he wrapped an arm behind her, pulling her to the edge of the table. He held her hips steady, pressing through her slick walls with difficulty.

"Uhh… Ikkaku…" She tensed her muscles, bracing as if for a blow.

Ikkaku grit his teeth, using every ounce of control he possessed not to ram into her sweltering passage. He eased forward, stopping after every inch to give her time to adjust. He stared at where her tight pink hole, previously almost invisible, was now stretched wide around his girth. Her nails dug into his arms, her entire face clenched tight in pain. "I'm sorry," he gasped. "I'm so sorry."

He jerked her hips forward, sinking himself to the hilt in her hot little sheath. She opened her mouth to let out another scream, but he silenced her with another kiss, holding still and giving her time. Giving them both time. Her tight vise had him close to coming. He breathed his way back to a semblance of control as she sniffed against his chest.

"Ouch," she said forlornly. "Your dick is way too big and hard. Please hurry up and finish so you can take it out." She hiccupped again, trembling in his arms.

Ikkaku nodded, regretful that she wouldn't enjoy it, but he couldn't stop now. He lifted her in his palms, distributing her weight in his hands as he moved her slowly up and down his straining length. His head fell back as she immediately came again, gushing around him and putting hard pressure on his cock. She cried out weakly, clawing at his shoulders, but at least it eased his passage within her, slicking her writhing inner walls so that his veiny erection was able to move smoothly.

The way she constantly came and squeezed his cock with her strong inner muscles drove him wild. He spread his legs, increasing the pace and force of his up and down motion of her hips. The faster he moved, the higher her screams became and she climaxed again and again, her come spraying out of her to cascade down his legs and splash up his chest with each downward slam. They were soaked, both of them, and soon she was telling him not to stop, not to ever stop. She was crazed, biting him, licking his face, sucking his neck and rubbing his head.

Her hands on his head did it for him. He doubted if she knew just how sensitive it was or what a turn on it was when she rubbed it. He gave one more downward slam of her hips, causing her to shriek her loudest yet as he emptied repeatedly into her convulsing body. He yelled himself, arched as his balls seemed to take forever to pump out his seed.

After, when he carried her upstairs to the huge bed she shared with her sisters, he wondered how long they would have together before the enemies showed up. He tucked her in, brushed her hair from her sleeping face and paused as he looked down at her. He'd never had a woman so wild or so loud. He wondered if she could ever love him. He hoped so, because he was head over heels in love with her.

* * *

"Oh beautiful, Wyatt-san! Your stride is beautiful! Keep going! You have found your motivation at last!"

Lee praised Wyatt to the skies as he ran the ten miles without stopping. Indeed, Wyatt had found his motivation and it was summed up in one word: Raiden.

Since that day in the forbidden forest, they'd kissed a lot. Whenever they were alone and could manage it, in fact. Wyatt found himself imbued with new strength and energy these days, feeling as if he could lift mountains and run forever. It showed in his training with Lee-sensei. While nowhere near the level of his team mates, he at least didn't shame the Halliwell name the way he had been doing. He could do the ten miles, though it was still extremely painful. He could perform the katas, if not spar with anyone. And today his kunai had sailed almost all the way to the tree twenty feet away from him, instead of falling after five feet the way it usually did.

He got through his days by thinking of when he and Raiden could be alone. When Lee-sensei dismissed them today, he didn't wait for Aimi. He orbed directly to Raiden's room, where the other boy was waiting.

***

Raiden dropped the manga he was reading and sat up on his bed. Wyatt fell on top of him, kissing every part of his face that he could find. Raiden welcomed him, wrapping his arms around the sweaty boy and rolling so Wyatt was pinned beneath him on the bed. Raiden picked his head up to look down at him. "Missed you, Angel."

"I missed you too." Wyatt scrunched his nose at the use of his new nickname.

That was it for awhile, as Raiden initiated the kiss this time. They'd gotten better at it; Raiden tilted his head expertly, his mouth fitting neatly against Wyatt's open one as they suckled lingeringly on each other's tongues. They held each other tightly and the now-familiar feel of tingling heat had them sweating.

Raiden had never felt anything like it. His prick, still immature, was nevertheless able to achieve a state of almost complete readiness. His balls ached furiously whenever the thing rubbed on Wyatt's slightly more mature erection. He ached everywhere, actually, his body needing and straining towards something, though it was as yet unable to accomplish it.

Wyatt frequently cried quietly during these kisses, the feelings he had for Raiden too large and painful not to. Raiden would kiss the tears away, kiss Wyatt harder and hold him as if he never meant to let go. This time, he stopped kissing Wyatt to look down into his swimming eyes. "What is it?"

At first Wyatt, didn't answer. He just shook his head, taking one hand from where Raiden grasped it to wipe his face. He pushed and Raiden sat up, frowning as he became alarmed. If Wyatt said he was leaving…

"I can't…" Wyatt swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut. "I can't do this."

"Do what?" Raiden felt as if something were inside him, trying to kill him.

"Raiden… your Dad came to me yesterday and said I need to think about leaving soon."

"What?! That motherf-"

"He said he knows you won't do it unless the suggestion comes from me… but I can't. I can't, Raiden, I can't be away from you." Wyatt covered his face after this admission. He hadn't meant to say it so plainly.

Raiden felt the thing inside him loosen in relief. He scooted over to Wyatt and enveloped him in the tightest hug Wyatt's body could stand. He pressed his cheek to Wyatt's, feeling his arms hug him in turn. "I'm not taking you back. I'm glad you brought this up because… I, uh… I've been meaning to ask if you could live here, Wyatt. Forever. I know life is hard here and there aren't any cars or-"

Wyatt leaned back. "You mean it? I can stay?"

"I mean it," Raiden's eyes held Wyatt's. "I want you to stay."

"Forever?"

"Forever."

Wyatt dropped his head. Grimaced as if in pain… because he was in pain. "I love you, Raiden. I mean… I really love you."

Raiden's eyes went wide. But now that it was out in the open… "I love you too, Wyatt. I always have."

"It hurts. A lot." Wyatt grabbed at his chest.

"I know."

"Sometimes I don't think I can take it."

"Me either."

"Don't send me away. Not ever."

"I won't."

"Swear?"

"I swear."

"Promise it."

"I promise. I'll never send you away."

"I mean, I might want to visit my family, but you have to come with me and bring me right back when I'm done."

"Okay."

"Raiden…"

"What?"

"… Nothing."

"No, say it."

"No… it's just… I want… you."

"You have me. I'm here."

"No, I mean…"

"What?"

"You know… what your parents were… saying?"

Raiden's breath stopped for a few seconds. "S-sex?" he whispered.

"Yeah… no. I don't know. I just feel like I want more of you when we're kissing. And right now…"

Raiden trembled in Wyatt's grasp as the older boy guided his hand down to his crotch. Raiden left his hand on his friend's erection, suddenly scared shitless. Things were skating too fast out into unknown territory; this was more than kissing. This was something with the words '_Forbidden_' and '_Adult_' and '_Dangerous_' stamped all over it in huge letters.

"Wyatt… I'm… not ready for sex," he squeaked. His tremors increased. "I still think it's kind of gross."

Wyatt snorted a laugh that sounded half like a sob. "So do I… I'm not ready either. I meant… you know. Touching. Here." He gave Raiden's hand a squeeze where it sat on his hardness.

"Oh."

"I do it in the bathroom sometimes. And think about… about you."

"Oh?"

"Sometimes I have dreams about you. You're touching me in the dreams."

"Oh… I see."

"It feels good, Raiden."

"The way you ran after I kissed you the first time, I never would have thought you did those things." And he could not believe his timid friend was being aggressive in this matter. Was this really Wyatt?

"Well, it was after the first kiss that I started. Before, I just used to do it to thoughts of girls."

"Oh." Raiden was forcibly reminded of the fact that Wyatt was a year older, going on fourteen soon. He might be weaker physically, and nothing like the boys in his acquaintance, but his body was more mature. And he was starting to make demands… Raiden needed to step up his game here.

"Okay… we can touch if you want."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"We don't have to if you don't want to."

Raiden gratefully pulled his hand back. "Okay."

"Kiss me some more. And say you love me again."

Raiden did these things. He liked doing them, finding that Wyatt was an incredibly tactile person when he wasn't trying to ignore his feelings. He'd always been touchy, but now that he and Raiden were sharing what they really felt, it was magnified exponentially.

He crept into Raiden's bed at night, or let Raiden climb into his. They would hug and kiss and rub each other's limbs gently. Sometimes they lay together, cheek to cheek, listening to Raiden's parents bring the house down with their lovemaking. The sounds sent shivers of excitement through both boys and many were the times that they kissed to this violent accompaniment.

After awhile Wyatt pulled back, breathing hard. He rested his head on Raiden's shoulder. "What will your parents do when they find out you won't send me back?"

"Kick my ass bloody. Scream till I'm deaf. Then they'll probably get Aimi to do it."

"What will you do?"

"I'm on it. She thinks I don't know she's into that Kenpachi dude. Or the fact that she Booms like every other night. I don't know why she thinks I can't sense when she uses her chakra."

"So…?"

"Blackmail, plain and simple. As bad as Pop and Dad will light into me for bucking them like I'm about to, it will be nothing when or if I tell them what she's been doing."

"Won't she be angry at you for blackmailing her?"

"Probably."

"Raiden… you'll be going against your whole family for me. I don't want them to hurt you."

"You're forgetting that I can heal. Don't worry. It'll be rough, but I'll tough it out. But, uh… if my Pop puts me in a Genjutsu, or Aimi does, orb me away quickly. Then summon Hiroshi or Asuma. Or Shouta, to break me out, okay?"

Wyatt had been introduced to these boys some days ago. "Okay."

They stopped talking, just sitting in each other's arms. It was the safest, most wonderful place to be, in both boys' estimation.

* * *

Aimi let herself into her room and found him sitting on her bed. He wasn't doing anything but polishing his sword with one of her bandanas. She wondered how he dared come into her room with her parents in the house… it wasn't even nighttime.

That night she'd spent with him, showing him her chakra… it had scared her. Badly. He scared her, and she found the feeling irresistibly interesting. She'd never, to her knowledge, felt fear before. Not like this. The time Raiden had gone berserk in his dream and killed their parents, she'd been afraid. Sort of. But not like this. She had quaked inwardly at the things Kenpachi said, feeling threatened even though, as she'd said, she could kill him easily. She wouldn't and they both knew it.

She'd lain awake until morning that night, wondering why he had 'claimed' her and what it meant to be a woman in his arms. She felt sure it meant something besides hugging. She didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted to be around his power, wanted to be his and now he wanted her. She'd thought her heart would shred to pieces with the intensity of her feelings…

His statement that she belonged to him had rankled. Afterwards (days later, actually, when she had herself under firm control again) she was able to think properly. She would go with him, but he wouldn't own her. No one, ever, anywhere, would own her. The idea of it was just… abhorrent. Oh, but she wanted him so much! She wondered what they would do together that he said he had to wait till she was older. She hoped it included fighting. That was really all she could think about when she thought about wanting him. Being with him so she could feel his power.

She didn't like him coming into her room unannounced. "You don't belong in here," she said now.

"Let's get something straight between us," Kenpachi said with a grin. "For all intents and purposes, you belong to me. I-"

Aimi hit him with a hard Genjutsu. What surprised her was how he used his chakra to resist it.

Kenpachi grunted, his head snapping back. She was in his mind, that much he could tell, and she was attempting to wrest control from him… He called up his reiatsu in defense, outraged that she would think to violate his being this way.

Aimi staggered back, shocked to speechlessness at how he'd broken her Genjutsu with the sheer force of his chakra. He stood up angrily, sheathing his blade with a sharp snap. He came to her, where she cowered against her door. She thought he was going to slap her. She shoved him telepathically as hard as she could, sending him crashing through the far wall of her bedroom, to land in the backyard. Almost instantly, she wrenched open her door and ran.

* * *

Hiroko sat in her living room, alone and lonely. This was the last day of the vacation Konohamaru had arranged for them. He hadn't come back since the day he'd slammed out of her – their – house. She hadn't seen him around the village, either, but then, she hadn't ventured far beyond her house.

Her father had come back and looked at her with disgust. She'd managed to wait until she got home, before dissolving into tears. Akane had told her brothers the full story and some of them, like Kaito, Kenji, Juro and Yukio, were outraged that she could betray her village the way she did. Hiroto said nothing, standing by her, but she could tell she'd really disappointed him.

Kenta was caught up with Yumichika, who was now staying with him, so he didn't really have much to say about his sister's situation. Kenji had been forced to move in with Hiroto, who protested vehemently. He wanted to know why Kenji couldn't live in his own perfectly available house. Kenji had made some noise about never having lived alone.

Shouta only shrugged, keeping an eye out for the human shadow he'd developed. Hiroko overheard him telling Su that he had nightmares about Yachiru.

***

A ripple in the air had her glancing up. Aimi appeared, looking frightened. She wrung her hands in agitation, looking at Hiroko.

"Aimi?" She set her mug of tea aside, unfolding her legs to come over to her young cousin. "What's wrong? Is everything all right?" She rested a hand on Aimi's shoulder.

"No," Aimi shook her head frantically. "I think I'm in trouble."

"How so?"

Aimi told of Kenpachi, making Hiroko's heart melt with how sweet this first romance was. She listened to the way they'd gone out one night, of how Aimi had told him a secret and showed him her power. When Aimi got to the part about what Kenpachi had said, Hiroko stopped her.

"He said that to you?" Hiroko asked sharply. "Just like that? About being a woman in his arms?"

Aimi nodded emphatically. "But I don't care about that. I don't know what it means, but I don't care. Just now he was in my room and I put a Genjutsu on him, a strong one… Hiroko, he broke out of it easily! Nobody _ever _breaks out of my Genjutsus, not even you. What does it mean?"

Hiroko thought that was the least of the girl's worries. She looked at Aimi's wide eyes as she thought. "From what I understand of these visitors," she said slowly, "they are hundreds, or in Kenpachi's case, perhaps thousands of years old. That is a long time to learn how to use one's chakra effectively. And his is exceptionally strong, Aimi. I doubt anyone could put a Genjutsu on him unless it was a collective effort. Not even you." Aimi dropped her head and Hiroko reached a hand to lift her chin, forcing eye-contact. "I'm the last person to give you advice on boys or men, but I don't think you should hang around this guy, Aimi. What he said to you was inappropriate and him being in your room does not sound right. The way he says you belong to him-"

"But I love him! I do belong to him!"

Hiroko frowned. "Honey, you're too young to know what love is. Love is a bitter, painful thing that endures, even when you hate the person. Even when they hurt you, you love them. You know nothing of that," she said to Aimi's thoughtful face. But she did. And she realized that she was tired of being married and alone. She stood, pulling Aimi up by her hand. "I'll walk you home. I want you to seriously reconsider spending time around this Kenpachi, Aimi. Has he touched you?"

"Of course. I told you we-"

"Has he touched you inappropriately?"

"Like how?"

"On your privates. Or kissed you. Has he?"

Aimi yanked her hand from Hiroko's. "Of course not! Who would do such a thing? Only big people like my daddies do that. I would _never _let anybody touch me like that. That's sex!"

"Not quite, but I'm glad you have that attitude. If he tries to touch you, Aimi-"

"Ugh! I would never _ever-_"

"All right," Hiroko cooed, trying to soothe the outraged girl. Aimi's eyes were turning yellow, and there was a bit of white near the crown of her head. "All right, I understand. Just… keep what I said in mind."

***

Aimi walked beside her in wounded silence, as she led the way back to her uncle's house. Sasuke himself opened the door. He ruffled Aimi's hair as she passed him. Hiroko glanced around and found no one immediately nearby. She tugged her uncle out onto the porch, shutting the door softly. "What's up?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm worried about Aimi."

Sasuke's open expression lowered into a frown. "What do you mean?"

"I think she has some kind of crush or obsession with Kenpachi. And I think he has an interest in her as well. I think… you need to keep an eye on them, Uncle Sasuke. And please don't tell Aimi I said anything. If I wasn't worried about what Kenpachi might do, or lead her to do, I wouldn't have said anything."

Sasuke stared at her, arms folded. "I see. Hiroko, if you're telling me he's touched my girl-"

"No. Not yet, I don't think. Aimi says he hasn't and that she would never allow it in any case… but some things were said…"

Sasuke's jaw flexed where he grit his teeth. He nodded. "Thanks for telling me. I'll take care of it." He turned and went into the house, shutting the door with more force than necessary.

Hiroko chewed her lip for a moment. Then, making a decision, she went in search of her husband.

* * *

Sasuke snagged Naruto from where he was wolfing down a bowl of take-out ramen. "Dammit, can't you see I'm eating?!" Noodles swung from Naruto's mouth as he tried to curse Sasuke out.

"I need to talk to you," Sasuke said curtly.

They talked. They were tense. They hovered on the brink of total, full-blown transformations… but they didn't know for sure what was going on between their guest and their daughter. They decided to wait and observe.

***

Sasuke cloaked them in Genjutsu, performing the tricky addition of masking their chakra-not an easy thing to do when you needed the chakra to maintain the Genjutsu-that night as they waited down the hall from Aimi's room.

They waited for hours. Night aged towards the smallest hours of the morning. They heard Raiden and Wyatt whispering upstairs, making suspiciously wet sounds, giggling…

Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from roaring when Kenpachi appeared like a silent specter at the head the stairs. He could feel the strain in Sasuke as he masked every particle of chakra while making the hall seem deserted. Naruto, too, was masking his chakra fiercely. He longed to release it and rip this asshole's liver out, but he kept himself in control. Kyuubi was alert and silent within him. Hate Aimi he did, but it was his second kitling still, and the demon's thirst for blood was sharp in Naruto's mind. If Kenpachi was doing what Hiroko had hinted at…

But why else would he be up here?

* * *

Kenpachi approached the door he sought. He paused, glancing toward the end of the hall. For a moment, just a moment, there had been a ripple. Just the barest ripple of a hair-thin thread of reiatsu. He stared, senses primed to catch someone, but there was nothing and no one. He sniffed, using more earthly senses, but there was no scent. His skin tingled as if he was being watched. Instinct told him danger was nearby, but he could not detect a threat with any sense he possessed.

_Doesn't mean there isn't one. _That was basic philosophy. What one knows and perceives are often two very different things. He knew the world was spinning with him on it… didn't mean he saw or felt it. He unsheathed his sword. If danger was near, he would be by his woman's side when it fell. He scanned the hall once more. Then he entered Aimi's room without knocking.

Or he tried to. The door was locked. Sneering at this flimsy attempt to keep him out, Kenpachi twisted the knob sharply, breaking it easily. He entered quietly, but quickly, sword held ready.

***

Aimi turned over at hearing her lock snapped. She sat up as Kenpachi entered, her mouth making a little O of surprise at seeing the unsheathed blade. "What are you doing?" she asked.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto, still masked, but now nearly insensate with rage, crept up the hall. They were in time to hear this question. They listened, hearing the following:

***

"Remember when you told my vice-captain you would go against your fathers to make me happy?"

"Y-yes."

"Well that time has come."

"But… I'm not equipped."

"I have all the equipment you need, right here." There was a rustle of clothing. Sasuke tensed, but Naruto put a hand on his shoulder, wanting absolute confirmation before they ripped Kenpachi's throat out.

"Well… it's not very long," Aimi could be heard saying. "Are you sure I can use that? I've never done anything with one before."

"It's more than long enough," Kenpachi said. "Yachiru has no complaints. I will teach you how to get the most from it. Here, touch it. Accustom yourself to the feel."

More rustling. Sasuke was vibrating. Naruto, too, had heard just about enough. Unless Aimi refused…

"It's heavier than it looks." Aimi's voice held surprise. "It's smooth. Perfect for my hands. I can't wait to play with it."

"It's not a toy. It's for giving pleasure. The kind of pleasure you and I talked about."

"I want you to show me."

"Yes. I know you like pain. We can't do this here, though. The noise would wake everyone. You won't master it right away. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes."

"Good. No woman of mine will be ignorant."

***

Sasuke unmasked his chakra the same time Naruto did. A blast of wind from the blond vaporized the door-

The room was empty. There was a large ragged hole in the far wall. They stared at it, stared around. "Damn," Sasuke swore. "They folded."

Naruto clutched his hair with a hand, breathing deeply through his nose. His eyes closed as his control slipped a notch. "That animal is going to fuck our baby girl. Sasuke. Sasuke, stop me before I go Nine-Tails. Kyuubi is eating my control."

Sasuke spared him a glance, but turned to pelt up to the third floor. He heard Naruto right behind him.

* * *

Raiden and Wyatt squealed in fright as the door to their room was kicked off its hinges. Wyatt actually disappeared in a shower of orb lights for a few seconds. Sasuke ignored this. He took one lunging stride and hauled his half-naked son from his blankets. "Pop, what-"

Sasuke dropped him on the floor. "Your sister has folded. She's in danger. Take us to where she is right now. Be quick, Raiden."

His pop's voice was deadly calm. Raiden looked aside to see his dad panting in the doorway, one Kyuubi tail whipping the hall, claws digging into the door jamb. Wyatt saw this too and screamed shrilly, landing next to Raiden and clutching his bare arm.

Raiden didn't waste time. He sent his mind out, bypassing all the chakras he interpreted as 'dull'. Aimi's was always a bright starburst, easily located. He caught something, a mental flash, and hurriedly gathered Wyatt and his fathers. He folded as fast as he could.

***

They came out inside a huge crater, on the farthest side of the world. The land wasn't even civilized. He opened his seventh sense wide, perfectly still. Sensing… seeking…

Sasuke glanced around. There wasn't a soul outside of themselves.

Naruto waited impatiently, knowing Raiden wouldn't fail, but anxious to sink his teeth into Kenpachi. Even now, as they stood here, he could be spreading Aimi's sturdy legs, covering her body with his much larger one. It was sick enough that he fucked his own child-like vice-captain, but Naruto would see Kenpachi dead before he let that happen to Aimi. What he couldn't understand was why his quiet, sensible little girl seemed willing to submit to the dead man's advances.

Wyatt was just as without clothes as Raiden. He shivered in the cool night air as he watched Raiden tip his head back, eyes half closing as he searched god knew how many galaxies for Aimi; if she'd been anywhere on this planet, they would be with her by now. Moonlight frosted Raiden's body, throwing the muscles into sharp relief. His boxers fluttered slightly in the breeze.

***

Raiden's vision did not register his surroundings. With his seventh sense, worlds flashed before his eyes, shining constructs of colors he didn't even have names for. He cast his mind far and wide, attuned to the signature brilliance of his sister, a being very much like himself, but with key differences.

There.

Without stopping to gather his parents or Wyatt, he Boomed.

* * *

He appeared on some distant world and squinted his eyes against the hurricane of chakras being unleashed, one yellow, the other a familiar lavender. He heard his sister shrieking somewhere in the gale and strode forward purposefully. His wings sprouted from his back, held tight against his body as the chakras passed over him. His long, gray hair blew wildly around his head, briefly hiding his red eyes. He had a Death Sphere in each hand.

***

Aimi shrieked again, bringing Yachiru's blade up to block the downward stroke Kenpachi delivered. She positioned and braced her body as instructed, moving into the forms with difficulty, unaccustomed as she was to gliding this way. She attacked when he retreated, as he'd shown her to do. She put all the force of her body into the blows, sweating and panting, but so happy it was devastating. Using her chakra like this, calling upon the savagery of her inner nature to-

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?!"

Kenpachi turned, seeing the brother. Why the baka had to interrupt them now, just as his woman was coming into her own, he didn't know, but he would make sure the kid understood it couldn't happen again.

"Oi. Brat. Run along back home and leave me and-"

Raiden ignored him. He stormed toward where Aimi was leaning on her sword, panting harshly. "Pop and Dad are worried sick! They think something happened to you! I swear they are ready to… kill… okay, what _are _you doing? Is that a sword?"

"Uh huh. Kenpachi let me borrow it from Yachiru. He's teaching me how to fight with it, it is _so _cool!"

"Sweet, can I try??"

"Okay!"

Raiden took the sword as Kenpachi watched in disbelief. He swung it as Aimi instructed, aping her stance. He swung and laughed with Aimi until Kyuubi growled in his head, loud enough make his ears bleed.

_**-Kitling! Have you located your den mate yet?! The host grieves at the delay and your Uchiha sire seeks blood. Has she been mounted?-**_

_-Mounted? Whatever that means. She's fine. I'm coming back now.-_

Raiden sighed happily, soon forgetting the exchange as he looked at the weapon appreciatively. "Kenpachi Taicho, where can I get a sword?"

Kenpachi strode over and took his vice-captain's weapon. "You would have to come to Soul Society and become a Shinigami to be eligible for a Zanpaktou. What do you want, boy?"

"Huh? Oh… oh, shit. Aimi, we gotta get back, Dad and Pop are mad as fuck."

Aimi seemed unperturbed. She took Raiden's hand and Kenpachi's and let her brother guide the Boom.

* * *

Sasuke whirled at hearing them come back. There they stood, all three of them, looking as if nothing had happened. Naruto descended like an avalanche, but he was right behind him.

Raiden just barely registered his dads coming at him and Aimi. Kenpachi didn't bother to ask what the problem was, but unsheathed his sword. Aimi looked on innocently. Right before he pounced, his dad let loose two tails, claws outstretched as he leaped, eyes red, fangs bared. He dimly registered his pop swooping in behind his dad, sword outstretched.

"_Wyatt!" _Raiden shrieked instinctively.

Wyatt orbed and threw his shield up in the nick of time, screaming at the impact Mr. Naruto and Sasuke made. Mr. Naruto bounded off as Mr. Sasuke wheeled and hovered. He leveled his sword at the blue sphere surrounding them, shooting a thick bar of lightning at it. "Raiden!" Wyatt hissed frantically. "Why are they trying to kill us?!"

Raiden didn't know. "Don't put that shield down, Wyatt." He raised his voice. "Dad, Pop! Stop it, she's fine!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, coming to land as close to his kids as Wyatt's shield would allow. "What were they doing when you found them?"

"Playing," Raiden said carefully. He had one eye on his dad, who was stalking off in the distance, pacing up and down, hopefully trying to bring himself under control. Not even during that horrible training had his dad gone Kyuubi. If he had to fight his dad like that, he would Boom.

"Aimi," Sasuke rasped between his fangs. "Has this man touched you? Don't lie to me."

Aimi huffed angrily. "Why does everybody keep saying that? No! Nobody touched me, okay??"

"I heard what he said in your room, Aimi. Playing could be another word he came up with to describe it. If you're lying to me-"

"I'm _not!_" Aimi turned to her brother. "Raiden, you saw us, tell him he was training me!"

That didn't sound much different to Sasuke's mind. He called up his chakra, intent on getting through that surprisingly tough shield. Naruto came charging back.

Raiden looked between the stubbornly silent Kenpachi, his angry sister and his even angrier parents. He began to have an inkling of what was going on. And he spotted a possible way for everything to work out for him and Wyatt. "Actually," he said now. "They were pretty sweaty… Aimi was screaming…" he couldn't say anymore. The idea of his sister and this hulk of a guy doing… stuff… Raiden turned his head aside, covering his mouth with a hand in disgust.

Aimi's growl hurt the ears, making the ground tremble. Kenpachi wondered what the boy was up to, lying like that, but didn't particularly care. He would wait until everything came to light, and if it didn't, he would hold his peace. No one was going to prevent him doing what he wanted to do, and that was for _damn_ sure. Let them work out their little misunderstandings. If they thought he swung that way, fine. He felt Aimi was sufficiently attached to him to obey him if he commanded her to leave with him. He didn't care what they thought, since it wasn't true. If they wouldn't do him the courtesy of asking him to his face, then they could bloody well suffer with the notion that he would stoop to such an act. But by all the souls, let one of them come at him and he would end them, fathers of his woman or not. There would be no mercy this night.

"You LIAR!" Aimi bawled. "How dare you, you know Kenpachi was showing me how to use Yachiru's sword! I HATE YOU!" And she folded herself out of the sphere.

Raiden sensed her at home. He folded them all there behind her and was in time to hear Aimi throwing something in her room.

* * *

Wyatt glanced at Kenpachi, silently asking if he should put his shield up. Raiden shook his head. He waited to see what his parents would do.

"Go to your room, Wyatt," Sasuke said. He didn't take his eyes off Kenpachi.

Raiden went, pulling Wyatt behind him. He passed his dad on his way up the stairs and marveled at the difference in how his parents manifested their rage. His pop was all cold fury. His dad was molten heat. He jogged up the stairs, into his room and sat on his bed. Wyatt came and sat next to him, their predominately nude bodies shivering in anticipation of violence.

***

"It's like this," Sasuke said when he'd ascertained that Naruto was in control. "My daughter doesn't lie. And I can't imagine you being stupid enough to do something like this under our roof and not run away afterwards. Raiden _has_ been known to lie." He stepped closer to the man who towered over him, alert to any sudden movements from him. "I'm just going to ask this once: Have you engaged in inappropriate behavior with my daughter? I'll know if you're lying."

Kenpachi kept his eyes on the red ones in front of him. "No. I haven't."

Sasuke nodded. "You're going to tell me what you meant by calling Aimi your woman."

"She is," Kenpachi shrugged. "She'll be my mate when she matures."

That shocked Sasuke and Naruto enough to have them gaping.

***

Raiden, when he didn't hear sounds of slaughter from downstairs, folded himself and Wyatt to Aimi's room. He noted the blasted door and the hole in the wall absently. His sister was on her bed, hugging her pillow tightly.

"Get out," she sobbed with dry eyes. "I hate you, get out! I'll never forgive you!" She couldn't get over how he'd betrayed her. How could he? No one was closer to her in the world.

"Aimi, I had to do it," Raiden said quickly. "Just let me explain."

"I'll never forgive you," she repeated.

Raiden's lips thinned. "Look. I know you have a thing for Kenpachi. I know you Boom almost every night. And unless you promise me something, I will tell Dad and Pop and then you'll really be in trouble."

She didn't stop glaring, but he could tell she was listening. Raiden went on.

"Wyatt needs to stay here, Aimi. With me. When I refuse to send him back, Pop and Dad will come and make you do it. If you refuse, then I'll do whatever you want, I swear to god. I'll even go and tell them I lied. But if not…"

Aimi sat up slowly. "A-anything?"

"Anything."

"When I get older, I'm leaving with Kenpachi. You stop Daddy and Papa from preventing me and I'll help you keep Wyatt here. _And _you tell them you lied."

"Deal."

"Swear."

"Double swear." Raiden held out his hand and Aimi got up to shake it. Raiden pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, sis. But I can't lose him, not with all this shit coming. Not ever."

Aimi nodded against his shoulder. Of course she forgave him, now that he'd explained himself.

A cacophony of outraged bellows erupted from downstairs.

***

"_WHAT?" _Naruto screamed. "Your _mate_? Are you _insane???_"

"That's never going to happen," Sasuke yelled. "Never, while I have breath."

"Suit yourselves," Kenpachi said calmly. "But if you try to stop either of us, things will get nasty." Here he grinned, letting both parents know that he had no problem with that scenario.

"How dare you come into our house and prey on our family," Naruto seethed. "You ungrateful, home wrecking son of a bitch!"

"Get out of my house," Sasuke raged. "Get out before I kill your ass, you sick motherfucker."

By now dawn was arriving. Aimi heard her father yelling for Kenpachi to get out and rushed downstairs. She lent her howls to the din, nearly deafening everyone as she insisted that if Kenpachi got kicked out, she would go with him. Sasuke whirled on her, shouting her down, his eyes as red as hers. Raiden was downstairs too, not wanting to miss the action. Wyatt trembled at his back, ready to orb them away or throw up his shield at the first sight of bloodshed.

Somehow it came out that Raiden had lied and that made everything worse. Wyatt started crying, Naruto shouted for him to shut up and, come to think of it, to pack his shit. He'd kept him and Sasuke from killing Kenpachi and he'd overstayed his welcome. Wyatt clung to Raiden's arm, daring to say he was staying. Raiden, though perfectly aware that there was enough shit hitting the fan to have them smelling it for weeks, added more to the mix. "I'm not taking him back, Dad. He stays."

"That right?" Naruto hissed. He thought if he didn't kill someone or something soon, he'd just have a stroke. "I can fix that. Aimi, send the fucking kid back."

"No, Daddy. I'm with Raiden."

Silence for five numb seconds.

Naruto punched his son hard and backhanded Aimi, both kids flying from the blows. They would defy him, would they? As an afterthought, he went after Wyatt as well, who wasn't able to orb or shield himself fast enough, yelling over Raiden's treatment as he was. Naruto had the presence of mind to remember a punch would likely kill the boy and slapped him instead, hard enough to send him flying after Raiden. Sasuke snorted in approval.

Aimi changed. Hair white, skin dark, she changed and let her chakra out, absolutely _livid. _She lunged at her dad, but Naruto channeled a small tornado at her, knocking her into the wall.

Raiden saw his sister had thrown caution to the winds and he hit his dad in the back with a stronger tornado. Naruto crashed into the kitchen, knocking over the fridge with a clamor that shook the house. Sasuke, incensed that his kids were displaying such mutinous behavior, threw a Genjutsu at his son. Wyatt saw and tried to orb Raiden out of the way in time, but his orb only went as far as the ceiling. They crashed back to the floor in a heap, Wyatt still dizzy and half conscious from that slap. Kenpachi watched it all with a grin of enjoyment on his face.

* * *

Itachi stepped out of his house that morning, breathing deeply of the fresh morning air. The weddings were tomorrow. All was in readiness. He was on his way to the shrine to make sure preparations were complete.

A shout and the sound of a katon came from Sasuke's house down the block. Itachi frowned in that direction, and caught a flash of lightning. He took a step towards the noise. He heard Aimi shriek loud enough to startle birds from nearby trees while a chair crashed through a window. He was walking toward the house now, a bad feeling in his gut.

"Dad! Dad!"

Itachi turned around. Shouta was just coming into the compound at a dead run. The pink-haired girl was at his heels, laughing and keeping up a steady stream of chatter. Itachi hesitated, but another crash from his brother's house had him turning and running in that direction instead.

***

It was a scene from a mad house. Itachi paused on the threshold, Shouta crashing into his back to look over his shoulder. Yachiru gasped and clapped when she saw the destruction.

Sasuke had Aimi by the hair. He slapped her forcefully again and again. Kenpachi, content to keep out of it up to that point, stepped forward and sent Sasuke flying with a powerful punch laden with his reiatsu.

Itachi nearly killed the man as he sent an earth jutsu at him that had Kenpachi sprawling under a wall of dirt. Yachiru screamed, releasing her chakra, and launched herself at Itachi. Shouta stepped forward and punched her in the stomach, which made her turn to him instead.

Kenpachi's reiatsu exploded, obliterating the wall of dirt.

* * *

From elsewhere in the compound, Madarame looked up, Yumichika turned his head and Hitsugaya stopped a hairsbreadth from kissing Asami. "Tch!" all three hissed. They grabbed Zanpaktuos and rushed to Kenpachi and Yachiru's aid.

* * *

Kenpachi had his sword, Sasuke had his, his wings held tight against his body as they faced off. Raiden sent a Rasengan at his dad, who blocked with one of his own, and Aimi had Yachiru immobilized in a Genjutsu, while Itachi went to aid his brother.

No one knew what they were fighting for anymore, or who they were fighting, nor did they care. Ikkaku, Yumichika and Hitsugaya skidded to a halt in the utterly wrecked house. Their eyes went wide as Kenpachi drew back his arm to take off both Uchiha brothers' heads with one blow.

"_Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!"_ Ikkaku barked.

"_Carriage of Thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six_!" Yumichika and Hitsugaya intoned together.

Six beams of light pinned Naruto and Sasuke each, as Hitsugaya and Yumichika's Kido spells hit them. Kenpachi grumbled menacingly at the red light holding him immobile. Madarame had put quite a bit of power behind his casting.

Yumichika held the tip of his sword to Itachi's neck, halting further movement. "If you please," Yumichika said seriously. "Nobody moves until we find out what's going on."

Hitsugaya had an eye on Shouta and Madarame held Yachiru back by an arm, grunting at the effort of holding on to her and his weapon. The vice-captain was very strong.

***

Raiden and Aimi picked themselves up as Wyatt scuttled over to them. They stood looking around in awe, aware that the whole be-shitted mess was their fault. Now that their bloodlust had cooled somewhat, Raiden and Aimi fairly quaked at how they'd attacked their own parents. They drew even closer together, especially when Sasuke and Naruto's eyes swung to them from where they hung in their odd prisons.

"You two," Naruto gasped, "are in a world of trouble. Baldy, let me out of this thing."

Madarame overlooked the insult long enough to scan the people present to try and figure out who seemed the calmest. He settled on Itachi, but he was so coming back to address that 'baldy' term. "You. What happened here?"

Itachi blinked and his eyes were black again. He stepped away from Yumichika's blade, crunching over glass, wood and plaster. "I don't know. I came in and found your captain about to decapitate my brother."

"He hit what was mine," Kenpachi offered.

"She's not yours, asshole!" Naruto hollered.

"Yes, I am!" Aimi shrieked. Everyone winced at the volume.

Sasuke swung to her. "No you're not, but I'll let you know just where you belong as soon as I'm free. The _nerve _of you to-"

A sharp crack had everyone turning their heads. Yachiru had sidled up to Shouta, anger forgotten, as she pinched his ass. Shouta had rounded on her and slapped her.

Kenpachi calmly removed his eye patch. Itachi, seeing this and feeling the amount of chakra the man released, hurriedly spoke to Shouta. "Go. Get out of here."

"But Dad, I was coming here to ask you to make her leave me alone!" Shouta complained. "She follows me everywhere, grabbing at me."

"Shouta, not now," Itachi said as he eyed the way Kenpachi flexed, slowly pushing back his confining prison of light. "Leave. Quickly."

"Where?" Shouta said in exasperation.

"Anywhere. The family burial grounds. They need to be cleaned anyway," Itachi said. He adjusted his stance to block Kenpachi, noting that Yumichika and Ikkaku took up positions to do the same. The burial grounds were far enough away so as to provide the boy with some measure of protection should this man get out of hand. As an afterthought he addressed his niece and nephew. "Raiden, Aimi, go with him. You too, Wyatt. You all seem to be making things worse with your presence. When everyone has calmed down, this mess will be straightened out." Itachi made a clone and sent him for Gaara as the four kids scampered out of the ruined house.

No one saw Yachiru slip out after them.

* * *

Raiden looked down at himself halfway out of the compound and realized he was still in his underwear. He stopped, Pulled clothes from his room for himself and Wyatt, and awkwardly donned them while he resumed walking. They stayed abreast of each other. No one spoke for awhile.

The sun was just up, casting everything in a dazzling golden light. It didn't seem like things could be so bad with such a beautiful day awakening around them, but they were. Raiden's stomach hurt at the thought of just how much trouble he was in. What had possessed him? His heart stuttered painfully at thinking what his dad would do. Oh god, oh god. He grabbed Wyatt's hand.

Aimi was having similar thoughts. She rubbed her face where her papa had slapped her. He was never angry with her. Oh… he would never forgive her. She had attacked him and everything was so messed up. She groped for Raiden's hand and found it, taking comfort (small, piddling comfort) in the knowledge that her brother had truly backed her up.

Wyatt had never been so terrified. He'd never been struck like that, and even now his ear rang so that he couldn't hear on that side. Yet even so, even with his bowels quivering for release at how mad everyone had been and the sheer power that had been flung around, he didn't want to go back. He just wished he knew how they were all going to live under the same roof after this.

Shouta spoke suddenly making the other three jump. "You guys, what the hell?! What happened back there?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Aimi sulked.

"Me either," Raiden said.

"Their parents got mad and then Raiden and Aimi attacked them. I tried to help and nearly got killed."

"No shit!" Shouta exclaimed, impressed. "The day I attack my dad is the day I've obviously decided to commit suicide. Seriously, why'd you guys do it?"

Eventually the tale was pulled out of them, everyone giving their version of events. Shouta listened intently, whistling at hearing of some of the more spectacular moves. "Man. You guys are toast. I think I'll dig y'all graves while I'm at the burial grounds. Shit, wouldn't want to be in your shoes."

"Gee, thanks, Shouta," Raiden said dryly. "You're _such _a comfort in these kinds of situations, I just don't know how we get on without you."

Shouta snickered. "Glad to help."

Raiden stopped walking. "You go on ahead, I want to say something to Aimi and Wyatt."

Shouta waved and jogged on to the burial grounds. Raiden turned to his sister and his friend. He spent a few seconds thinking, before he looked up at them. "Listen," he began. He hesitated. "Shouta's not far wrong. We have _really _fucked up. We're dead, even when or if they calm down. It would take a miracle to make them forget what we did. But… I'm not sending you back, Wyatt. And I'm not going back on my word, Aimi."

"Me either," Aimi said resolutely.

"I'll do whatever I can to help," Wyatt said gratefully.

United, they took a second to try and breathe through the monstrous butterflies in their stomachs. After awhile, they continued on to the burial grounds.

* * *

Shouta ambled along between the graves, stopping at his granny Mikoto's. He remembered her. She'd been so nice and motherly. Sometimes she'd reprimanded his father, much to the boy's nostalgic delight. He sighed. He never really thought about her, but here, in front of her resting place, he felt sad. He missed her. He touched the stone of her marker and tried to recall if she'd been cremated or not.

A strange sound had him turning around. He saw ten people, wearing plain clothes and looking thoroughly bewildered, straightening up from the ground. He was sure they hadn't been there a second ago. He stared at them in puzzlement.

"Who the living Jesus are you people," Shouta said curiously. Then he saw Zetsu. Remarkably, thoughts of Akatsuki did not occur to him just then. Instead, a memory of this thing trying to take a baby, Raiden, from him and his siblings surfaced in his mind. "Hey… I know you!"


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: I might have the break after ch 22, but that chap will be a week at least in coming. Trying to write something to submit for V-day for you guys. Love your reviews!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

_**Ten years ago…**_

_An obsession with Raiden and his abilities led Uchiha Madara to attempt kidnapping him. After losing several Akatsuki members in this endeavor, success was achieved. Naruto came for his son. He was captured and killed during the extraction of the Kyuubi. He sacrificed the Kyuubi chakra that would have saved him to allow Raiden to escape._

_The extraction was incomplete, allowing Sasuke, who came four days later, to grab Naruto's body and run. He performed the forbidden jutsu used by Chiyo to revive Gaara. Naruto lived, while Sasuke died. Sasuke's soul was held by Izanami, goddess queen of the dead._

_Raiden was in Wyatt Halliwell's world, enjoying a contrived case of memory loss. Naruto, trapped in Kyuubi, eventually got over his grief enough to contact his son, bringing the boy's memories back. At returning to his world to find his Papa dead and his Daddy indisposed, Raiden launched a campaign to bring Sasuke back from the dead. To that end, he enlisted the aid of Willow Rosenberg, witch extraordinaire._

_Willow struck a deal with Izanami: if she brought the goddess an alternate soul, she could have Sasuke's. Raiden summoned Madara and killed him, providing the soul. Willow and Itachi tried to pull Sasuke from Izanimi's clutches but were incapable. Raiden managed it, though it cost him. Sasuke was revived and he went to release Naruto from Kyuubi._

_Izanami, never having intended for Sasuke to be released, was furious. Yet she'd seen Raiden's powers when he killed Madara. She knew no human could ever have pulled a soul from her realm and was intrigued. She called Madara's soul to her and demanded information on Raiden. Madara gave it and agreed to retrieve the boy for Izanami, provided she let Madara use Akatsuki's souls to do so._

_Unbeknownst to Madara, Izanami had something else in mind. She transported herself, Madara, and the nine other souls from the underworld._

_***  
_

_**Later, still ten years ago…**_

_Izanami hovered over Madara, as he was the one to regain consciousness first. He opened his eyes and looked up at her vaporous shape._

_"Ah, I see you are awake. Well, now, pay attention, as I have important things to say to you." She paused as Madara sat up. The others were stirring, coming to their senses, looking at her with trepidation. They listened as well._

_"Very good," Izanami beamed. "Listen carefully. We are in the cave where Uchiha Madara stashed the Bijuus. I have integrated them with eight of your number to increase the success of your mission. Your mission is this: Bring the child, the one called Raiden. Destroy all who would stop you, all those important to him. Bring him to me alive and I will release you."_

_Madara, stunned, nevertheless possessed enough wits to ask, "Release us? Aren't we alive and released from Death?"_

_Izanami laughed, making the occupants of the cave shiver at the sound. "You may be released from Death for the moment, but I still hold your souls. Disobey me and you will be brought back to my kingdom immediately. I will know if you are not working steadily towards the completion of your mission."_

_***  
_

_**After that, but still ten years ago…**_

_They argued, some horrified, some fascinated by their new powers. Madara wanted to go right out and retrieve Raiden so that they could win their souls back. The others objected, feeling Madara's zeal had gotten them into this situation in the first place. Orochimaru was elected leader. _

_After some inner searching it was discovered that Kisame had the Eight-Tails, Kakuzu the Seven-Tails, Hidan the Six-Tails, Zetsu the Five-Tails, Sasori the Four-Tails, Orochimaru the Three-Tails, Konan the Two-Tails and Deidara had the One-Tail. Madara and Pein, as the most powerful of the group, were not given Bijuus. Besides, there weren't enough to go round._

_Orochimaru, after listening to Madara's account of how Raiden came to be, thought to claim the boy for himself, but he was overruled. Everyone wanted the mission completed as quickly as possible; being enslaved to Izanami did not sit well. _

_They were not as they were when they'd died. Sasori was returned to his actual body, not a puppet to his name. Kakuzu only had the heart in his chest. Pein… wasn't really Pein. He was Nagato, since he was in his original form, no bodies or anything. Madara was younger, whole. _

_Hidan's body had not been removed from the Nara land, he discovered after a moment of reflection. This body was new. Likely Izanami hadn't wanted to waste time piecing together his corpse. She'd simply clothed his soul in flesh, making him look the same as he had before his death, yet leaving him unsure as to whether or not he was still immortal. He supposed that as long as the goddess had his soul, he was. He was pleasantly surprised to find his scythe leaning against the wall. He hefted it. _

_Kisame was jealous. He didn't have Samehada, and wanted to know why the bitch had supplied Hidan's scythe and not his blade. Madara said he would get the damn thing. Kisame mentioned the mountain where he'd lost it when fighting Uzumaki Naruto and Madara vanished, was gone for ten minutes, and came back with the broken halves of the blade. Kisame took it, remembering the epic battle with the Kyuubi that had taken place. Samehada was dormant, but used Kisame's chakra, once fused with him, to repair itself. Kisame felt whole again himself._

_They decided to conduct a test, to see if Raiden could be retrieved right now or if time would be required to devise a more intricate strategy and learn their new powers. _

_Madara agreed with this plan. "He might yet be near the graveyard where they killed me. Let's go there and see. Perhaps we can learn something to aid us if that fails."_

_It was agreed. They stood and moved closer to Madara so that he might teleport them with ease. Halfway through the jutsu, Madara cried out. The others could hear him, but were unable respond. Something was wrong; what normally took seconds seemed to be stretching out to minutes. They seemed caught in some kind of opaque bubble that allowed light to enter but no sound. And they could not speak, under Madara's control of the technique as they were. It seemed night turned to day and back again rapidly, countless times before the bubble burst and they fell to the dirt._

_They looked around cautiously, picking themselves up and dusting themselves off. They were in the graveyard and it was morning. Apparently, it was also Spring since the trees and flowers were in bloom. A voice behind them had them turning around swiftly. They saw a boy, blondish, of around 15 years of age._

_

* * *

  
_

Chapter 21

**Arrival. Fight.**

"Who the living Jesus are you people," the boy said.

Madara looked the boy over. His blonde hair and golden-brown eyes did not speak of Uchiha heritage, yet he recognized a kinsman. Something about the set of his features, his stance, said he had Uchiha blood in him. Non clan members did not come into the burial grounds, at any rate.

He wasn't sure what had happened with his technique, other than that it had gone awry somehow. It couldn't have been too bad an error since they came out where they meant to. Madara stepped forward, about to ask a few questions, but the boy's eyes were skipping along the other members of his entourage and they suddenly widened.

"Hey," the kid said pointing. "I know you!"

They'd been unable to find anything besides spare shirts and pants in the hideout, so it couldn't be the cloaks that identified them. They weren't wearing any. When heads swiveled to see who the kid was pointing at, they saw Zetsu, looking caught out and guilty. Well, the freak _was _hard to miss. Then-

"Oh… oh, _shit!_ Holy fuck, you guys are-" the boy was stumbling backward.

Madara, by virtue of his Sharingan, could see the boy's chakra fluctuating as he turned to run. The kid knew them, was possibly Uchiha, and would consequently have information. "Grab him," he said to no one in particular.

While Orochimaru complained that Madara wasn't the one to be giving orders, Nagato used Banshou Ten'in to snatch the boy to him. The kid shrieked, struggling.

***

Shouta had one thought in his mind, obliterating all else: _Akatsuki is here and they have me. I'm a dead man. _

But he wasn't dead yet. A black-haired man sporting Sharingan, who could only be Madara himself, came around to face him. Shouta had his own Sharingan on and wasted no time. "Doton: Doryu Taiga!"

The river of mud had everyone slipping and sliding… for all of three seconds. The red-haired jerk holding him placed a hand on his head and suddenly Shouta felt his chakra being sucked from him. His hands, previously in the formation of a hand seal, dropped limply by his sides. He sagged in Nagato's arms.

***

Madara studied the unconscious kid. Definitely Uchiha. That could only mean he was one of Itachi's children, but he didn't remember any of them being this old.

Returned to life as he was, Madara's previous madness was gone. He wanted Raiden in order to get his soul back, but that was it. He knew there would never be any controlling the boy, and wondered if Izanami could handle him. Nor was his Moon's Eye plan currently feasible. Perhaps at a later time…

All this was to say that Madara enjoyed very clear thinking processes now, enough to realize that something was off. The boy had recognized all of them, though Deidara was without his eyepiece and Nagato's body was not well-known. He himself did not know anyone who would recognize his naked face. This boy had acted as if he'd been warned about them. How would that be possible if, to everyone's knowledge, Akatsuki was dead? Very strange indeed. He took the boy from Nagato.

"We will leave. The child, Raiden, isn't here. We'll take this boy with us and see what information he has." Madara stepped to a clearer patch of ground, noting it was the exact location that he'd died in. The others turned to circle him, preparing to be teleported.

"I hope this doesn't get screwed up like the last time," Deidara whispered. Sasori nodded.

A thud behind them caused them to turn their heads. They beheld a pink-haired chibi of a girl, holding a sword leveled at them. "Put my Shou-chan down."

The men exchanged glances. _The what, now?_

_

* * *

  
_

Sasuke kicked an overturned lamp aside as he went and sat on an equally overturned armchair. The thing was charred. He dropped his head into his hands.

Naruto leaned against a wall, one hand tucked beneath his elbow, the other covering his eyes.

Itachi stood still as Gaara jogged up to the front door and cautiously entered, surveying the wreckage. He came and stood next to Itachi, after murmuring something to Naruto.

Kenpachi sheathed his sword and put his patch back over his eye.

"All right then," Yumichika said approvingly. "Who'd like to go first?"

* * *

Yachiru had been hiding behind a grave marker, happily considering scaring Shou-chan by jumping out at him, when she'd seen these people arrive. The air behind Shouta rippled and twisted, revealing a hole these people tumbled out of. It wasn't like Garganta, but it was similar. Their reiatsu had hit her with enough force to have her grabbing her sword, something she was never required to do. Unsure of their affiliations with Shou-chan, she'd waited. And watched.

Shouta seemed to know them and was in the process of running away. The spell the blood-haired one used to pull Shouta was executed so quickly that she'd been caught off guard. Then one of the men had blocked Shouta from her view for a few seconds. She heard Shouta try to perform a spell, saw some kind of swamp appear beneath them all… but one pale man with snake-like eyes stamped on the mud with a reiatsu-enhanced foot and the ground was normal. The one standing in front of Shouta spoke, mentioning Raiden. So this was Akatsuki then! Yachiru narrowed her brown eyes. When she could see Shouta again, he was unconscious.

They were trying to take him away! Possibly through that Garganta-like opening. She leapt from her hiding place to challenge them.

***

"**Oh… What a tasty-looking morsel she is. And how fortunate: I'm hungry. I feel as if I haven't eaten in years." **Zetsu walked forward. The rest looked on, Shouta slung over Madara's shoulder.

Kisame stopped him. "No. Please. Allow me. Look, she has a little chibi-sword. A fellow swordsman should accept her challenge." He swung Samehada from his shoulder. He paused, looking at the girl's bright anger with amusement. Her chakra was quite advanced and strong for someone her size. Her clothes were very strange, very old-fashioned. Her eyes did not waver from his face, not even when he smiled and showed his pointed teeth.

***

Yachiru's distinctive bubbly attitude was gone. She was alone against these strong opponents. A line of sweat trickled down between her shoulder blades. Of all of them, this fish thing in front of her was the strongest. Her lower lip trembled before she could bring it under control. There was no way she could go up against this man or that monstrous Zanpaktou he carried. She could feel the thing's malice even from where she stood.

An idea came to her. If she could get Shouta, perhaps she could escape with him using Shunpo.

Yachiru shifted her grip on her Zanpaktou enough to flatten one palm at the one holding Shouta. She gathered her reiatsu and let it loose, performing a level one Hado spell. "Shou!"

***

Nagato stepped forward, and absorbed the jutsu, twisting it and casting it back at her. It was very like his own repulsion technique. The girl went soaring to crash head first into a stone marker.

"Not bad," Orochimaru observed. "I think I'll take her."

"She's mine to kill," Kisame said, walking towards her.

**"And mine to eat."**

"Be quick, I want to get back to the cave and question this boy," Madara said impatiently.

Orochimaru turned to him, intent on settling this issue of who gave orders once and for all.

* * *

"Not saying the kids are excused from what they did or that we didn't get a bit out of hand," Sasuke was saying tiredly in his defense, "but we're all under a lot of stress here. This whole thing with Akatsuki coming has us on edge."

"And we really don't need you adding to that with your sick ideas about our girl," Naruto added. He had his head leaning back against the wall, hands in his pockets, eyes closed. "As soon as Raiden gets back I'm having him send your asses back."

Ikkaku rounded on the blonde. "I'm afraid I have a problem with that."

"So do I," Hitsugaya surprised everyone by adding.

"I'm sure we can all reach some kind of mutually acceptable agreement." Gaara began.

* * *

Yachiru rolled groggily to her feet, reaching for her sword where it had fallen. Focusing was difficult, everything was blurry. Come to think of it… she hadn't been required to fight since passing her vice-captaincy exam. She was vice-captain to Ken-chan largely because he wanted her to be and that was that. She blinked, trying to locate Shouta. Her vision blacked out a moment, before coming back fuzzier than before. She sensed someone looming over her.

***

Kisame grinned. Killing children always gave him an extra special zing of pleasure, he didn't know why. He raised Samehada, intent on crushing her completely with it. He hesitated with his arm raised at the apex of his downward swing. Zetsu sidled up behind his left shoulder, breathing shallowly in anticipation of this child's sweet blood. **"Hurry, Kisame."**

The shark nin tightened his grip in preparation, widened his grin when she peered up at him. Her round face looked sleepy. He could see a thick trickle of blood emerging from her hairline to roll sluggishly down one temple.

Kisame brought his sword down with particular force, wanting to see her bones shatter through her skin-

-and felt the impact all the way to his shoulder as Samehada was blocked by a thin, ragged blade.

His silver eyes followed the hard fist on the hilt up to a black-clad arm, to a white covered shoulder. Kisame's gaze came to rest on a scarred face that gave even him pause… and Samehada was quivering in response to the chakra the man was pulsing out in thick waves.

* * *

Sasuke looked around the empty room. What the hell? Gaara had been in the process of trying to soothe everyone's ruffled feathers. He'd been cut off suddenly by Kenpachi whirling to stare at the wall.

"_Damn,_" the tall man had muttered. Then he'd vanished, flashing away so quickly that he was there one second, gone the next.

"What was-" Yumichika started to say. Then his eyes widened before he was gone too.

All the visitors were gone. "What was that about?" Naruto asked.

Itachi frowned in the direction the visitors had gone before stepping up to his brother. "I, too, have a problem with them being sent back. I believe Ikkaku-san and Hitsugaya Taicho are close to proposing and I-"

"WILL YOU _SHUT _THE _FUCK _UP ABOUT THE _FUCKING CLAN _ALREADY???" Sasuke bellowed, throwing his armchair at Itachi. "I'm sick of it! Sick!" Sasuke sucked in a deep breath. "Get out!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Get out, out, _out!_" Another deep breath. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Itachi started to back away, a hand held up protectively in front of Gaara, who had a cloud of sand ready to protect them as well. Naruto only looked on with a bored expression, arms folded. He understood exactly how Sasuke felt. It was just too much all of a sudden. He wanted to lash out at something. As soon as Itachi and Gaara got the hell out of there, he'd grab Sasuke and fuck him to a pulp.

* * *

A face-off.

Kisame and Kenpachi sprung apart, Kenpachi's grin hard enough to break diamonds.

***

Yumichika landed near Nagato, recognizing him from Naruto's description. If there was to be any sucking of reiatsu, it would be done by his Zanpaktou, the shinigami thought grimly. On the plus side, Nagato's hair and eyes were most becoming. Such an unusual and pleasing combination.

***

Madarame landed in front of the one with a scythe. He couldn't recall the name just then. He drew his sword and shrugged his shoulders in anticipation. Yosh! Deal with Akatsuki, then get back to Akiko's tight body and screams of delight.

***

Hitsugaya landed next to Vice-Captain Yachiru, making sure she was all right. He frowned. She would need immediate medical assistance. He scooped her up, using Shunpo to speed himself toward Asami. He'd come back to the fight once he'd seen to Yachiru.

No one moved. Even the birds were still as chakra and reiatsu were gauged, appearances taken in and stances shifted imperceptibly. The air was tense with anticipation, pregnant with violence waiting to be born in blood.

***

Madara couldn't care less. Let the rest of them take care of these strange sword-wielders. He'd hoped to have Nagato with him to aid in the extraction of information, but he could manage on his own. He didn't think there was a soul alive who could master him in Genjutsu. He turned to teleport himself and the boy to more stable environs.

Three people stood in his path, wide-eyed, trembling…

_Familiar._

Madara froze, his eyes taking in the boy in the middle. His Sharingan revolved slowly…

No. It couldn't be. It was the child, he would recognize that chakra anywhere. And… yes, Madara concluded, the eyes were the same, the hair… "Raiden," he breathed.

Raiden flinched.

* * *

They'd been strolling along, laughing nervously at possible scenarios that would play out once they were back home, still holding hands. They'd entered the Uchiha burial grounds, and Aimi had looked around. She'd asked where the Uzumaki burial grounds were, and Wyatt had said, "Who are all those people over there?" Raiden had looked, started to shrug, and then seen Yachiru go flying. Aimi had gasped, starting to run to her, but Raiden stopped her with a hand on her arm, his breathing suddenly shallow, his throat shut down and his skin tightening everywhere.

Oh.

Oh God.

Oh God, Oh please, _please _no. Not today. Not ever.

"Hey… one of them has Shouta!" Wyatt exclaimed softly. Raiden searched and sure enough, Shouta was slung over-

He had to swallow repeatedly in order to even be able to breathe. They were here. They had come. That was Madara. He looked young and robust and so dangerously healthy. His hair was a black cascade of spikes, a blot on the bright morning, on Raiden's innards. Everything in him told him to break and run. But Shouta… Madara had Shouta.

Raiden took a step forward, barely having the wits to shut down his mind; he didn't want his dad contacting him when he sent Shouta. Kyuubi would sense his panic, tell his parents and then they'd come here and get themselves killed all over again.

Back when his parents had come from their vacation, he'd been so relieved to be able to lean on them that he'd half thought everything was taken care of. Especially when the visions stopped. He'd stupidly convinced himself that nothing bad would happen.

But they were here. The visions were true. And they were here for him. He couldn't run. He took another step, Aimi and Wyatt matching him on his right and left respectively. _Akatsuki? _Wyatt thought at him.

_**-Yeah.-**_

_-Oh man. I'm with you, Raiden.-_

Raiden took the briefest second to marvel that his friend was so steady when he himself was so fucking scared. Aimi stalked silently at his side, probably aware of who it was they were looking at. But she'd never faced them. She couldn't really be afraid until she'd faced them.

***

Four blurs landed amongst Akatsuki and that distracted them further for a moment. Madara was at the back of the group. Raiden saw Kenpachi block Kisame from killing his vice-captain and then the rest of Akatsuki was looking at the other shinigamis. Madara was backing up. Raiden stopped moving. He was about thirty feet away. He let go of Aimi and Wyatt's hands, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, noticing that his breathing shuddered in and out of him in an uneven tide. Madara was turning around.

_I've never seen both his eyes, _Raiden thought incoherently. Madara froze at seeing them, his handsome face registering a flicker of surprise. His red eyes swept back and forth before zeroing in on Raiden. Raiden felt his stomach cramp and his bowels loosen.

He'd been so young when he'd met him, his fear had been so large at finding out his pop had died. Right now, watching as recognition bloomed in those striking eyes, Raiden felt like he was still that helpless baby.

When Madara said his name, he couldn't help it-he flinched. It was that voice, that same voice that had put him in that horrible Genjutsu.

He belatedly remembered he couldn't fight Genjustu. Raiden dropped his eyes to Madara's chest and turned his palm face up, low down by his side. A discreet 'come here' curl of his fingers had Shouta folded to the ground at his feet. He uncurled the fingers and sent Shouta to his dads' house. As soon as his cousin was out of sight, he called up his chakra, dismayed to see how much his fear curtailed it. Nevertheless, he formed Death Sphere's in his hands. He could feel Aimi releasing her chakra at his side and Wyatt muttering a spell.

***

Madara couldn't care less for the loss of the blonde boy, not faced with the cause of his destruction. He took a moment to note how the child had grown. Now he understood what had happened with his teleportation jutsu. Somehow they'd been caught in some kind of temporal aberration. Several years had passed by the looks of Raiden, Madara surmised. He wondered what had caused the aberration.

Then he lunged at Raiden.

* * *

Itachi kept his steps slow and unthreatening, backing away from his brother's demented face. Obviously the strain had become too much for Sasuke. He needed a moment to calm down. Itachi would come back later when things had-

A ripple in the room and Shouta was suddenly lying in the rubble. He did not move.

Itachi was by his side in a heartbeat, turning his son over gently. Gaara came around his other side and Sasuke stopped his ranting. He came over to Shouta, Naruto at his side. They all looked down at him. Itachi could find nothing wrong with his son. He looked up. They all met each other's eyes curiously.

* * *

Raiden threw the Death Spheres, forming more and slinging them just as hard and fast as he could. He did this while screaming and dodging, losing sight of Aimi and Wyatt for the moment.

Madara smiled, the spheres phasing through him harmlessly. Raiden ducked as a thick bar of lavender chakra lanced toward Madara. He dimly noticed explosions of chakra going off around him, different colors, and then he cursed because Madara's fingers were close to his face, a foot, half that, almost touching-

"Fold!" he shrieked, and did just that, glad at last to give in to the urge to run, to just fucking _run._

_

* * *

  
_

Naruto ran his eyes over Shouta and turned to say something to Sasuke. He never said whatever it was or even remembered it afterward. Kyuubi suddenly crashed to the forefront of his mind, overriding the restraints Naruto normally kept in place to keep that from happening. His mind was forcibly subdued so that Naruto blacked out where he stood; he was no longer present. His consciousness was kicked aside as Kyuubi quivered within him on full alert.

To everyone else it seemed as if Naruto froze. His face was still turned towards Sasuke, but his mouth only hung open without speaking. Like Naruto's batteries had suddenly shut down. They saw his eyes glow red. That was all. Then his blond head tilted back and he inhaled, one long, drawn out sniff. When he spoke, it wasn't his voice. It was Kyuubi's, rough, guttural… tight with some emotion that defied description.

**"They have arrived. My brethren have arrived and they hunt my kitling and his den-mate."**

Somewhere in Kyuubi, Naruto heard this and came surging back to himself, already catapulting towards the graveyard, unaware that he ran on all fours or that tails were growing as he ran.

This time, Sasuke was at his side, matching him stride for stride.

Gaara hopped on his cloud of sand and crashed through the wall as Itachi was currently dashing out the doorway.

* * *

Folding was never something Raiden thought about. He did it when he had to, like shitting or pissing. He never thought about the process or what it would be like to have to continuously fold, without stopping anywhere.

Yet that was what he was forced to do, because Madara was hot on his ass, like right _on _it, breathing down his neck. This continuous fold was like parting the atmosphere, reality itself, the way a fish parted water. The fish moved through the currents, yet water was all around it. Raiden traveled in this same way, everything around him a blur of streaked color. He didn't know if he was actually running – he didn't think so – but his forward momentum was unchecked.

He chanced a glance behind him. Madara grinned, traveling the same way Raiden was doing. Raiden faced front with a whine, trying to find more speed… except folding only seemed to have one speed.

Aimi appeared at his side, face shining with effort. Wyatt materialized at Raiden's other side… in the form of a cluster of orb lights. The three kept pace, barely ten yards ahead of Madara's murderous pursuit.

* * *

Naruto landed with a roar, Sasuke behind him. Itachi caught up some seconds later, his ponytail having come undone in his flight. His hair whipped about his frigid face in the morning breeze. Gaara zoomed up on his sand and hovered, already forming a hand seal.

Kenpachi spared them the briefest glance. Kisame was _the shit. _Best opponent he'd ever come across and the man hadn't even released his demon yet!

Kisame looked aside at his murderer. They'd been partners. The least he could do was return the favor Itachi had bestowed. Samehada seemed to agree. Death to Itachi!

* * *

Raiden learned something. He could not fold continuously, indefinitely. His body was tiring quickly and he could tell his sis wasn't faring much better. Madara was a few feet closer to them.

"Let's… call Papa," Aimi panted.

"No… too… dangerous," Raiden huffed. His muscles were quivering.

Only Wyatt seemed okay, but then Wyatt wasn't using his body. He couldn't talk in the orb state he was in, but he communicated mentally.

_-Let's Boom then. He can't get us if we Boom.-_

-_**No. I need to be here, to see what happens and make sure… nothing happens. To my dads and uncles and everybody.-**_

"Shit," Raiden said aloud.

"What?" Aimi asked.

"Everybody… Akatsuki is right there in Konoha, they'll destroy the village. I gotta fold them away. Damn," he hissed. "I can't do it while I'm running. Cover me, you two."

They did. Raiden stopped and found himself at the very edge of a cliff, an ocean spread out before him. He took a hasty step back, turning to find Madara coming at him with all the force of a mountain.

The orb lights and a flash of lavender swept Madara away as his fingers brushed Raiden's neck. Raiden heard Wyatt shriek before they were completely gone and then he got busy.

***

He was shocked to find how weak he was. He grunted at how much it took from him to locate Akatsuki, thousands of leagues away, and remote fold them out of Konoha. He cried out miserably at feeling his dads with them. When it was done, he collapsed on his hands and knees.

Then he was up and folding again, his senses searching out Aimi and Wyatt.

* * *

Naruto crashed into the Two-Tailed cat, chakra claws clashing with hers. Sasuke swooped and let lightning lance through the huge water dome Kisame had thrown up around himself and Itachi. He knew his brother could counter the lightning with his Earth chakra.

Gaara slammed his hands on the ground, an ocean of sand roaring out of the earth to fall toward Sasori, Deidara and Kakuzu. Madarame had his _Shikai _whirling against Zetsu and Yumichika was locked in a death grip with Nagato, each sucking chakra for all they were worth. Orochimaru performed a hand seal to aid Nagato, when a small, white-haired boy landed in front of him. A huge dragon of ice shot from his sword at Orochimaru's face.

* * *

Aimi managed to surround Madara with her chakra, throwing the hardest Genjutsu she could at the same time, a real brain melter. Madara screamed as the chakra burned him, before disappearing just before her Genjutsu could take root. "Fuck!" she cursed.

Wyatt solidified next to her, aware that he'd never heard her say that, while at the same time using his own senses to anticipate where Madara would come out next.

Which happened to be right behind them.

His hands landed on their necks and he opened a dimensional portal, already pulling the screaming boy and girl inside. The light of the morning was disappearing, closing before their very eyes as the doorway shrank-

A hand shot through and latched onto Aimi's outstretched fingers. She grabbed Wyatt in turn and Raiden pulled with all his strength, transforming at last, and roaring in rage.

Madara pulled just as hard, willing his doorway to close. Raiden was keeping it open, having snatched control of Madara's chakra through some insidious link he'd sent through the girl and so through to him. Madara let go of the boy and girl, putting himself out of reach of that link.

***

Raiden fell backward, Aimi and Wyatt on top of him. "Oh Raiden," Aimi gasped hysterically.

"Why didn't you fold, idiot?!" Raiden shoved her off of him.

"I panicked," she said in a small voice. She stood up, Wyatt helping her. "He's way stronger than I thought."

"He's way stronger than he _was,_" Raiden said distractedly. He was staring around wildly, his wings held stiffly. "I don't sense him. C'mon, we gotta get to the others."

"Where'd you send them?" Wyatt asked. He looked a little worse for wear.

"That crater," Raiden answered. He held out his hand and Wyatt took it. Aimi stepped close to him and he folded them once, right to the crater itself.

* * *

It was a scene from hell.

Multicolored chakra spiked and fountained everywhere as the Bijuus, out of control of their hosts and running amok, fought amongst themselves and the humans. Raiden spotted his pop lying in a heap, his uncles nearly down and his dad surrounded by three monsters, one of them an ox with eight weird-looking tails.

Kenpachi had his patch off. He was bloody, sword flashing and slicing. He was the only one of the shinigamis still standing. Aimi's hands flew to her mouth as he took a blow from the Seven-Tailed Beetle. He did not get up again.

"Wait," Raiden shrieked, but Aimi was gone, transformed and galloping on all fours, her screaming roar making his ears bleed. He healed himself as he flew after her, Wyatt orbing behind him.

Madara appeared and snatched Aimi up. He raised his voice so that he could be heard over the din. "The child is ours! Surround him! Get him before-"

Aimi exploded, white light blooming out of her to freeze everyone and everything except Raiden and Wyatt.

***

She tumbled weakly from the stiff arms holding her. Raiden ran to her, eyes staring in amazement at the arrested battle around him. He fell to his knees by her side. "Aimi! Aimi?"

"I can't hold this for long. Maybe a minute. Raiden…"

He nodded frantically. "Can we use jutsus in this… thing? If we can, we can kill them where they stand."

Aimi shook her head slowly from side to side. "Can't. Time is frozen. Jutsu won't go anywhere."

"But we're moving," Wyatt said.

"Because I'm letting you move. People are different and I can't explain it." She sighed. "It's slipping, Raiden, hurry and do something."

Raiden positioned himself away from her, thinking furiously. After a moment, he nodded.

Working quickly, he folded his parents, his uncles and the shinigamis out of the crater, back to Konoha. He then called up nearly all of the rest of his chakra, concentrating it in a Death Sphere that dwarfed them all, hovering above the group of frozen Akatsuki.

Wheezing with fatigue, Raiden grabbed Aimi and Wyatt and had the older boy orb them to the lip of the crater. Aimi nodded, Raiden gave the okay and she released her hold on Time.

Raiden aimed the Death Sphere carefully, dropping it on the unsuspecting individuals and obliterating them completely. He let it dissipate before it could eat through the land and on through the whole planet.

***

Silence.

The crater was scarred, smoking, but empty. Raiden dropped to his knees. "I did it," he said weakly. He couldn't believe it. Had it really been so easy? He turned with a grin to celebrate with Aimi and Wyatt, those two already smiling tiredly but happily.

"Well," Madara said from a few feet away. "I guess I should have mentioned that we don't really have souls now, so we can't really die." Akatsuki was ranged to either side of him in a semi-circle, partially surrounding the three stunned kids.

The crater was at Raiden's back. "No," he whispered, pleaded. He was spent, he couldn't do anything but the most basic jutsus now.

"Looks like this mission was a success," Madara said easily. He walked forward, his body tense and ready to teleport at the first sign of similar intentions from the three fascinating children before him.

Aimi growled, halting Madara as he took in the white hair and yellow eyes. "Orochimaru, I think this is one of your experiments."

Raiden felt his hand grabbed in Aimi's and then his very life was being sucked out of him as she leeched his chakra, mixing it with her own. A sound loud enough to crack the earth in two had them all screaming soundlessly. Then quiet. Blessed, black void of oblivion.

* * *

When he woke up, it was to feel Wyatt's hands wiping his face with something cool. Raiden blinked himself to full wakefulness and murmured at finding his sight blurry. "What happened?" His voice was weak, almost a whisper. His head ached fiercely and his body felt like it weighed a ton.

"Shh," Naruto said. He stood at the foot of his son's bed. Sasuke stood next to him, Itachi and Gaara on the other side. The Shinigamis were standing on the far side of the room. Aimi was in Wyatt's bed, Raiden saw when he could turn his head. "What happened," he asked again, in a stronger voice. Then it came back to him. He tried to sit up, but his pop pushed him back down.

"Not yet, Raiden. Rest." Sasuke kept his hand on Raiden's shoulder, preventing him from moving again. "You're very weak right now."

"But, but Akatsuki, they could be back at any minute, they can't die, Jesus, Dad, Pop-"

"They aren't coming back for awhile," Aimi said from her side of the room.

"And we were just about to find out why when you began waking up," Naruto said. He turned back to Aimi. "What did you do?"

Aimi shifted, breathing with difficulty. "I Boomed them. But I messed it up. I meant to leave them in space to suffocate, but I ended up putting them on a planet."

Wyatt tilted his head. "But, that's okay, right? I mean they can't get back, can they?"

"I don't know," Aimi said slowly.

"Well, maybe they'll die on the planet you sent them to. Not every planet is livable."

"Every planet in this solar system is and I couldn't Boom them any farther. I've never Boomed someone outside myself to someplace I wasn't physically going to, and if I hadn't had Raiden's chakra I wouldn't have been able to at all. As it is, I feel like I ruptured something in myself." Aimi coughed weakly and Sasuke went to sit beside her.

Naruto listened to Raiden's account of what happened with a frown. Then he told his children and Wyatt about finding themselves back in Konoha. Shortly afterward, Wyatt had shown up with Raiden and Aimi, both unconscious. Wyatt had healed them as best he could, healed Sasuke and the shinigamis. They had been waiting ever since for Aimi and Raiden to wake up.

"So nobody knows?" Raiden asked in shock. "Nobody knows they were here???"

"No," Itachi said now. "And that's the way it stays for the time being. The weddings are tomorrow. Akatsuki is not here and cannot come back just yet. I will let my children have a last moment of happiness before I shatter it with this news."

Gaara held up a hand and seven sand balls of assorted sizes floated in the air, with one large one in the middle. The seven spheres floated in a disjointed orbit around the middle one. He selected one smallish sphere.

"This is our home world," he said to Aimi, and the room at large. "Which planet are they on?"

Aimi studied the orbs. "That one," she said pointing to one that was somewhat larger than the one Gaara had indicated.

Itachi nodded. "We will leave you to rest. Shouta is fine, in case you were wondering, as is Yachiru. They are both recovering at my house."

Naruto and Sasuke kissed their children, leaving Wyatt to stay with them as they left to go downstairs with everyone else.

"Well," Wyatt said after a moment. "We got our miracle. I don't think they're mad at us anymore."

* * *

They stood in the trashed living room in a rough circle. No one spoke. Itachi sent a clone off to get one of his children.

At length, Kenpachi cleared his throat. "Naruto. I need to contact my commander. I can't fight with my limiter in place, and neither can the rest of my squad and Hitsugaya. Not against these foes. I'm not leaving here without tasting their blood, so don't worry. We'll back you up. But we need your boy to help us contact our commander."

Sasuke waved a hand. "Raiden can't do anything right now, can't you see how drained he is?" He turned to Naruto, catching his eye.

Naruto understood. "Even with you guys here, I don't know if we can beat them. The only way I could beat some of them would be if I went completely Nine-Tails… if then. The only advantage we have right now is that Akatsuki has absolutely no control over their Bijuus." He shuddered, remembering the raging thirst for blood that had been all around him. The Bijuus hadn't cared who they were fighting, so long as they were free. Kyuubi… no, he couldn't think about how his own Bijuu had almost been drawn into that nightmare.

"Nagato is a real problem," Itachi mused. "I'm only thankful he didn't take our souls right away. Yumichika, you did well holding him off." He nodded at a very worn out looking Yumichika, who returned the nod with grace.

"I'm afraid it was mostly luck," Yumichika stated now. "He has many other techniques that I couldn't fight. Had the Slug not distracted him, I fear things would have gone differently."

"There's a lot we don't know about Raiden and Aimi's powers," Sasuke said into the silence that followed. "Like the fact that their more special abilities apparently can't be used for extended lengths of time. And when you think about it, we've never exactly trained those abilities, have we Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head, thinking. "How could we? We can't do them ourselves. And… I don't know about you, but I was damn rusty out there. Training with Raiden is not the same as training ourselves, which we haven't been doing."

"We're out of shape," Sasuke admitted shamefully. "I went down too fast, even against them."

"You and I both," Itachi concurred, turning his head aside as his clone came back.

***

Kenta entered behind the clone, gray eyes sweeping to Yumichika to assess his apparent fatigue. He then looked at the wreckage. He turned to his father and waited to be enlightened.

Itachi suddenly loved this man he barely knew with a ferocity that brought tears to his eyes. It was his own son, but just then he couldn't list ten things he knew about him. Yet the boy came and showed discretion when faced with such a scene. His son, and he might lose him if and when Akatsuki came back. Itachi went to him. He patted Kenta's shoulder awkwardly. Then he stroked it. Then he was pulling the muscular body into a tight embrace.

Kenta hid his shock well. He raised a hand and rested it on Itachi's back, embarrassed. "Dad?"

Itachi pulled back, managing to swipe his eyes on Kenta's shirt discreetly as he did so. He took a deep breath and led Kenta to the other occupants of the room. He first addressed Gaara. "The solar system again, if you please Gaara."

Gaara had it in place within seconds. Everyone watched, wondering what was going on. Itachi, though, knew Madara well. He had an idea, one he didn't voice, but he needed information.

"Now, Kenta." Itachi turned to his son. "I know you study the heavens as well as geology. That last planet there, where is it now, in relation to our world?"

Kenta did not ask for an explanation. He stepped forward and pointed. Gaara repositioned the orb.

"I see," Itachi said. "And when will its path cross ours? When will it be as close to us as it can get?"

Kenta appeared to think. "Six months."

Itachi thanked his son almost warmly, making Kenta stare for a moment. He left shortly afterward. When he was gone, Yumichika's eyes lingering on the broad retreating back, Hitsugaya spoke up. "You think they can hop to this world if they are close enough?"

"I think Madara can," Itachi nodded. "I'm not certain, but I think so. If he knew what planet he was on in the first place."'

"Can't we go there and finish them off," Ikkaku asked Naruto seriously. "When your kids recover?"

"Weren't you listening?" Sasuke asked testily. "My kids were nearly killed. And that was only against Madara. If Nagato or Pein or whatever the fuck he's calling himself now was there, he would have sucked them both dry."

"We need help," Gaara said thoughtfully. "And your friends won't be nearly enough, Naruto. I think we need to give thought to this army of Bijuus Fee-Bee mentioned."

"Sure, I'll head out to the pet store and round some right up," Naruto snapped. "They ain't exactly growing on trees these days, you know?" Then he scrubbed his hands down his face. He squatted on the floor. "I'm sorry. I just… can't believe this is happening and we couldn't do anything, not one fucking thing, against them. Jesus, they're actually back. It's like my time as a boy all over again. I can't take this."

Sasuke went and knelt in front of his demon, murmuring inaudibly to him.

"We do need help," Itachi said. "And we need to think about becoming stronger ourselves. For now, it can wait until after tomorrow. I suggest we all get some rest."

Nods of agreement, and then they were dispersing, each going to the person they thought would bring them the most comfort, still operating under a heavy pall of shock.

Akatsuki had come back without preamble, almost like shadows. They would have been taken completely unaware despite all the warnings they'd received. And then they were gone again, just as quickly. It almost seemed like a dream.

But it was a nightmare.

* * *

Madara stared at the primitive and deadly rainforest around him. He'd seen some huge reptilian creature flying over head, easily the size of a house. His companions also stared around, Hidan cursing and Deidara bemoaning the fact that he had not an ounce of clay. Zetsu was frozen in some kind of tantric orgasm; the plants around him seemed to be sentient. They were stroking him obscenely while Orochimaru watched with interest. Sasori also looked on. He shuddered.

"Zetsu," Madara snapped sharply. "What can you tell me of this place?"

"Mmm**mmmm**mmm," both halves hummed in unison. "Not our world."

"I can see that," Madara hissed. "Anything else?"

"I like it here."

_Useless fuck, _Madara thought.

A disturbance above their heads revealed a fissure, some kind of rip in the fabric of reality. Demonic howling issued from this rip, causing everyone looking at it to shiver in recognition. A ghostly essence seeped out of the rip and Akatsuki, as a group, moved back from it.

Izanami gathered herself from this essence, regarding them with rage all over her wispy, hideous face.

"I sensed nothing from you for years, only to suddenly become aware of your presence in the world as if you'd never been gone. Explain," was all she said.

Madara did.

"You had the child and he escaped you?" she asked dangerously.

"Goddess, the child has… I think he has kin," Madara said. He'd been about to say Raiden had friends, but the more he thought about that girl, her looks and her powers, the more he thought she could be related. "I think he has a sister. She is powerful, to have sent us here. And there was another, whose powers are not ninja-like and are difficult to read."

Izanami said nothing. She remained silent for so long that Hidan finally spoke up. "Are you going to put us back on our world or what? We want this mission over."

"No," Izanami said witheringly. "You have failed. Worse, you cannot control your Bijuus. You caught them by surprise, but they will be ready for you next time. At any rate, I cannot return you yet. My power is weaker here. When the planets align themselves better, I will move you. Use that time wisely. The mission is changed."

They waited to hear how.

"Bring me all three children," Izanami said as she escaped into that rip in the air. "A little more waiting will make no difference for such a prize."

***

She was gone. They were stuck and it was all… those… kids'… fault. Madara knew that once he set eyes on Raiden's face again, and that of his apparent sister, he would kill them. He would not have the bastards existing anywhere. Izanami could do her worst, but he was heartily sick of everything having to do with Uzumaki, Uchiha and the whole cursed populace of Konoha.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Finally! At long last! Hopefully future chaps will follow in my usual timely fashion. I know it's been a month since I updated this, but hopefully you found the work I produced in the interim enough to keep you entertained.

This chap ends Part 1. Chap 23 will begin part 2. Not much romance (if any) in the 2nd and 3rd parts of this fic. At least that's the plan, anyway.

I'd just like to take a moment to say how sorry I am that some of my favorite authors have completely stopped posting because of a lack of feedback. They all say the same thing: authors spend long hours to provide you with free accessable material to read, the least readers can do is leave reviews, especially if they fave the work. Not speaking to all the ppl who do review, but the lurkers. One person even took down their stories entirely. That sucks, you know?

Anyways, onward.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 22

Hiroko searched everywhere. Konohamaru wasn't at work and he wasn't at his apartment. She braved a few bars and other locations she knew to be social hangouts. Nothing. She finally returned to his apartment and found Udon there. Her sister's fiancé informed her gently that Konohamaru probably wouldn't be back until the wedding the next day. He hadn't seen his roommate in days. Hiroko quietly thanked him and left.

***

The wedding day itself dawned bright and clear. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The weather was perfect, the very air a caress on the skin, every flower indigenous to the Fire Country in bloom. Itachi's house, successfully repaired, was abuzz with activity.

Every Uchiha, with the exception of Sasuke, was in Itachi's house. Sumiko and Akane were the center of a flurry of preparations and familial support. Even the boys were involved, helping their sisters prepare for the big day. Sumiko was a bundle of nerves, wound tightly. She was silent, almost frigid with her tension, hardly communicating with anyone, but just as busy as the rest. Akane was the opposite. Her siblings ran from her, her excitement erupting in violently happy hugs, punches and kicks. She was nearly bouncing off the walls. Kaito had to make a running leap and tackle her at one point and forcibly restrain her while Hiroko worked on her hair. Akane seemed not to notice, keeping up a stream of happy chatter.

Itachi himself looked on with pride. He was happy for his daughters, yes, but even happier at having all his children around him. Even the youngest ones, whom he barely knew. He'd caught Ryota trying to drop centipedes into the folds of the wedding garments and smacked him soundly. Then he'd drawn the boy into a hug, speaking to him quietly of the importance of this day. Telling him that one day he'd be married as well and to have some respect.

Busy as they were, Itachi would have been shocked to know his children noticed the shadow in his eyes, the way they wandered when he wasn't speaking directly to one of them. Some of them, such as Kenta and Asami, knew something had taken place. Shouta had been approached, presumed to have information because he'd been recovering with Yachiru, but Itachi had admonished him beforehand to keep silent. When no information was forthcoming, the children opted to focus on the big day. They'd get answers from their father later.

***

Itachi entered his kitchen and found it mercifully empty. He needed a moment.

He leaned his hands on the edge of the stainless steel sink, absently looking out the window above it. It was awhile before he deciphered his feelings as panic; there was Akatsuki, yes, but that wasn't what twisted his insides with cold fear. It was his children. Or rather, the sight of them all here, and surrounding him with their noise and smells and diverse personalities. They were all so beautiful and he loved them so much, despite his past actions. The thought of losing them, any of them, had his heart stuttering in his chest and his fingers gripping the sink.

He hid it well, or so he believed. The feeling had crept up on him slowly out there, like a storm cloud silently blowing in from the sea. Itachi hung his head and gasped. He felt like his throat was closing up.

Gaara came up behind him, having followed him from the living room. Itachi had not looked well and he looked even worse now. He put a hand on the man's shoulder and was further alarmed to feel his habitually calm lover trembling. "Itachi?"

A choked sound escaped the Uchiha and Gaara pulled him around, grabbing his face to look into his eyes. Itachi was wheezing.

"All right," Gaara said soothingly. He guided Itachi to a chair at the small table, squatting in front of him and gripping his thighs firmly. "It's all right. Try to calm down, Itachi. Shhh." He rubbed the thighs in relaxing strokes, continuing to speak in tranquil tones. "Just concentrate on breathing."

Itachi leaned his head back and tried to comply. His heart was hammering, making his head spin, but Gaara's touch helped. His voice helped still the panic clawing at him and his tremors subsided somewhat. His throat felt less tight.

Gaara leaned back to peek around the edge of the kitchen doorway. It seemed no one needed them for the moment. He stood quickly and helped Itachi to his feet, guiding him up the stairs and to their bedroom. When the door was shut and locked, he turned to the older man.

Itachi didn't resist the embrace or protest the way Gaara murmured at him as if he were some helpless female. He let himself be held.

After a few moments, Gaara stood back to look into Itachi's eyes. "Better?"

A nod. "I'm not feeling well."

"You had a panic attack. Can I assume the cause is Akatsuki?" Gaara frowned in concern.

Itachi could not remember ever having experienced a panic attack. He stroked a lock of Gaara's dark red hair. It was getting long, covering his ears. "Yes and no. I don't want to lose any of my children, and yet I feel terribly certain that we won't all make it out of this alive. It would be too much to expect such a miracle."

Gaara nodded. He understood. "I have the same fears, Itachi. There's nothing we can do. Except our best. All we can do is our best."

Itachi glanced at Gaara's mint green eyes with an expression the redhead couldn't read. "Actually…"

Gaara tensed. That look hid something. "What," he said in dread.

"I was thinking," Itachi said as he continued to finger that lock of hair. "That we could send them all away. Once Raiden and Aimi recover sufficiently, I could have one of them send the kids away… to Wyatt's world or someplace else that's safe. Until Akatsuki is dealt with." His eyes flicked to Gaara's again and were held by the look of… agreement.

The idea had merit, Gaara concluded. He didn't want Yanagi anywhere near Konoha or The Five Great nations. If and when Akatsuki came back, the battle would be epic enough to include every nation under the sun most likely. "They wouldn't stand for it, though," he said to Itachi. "They'd suspect the reason and resist."

"They can't fight Raiden or Aimi's technique."

"No, but they can put a Genjutsu on Raiden or fight Aimi with Ninjutsu. Enough to overpower them, Itachi. And they'd be furious with us."

"I don't care about their anger. I care about their lives, Gaara."

"I'm telling you, it won't work."

Itachi sighed. The man was right. His children were proud and fierce. They would fight and be damned to the consequences. It was perhaps the only time he didn't feel pride where they were concerned.

"You need to relax," Gaara said. He ran a hand up Itachi's arm, stopping at his collar. His fingers rested on the fastenings of Itachi's shirt. He raised questioning eyes to the black ones. "I can think of a few ways…"

Itachi could think of a few himself. Panic attack gone, he stepped into Gaara's arms and proceeded to relax them both most thoroughly for the next two hours.

* * *

Downstairs, conversation and activities briefly stop as a thud followed by a wanton moan is heard. There are a few snickers before talking resumes.

Kenpachi, kicked out of Sasuke's house, was staying with Itachi, along with his vice-captain. Yachiru was mostly well, deep in conversation with Shouta off in a corner. He, however, was stuck watching all the stupid preparations for the damned weddings. He'd been asked by the big blonde one, Hiroto, if he'd like to help out with arranging gifts. Kenpachi had given him a pointed glare, fingering his sword. Hiroto had glanced between the one malevolent eye and the sword. He left Kenpachi alone.

The tall shinigami reasoned things wouldn't be so bad if he could at least be sure his lieutenants were suffering as he was around these loud people. But Hitsugaya, Ikkaku and Yumichika had gone off to spend the day elsewhere in the village until the ceremony was over. He hadn't even been asked to come along, seeing as he'd been sleeping when they left. And he didn't feel like going out to look for them. He holed himself up in the guest room downstairs, alone.

Akatsuki occupied his thoughts. They were every bit as strong as Espada. Espada in released states, no less. Possibly stronger; he'd been fighting on guts alone by the time he'd taken that last hit. Once all this party shit was done, he'd get the kid Raiden to help him contact his commander. He'd catch hell from the geezer, might even be prevented from returning, but he'd deal with that when he came to it. He needed his limiter off. He was not leaving this world until he'd had a taste of Kisame's blood.

He had no thoughts on Aimi for the moment. All of his focus was on Akatsuki, going over what he'd seen of their fighting styles and reiatsu.

* * *

Things were lively in Sasuke's house as well. The morning of the wedding, both he and Naruto noticed how Raiden and Aimi seemed to be completely recovered. Wyatt was sporting a few bruises, but was seen romping with Raiden and Aimi in the backyard.

Sasuke woke up to the sound of them all playing and shrieking, obviously having fun. Naruto was lying quietly at his side. A glance revealed the blonde to be awake, eyes distant, likely thinking about the encounter yesterday.

They hadn't made love last night. Sasuke had held Naruto snugly, the blonde's arms just as tight around him. They'd listened to each other's breathing, feeling their hearts thud slowly against each other's chests. No words had been necessary. They both felt it; the fight with Akatsuki was like coming full circle, as if they'd never grown up. Almost as if they were children again, constantly looking over their shoulders, aware that there were people out there who wanted them dead.

Naruto spoke first. "Those kids seem happy. I don't know about you but I think they're well enough to receive a little lesson on disobedience. Even after everything that happened yesterday. I don't feel an impending apocalypse excuses their behavior, do you?"

Sasuke managed a sleepy smile. "No, I sure don't."

"I mean, we wouldn't be proper parents if we let shit like yesterday slide," Naruto said. He seemed to be trying to talk himself into it.

"No, we wouldn't. They _hit _us, Naruto. Told us to our faces that they were going to do what they wanted to do and not what they were told."

"Yeah," Naruto said with a short nod. "My mom would have killed me if I'd done something like that."

"Mine, too."

"I think we'll need a little help, though."

"What'd you have in mind?"

***

Aimi screamed as she dodged her brother. They were playing a noisy game of tag. She folded and hid in one of the trees dotting the spacious backyard, waiting for Wyatt or Raiden to sense her. She covered her mouth with a hand, stifling her giggle.

Raiden rounded a hedge and stopped, scanning the deserted yard. He sensed Aimi up in a tree by the wall and smirked. Then he set himself to detect Wyatt. After a moment he sensed his friend over in the flower garden. He crept in that direction, masking his chakra, and found Wyatt lying flat in an unplanted strip of dirt, rose bushes to his right and left. He grinned up at Raiden merrily. Raiden grinned back, putting a finger to his lips with a glance toward where Aimi was hiding.

He dropped atop the older boy without a sound, his mouth swallowing the surprised 'oof' from Wyatt.

Raiden had slept like something dead last night, his body sinking into oblivion in order to heal itself. Wyatt hadn't disturbed him until this morning. He'd just been sneaking into Raiden's bed when Aimi barged in, throwing herself on them both, apparently feeling better.

They'd spent a few minutes reliving the hell that had been yesterday, but the fact was that Akatsuki was far away now and they were kids. It was almost like they'd won the battle already; they pretty much forgot about Akatsuki for the time being. Aimi was excited about the weddings, though sad that Kenpachi had been kicked out of the house. All three were grateful they'd escaped any repercussions from their behavior before Akatsuki had shown up. Aimi said she would fold to Kenpachi again tonight and play with him some more. Then she ran off, daring the boys to catch her. They'd chased her good-naturedly.

But right now, all Raiden wanted was to feel Wyatt's mouth and tongue and arms. He stretched out on his friend's body, feeling the familiar heat warm them both. His blood seemed at once to speed up through his veins and slow down to a sluggish crawl, making him feel drowsy, yet excited. Wyatt moaned softly, hooking an ankle behind Raiden's and rubbing the skin under his shirt.

Raiden jumped in surprise when Wyatt's hands slid down the waistband of his pajama bottoms, cupping his naked ass. He raised his head from the kiss to stare down in shock at the hazy blue eyes. "What, uh… what are you doing?"

"Sorry," Wyatt said with a sheepish smile. "I thought you said we could touch?"

Shit. He had. "Oh."

"Want me to stop?"

"No… it's okay." But it really wasn't. It felt weird being touched like that. Couldn't they just stick to kissing?

Wyatt widened his smile, rubbing Raiden's hard butt cheeks. He pulled Raiden down for another kiss. He didn't notice the tension in the younger boy's body or that the kiss was a little strained.

Naruto stood a short distance away, watching. Then he strode forward, hailing the boys heartily, making them jump apart with guilty expressions. "Breakfast!" he yelled happily. Raiden and Wyatt walked past him into the house. After locating Aimi in a tree and sending her after them, Naruto went around to the front of the house.

***

Sasuke stood there with Neji. Both dark-haired men tensed; this was the first time they'd all been together since the incident that had Naruto nearly killing the Hyuuga.

Naruto only thanked Neji for coming, though. He invited the Hyuuga inside.

Neji ate breakfast with them, the boys talking easily with him, Aimi silent as usual around non family members. Sasuke saw that the children ate heartily, Aimi eating four helpings. Naruto wolfed his food down as well. He and Neji ate like normal people.

Breakfast done, Sasuke invited them all to the den. The living room was still mostly in shambles. The kids looked at the adults curiously, wondering what was going on. Their faces were open, unsuspecting of anything. Neji caught Naruto's eye and the blonde gave a serious nod.

As instructed by the clone Naruto had sent for him, Neji worked quickly, going after Aimi first. He had her tackled, her Tenketsu closed, before Raiden had fully turned his head to see what was going on. The boy was just starting to yell when Neji landed in front of him and shut his Tenketsu as well, turning the yell into a gurgle of pain. Wyatt had his hands over his mouth, eyes wide. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't dare try to intervene. Yesterday morning was still fresh in his mind.

Raiden and Aimi were huddled on the floor, whimpering. Sasuke stepped forward. "Make it so their chakra doesn't come back for at least a day or two, Neji."

Neji frowned. "That might have some unwanted side effects… and I've never tried that before. As it is, they'll be unable to call up their chakra for at least twelve hours."

"It'll have to be good enough," Naruto said. "Thanks. See you at the wedding?"

"No doubt," Neji said. He brushed a sheaf of hair from his face. "Anything else?"

"No, we're good here. Thanks again," Sasuke added.

Neji nodded and left. He cast a glance at the kids, then turned away with a shrug. If he hurried, he'd be able to make love to Ino again before they had to get ready for the wedding later.

***

"Dad," Raiden gasped. "What gives… what did we do?" He rubbed his chest with a wince where he was curled on the floor. Neji's hands had felt like stabs from a kunai. His skin stung and burned and he felt… empty. As if whatever life force that usually coursed through his body was mysteriously absent. Was this what it felt like not to be able to access one's chakra??

Sasuke snorted, going to a corner where two sticks, about an inch and a half in diameter, two feet long and flexible, were leaning. He took them both, tossing one to Naruto. "Let's see. What did you three do that could possibly warrant punishment?"

Wyatt's eyes widened at the word punishment, a whine coming from him. He eyed the door to the den. Sasuke looked at him, a clear warning in his dark eyes.

Raiden sat up. "What?" Then his face went slack with dawning comprehension. "But… that… we… Akatsuki…"

Aimi stood and opted to beg. She'd been quietly trying to fold. She couldn't. No chakra meant no folding, Booming or Sharingan. And oddly, it meant no transforming. "Daddy, Papa, I'm sorry," she said sweetly. "Really, really sorry. I promise it won't happen again."

Raiden stared in shock. "You fucking kiss ass! You told me just a little while ago how you plan on going to Ken-"

Aimi swung around and kicked savagely at Raiden's head, shutting him up.

"Bitch!" Raiden snarled. He thrust his hand at her.

Nothing happened.

Raiden got to his feet, eyes wide. Wait, no chakra _at all? _No, impossible. He tried a number of jutsu to no avail. He couldn't fold either, he soon discovered. He glanced up at his fathers. His eyes dropped to the sticks they were holding and he finally understood Aimi's tactic. But the bitch (and he _would _get her back for that kick just now) was a coward. He wasn't begging anybody for anything. He lowered his chin, glaring at his parents, determined to tough this out.

Naruto laughed, low and rich. He pointed his stick, really nothing more than a supple sapling taken from a tree outside, at Raiden's chest. "Not saying I approve of Aimi's begging, but that look on your face? That just killed any mercy I might have had for you, son. Defiant 'til the end, neh? Good qualities to have in a fight, but not when it comes to obeying your parents. As long as I've known you, Raiden, you have always flaunted the rules. Always. I don't know how to get through to you without ripping your shitting head off. You're such a good kid most of the time. I can't understand why you feel the need to buck us the way you do."

He paused, giving Raiden a chance to say something, to perhaps apologize. Raiden stubbornly kept silent, his chin still lowered aggressively. His stance was one of controlled outrage. The boy hated being powerless, Naruto knew. The eyes fairly smoldered with anger. It actually made it easy for Naruto to carry out the punishment. The boy just refused to bend.

Sasuke felt a pang at hearing Aimi's apologies, but that was taken care of at seeing how violently she hushed her brother. Conniving little witch. It was hard to believe his daughter was capable of such behavior, but he knew how headstrong she could be. Once she got it into her mind to do something there was just no dissuading her. Her attempt to sweet-talk her way out of punishment rankled. An Uchiha (and he always secretly thought of her as such) should have more pride, like Raiden there.

Naruto went to his son, took him by an arm, and bent him over the large desk. Raiden didn't struggle, too belligerent and proud to show anything but indifference.

Both these emotions were ripped from him with the first blow on his ass. Raiden jerked, hissed, tried to straighten up as his hands went to the injured flesh. Naruto held him down with a hand splayed on his back. He ignored Raiden's hands and kept that stick coming, fast and hard. Raiden snatched his hands back when they were smacked almost hard enough to break the fingers. The pain was intense. He kept silent for the first few blows, but his dad wasn't pulling his strength at all. The stick only remained intact because it was flexible to begin with. He finally gave in and began howling for mercy.

Aimi actually did struggle against Sasuke. She was very strong, nearly pulling free of his grasp, but he got her shoved against a wall and held her there with a hand between her shoulder blades, her cheek pressed to the plaster. He hardened his quailing heart against her booming screams, beating her solid bottom just as hard and fast as he could. He did not stop.

Wyatt slid down the far wall, his fingers digging into his cheeks as he tried not to cry himself. There was nothing he could do. He considered orbing away, but he wouldn't leave Raiden to face this alone. Oh, but his shrieking and hollering was so horrible to listen to! His dad swung the stick tirelessly, heedless of how Raiden squirmed and pleaded. Wyatt had to stick his fingers in his ears before Aimi deafened him with her own pitiful cries. Mr. Sasuke seemed not to hear or care how she promised between sobs to behave and be good. He only continued to whack her meaty bottom and the backs of her legs.

He didn't know how long it went on, but Aimi's voice was gone, Raiden was hoarse and both Mr. Naruto and Mr. Sasuke were coated with sweat by the time it was over. They backed away from their children and armed the moisture from their faces in an almost identical movement. Raiden cried harshly from his position on the desk. Aimi was lying face first on the floor from where she'd fallen. She didn't cry, but her face was very red and her body shook uncontrollably. She made sobbing noises.

Mr. Naruto came over to him. "Stand up, Wyatt. You want to stay here and side with Raiden, then you get what he gets. Not to mention you bucking our authority along with him. Get yourself to that desk and bend over."

Wyatt thought he would faint. Aside from the brutal slap he'd gotten yesterday from Mr. Naruto, he'd never been struck by an adult in his life. His family didn't believe in corporal punishment. He tried to speak. He didn't orb, but he didn't get up, either. He couldn't. All strength had left him as he gazed up at the stern blue eyes. He felt his bladder trying to loosen.

Naruto reached down and hauled the kid up. He marched him to the desk and shoved him over. Raiden tried to reach a hand to him, but Sasuke pulled his son back.

Wyatt sensed Mr. Naruto drawing back his arm and started screaming before the first blow even landed.

It wasn't bad, Wyatt decided. It was absolutely beyond bad. It was almost worse than being chased by Madara. No, actually it _was _worse. He hadn't known such pain even existed. He screamed until he thought his brain would burst. His butt wasn't padded with fat or muscle like Aimi's or Raiden's and the blows felt like they were breaking bone. His hands scrabbled on the desk as he shrieked.

Naruto didn't use even half the force he'd used with Raiden and stopped after about thirty blows. Much, much less than his children had received. Much less. Wyatt shuddered limply to the floor. Naruto looked up and found Raiden staring at his friend in misery. Aimi hiccupped where she lay. "I'll give you three an hour to get ready. We head out to the shrine at noon." And he walked calmly out of the den with Sasuke.

* * *

The brides were ready. Every other Uchiha was decked out in their very best. Itachi looked so handsome, Gaara barely recognized him. The Uchiha fan was prominent on every kimono except the Kazekage's, high up on the back. The symbol was seen elsewhere, in hair ornaments for the girls, in actual fans held over the brides by Hiroto and Kaito, eldest male heirs. They made a procession from the compound, friends joining them on the way, to the shrine where the ceremony would be held. Nearly every resident in Konoha was attending.

The ceremony was solemn, beautiful. Akane peeked at Ibiki with a twinkle in her eyes. He was so fucking gorgeous in his formal robes! He caught her eye and blushed, remembering how he'd been forced to chase her, naked as the day he'd been born, through the forest yesterday. And all because he'd lost some silly bet with the woman.

Sumiko kept her head demurely lowered. Udon gazed at her with his heart in his eyes, taking in her beauty. He was the luckiest man alive.

***

Hiroko looked at her two younger sisters. She was happy for them. She really was, but she had to blink back tears at missing a wedding just like this for herself. A tiny sob escaped her. Someone stepped up to her elbow and she peeked to see who it was, not wanting them to see her teary eyes.

It was Konohamaru.

He was dressed as formally as everyone else. He didn't look at her, kept his _sake_-reddened eyes on Udon. Clearly he was here in support of his best friend. Hiroko wondered why he'd bothered to stand by her before realizing that he likely did it to protect her from gossip; she didn't think it was common knowledge that he wasn't sleeping in her bed or hadn't been with her since he married her. He was showing people, on the surface anyway, that he and Hiroko were united.

Hiroko turned to face front again. Her tears evaporated as her mouth hardened into a line. Now that he was here, she was _not _letting him out of her sight. She would get this mess settled between them once and for all, as soon as the ceremony was over.

***

Asami watched the ceremony, her hands folded calmly. Her mind was on Hitsugaya. No, Toushirou. She'd been given permission to call him Toushirou, a privilege granted to very few, he'd told her. He wasn't at the wedding. None of the shinigami were. Their visit was not broadcasted. People saw them around, but were told they were from a very distant place, somewhere near Wyatt's village. She was happy to be here for her sisters but she couldn't wait to get back to Toushirou.

She'd spent every possible moment with him this past week. Her shifts at the hospital dragged by until she could escape and be with him. He would be waiting for her and they would spend hours on rooftops, talking late into the night, sometimes until dawn.

There wasn't a thing about herself that she hadn't told him. She'd shared everything in her mind and soul, all her memories, all her thoughts. The night she'd told him she loved him he'd held her close for a long time. And then he'd kissed her in the moonlight, long and slow, the way he seemed to prefer. He did not give an answering declaration and Asami didn't press. She freely gave of herself, trusting him with her fragile heart. He might break it and fling the pieces back in her face, but she was helpless not to surrender completely.

***

The ceremony was a long one. Traditional gifts were exchanged, symbolizing prosperity and happiness, a fruitful union for both couples. There was much food to eat, _sake _to drink, and prayers said for the newlyweds. Revelry lasted long into the night.

Eventually, though, it came to an end. Sumiko left with her new husband to her house in the Uchiha compound that had been prepared for them during the past month. Akane left with Ibiki. Both brides waved to their guests, Akane smiling broadly and Sumiko trembling.

Love was in the air, inspired by the obviously happy couples. Akiko was seen speeding off, no doubt to be with Ikkaku. Asami left as well. Itachi turned to Gaara with a glint in his black eyes.

Some, though, were not thinking of love. Konohamaru, after seeing Udon off with a lewd comment, left hurriedly, several bottles of _sake _clutched under his arm. Hiroko turned from talking to members of her team to see him walking away quickly, already almost out of sight. "Excuse me," she told her fawning team. She dashed after him, holding up her white kimono.

* * *

Udon now had a key to Sumiko's house within the Uchiha compound. His hand shook horribly as he unlocked the door, letting them both into the softly lit foyer. He bowed his bride inside, lightly resting a hand on her back to guide her towards the stairs. He felt her trembling and empathized with her nerves. He was nervous himself.

Once they reached the bedroom, Sumiko stopped moving all together. The bed seemed very large, a sentient creature that leered at her mockingly. A painful stomach cramp stiffened her muscles, locking them in place as her eyes grew rounder and rounder. Her throat closed up. Her hands were clasped within the wide sleeves of her kimono. She was cold.

It was stupid of her to be nervous. She knew Udon, loved him, wanted him. He'd kissed her many times, and once he'd even been bold enough to fondle her breast. She shouldn't be afraid of sex or of the pain the first time would bring. She was no stranger to pain.

But she was afraid. And after a few seconds, she decided it wasn't the pain so much as it was just the idea of Udon seeing her naked and maybe not liking what he saw. That and the thought of him putting himself in her body. She had a thorough knowledge of the act thanks to Gaara, but the idea of Udon touching her in such places…

Udon rested a hand on her shoulder, turning her away from the bed to face him. He was gentle about it and that helped.

He held her, murmured to her, told her he loved her and that everything would be all right. "We don't have to if you're not ready," he said slowly. "I can wait."

Sumiko nodded. "I know," she whispered. "But it's okay. I'm okay." If she didn't do it tonight, she would just put it off longer and longer.

Udon smiled. Then he kissed her. She loved his kisses, was used to them, but it did not dispel her nerves. Nothing would get rid of her nerves except waking up tomorrow morning to know she'd gotten through tonight.

He seemed to understand. He left off kissing her to undress himself, leaving his clothes where they fell. He saw her wide eyes take in his body in one raking glance… and come to rest on his manhood. She blinked. He was glad he was soft. The sight of him fully aroused might scare her further and he didn't want that.

She didn't flinch when he moved to undo her sash. She let him fold her kimono open, exposing the _hadajuban_ that came to her knees. Always controlled, was his Sumiko. He soon had her completely nude. Udon stepped back, giving her a chance to get used to seeing him naked while simultaneously taking in the perfection of her body.

She wasn't overly curvy. She was predominantly muscular, in a slim sort of way. There was no softness to her arms or legs. She was compact and hard from years of intensive Taijutsu training. Udon knew her limbs only became soft when she was completely relaxed, as she was when kissing. She was stiff now, though she maintained her even breathing, her calm look. She reached up a hand and deftly slipped her long hair ornaments from the styled tresses, letting her dark hair unfurl down her back and over one shoulder. She waited.

Udon surmised that they had the rest of their lives to have loving, passionate sex. For now they just needed to get through tonight. He wanted it to be special, since it was her first time, but she was too nervous to respond to anything too drawn out; in her current state she would only see it as delaying the inevitable. In short, torture.

He went to her, gathered her, stroked her. She was quiet as he kissed her face, her mouth, her shoulders. He lifted her, set her on the cool sheets of her bed, and lay next to her.

She sucked in a breath when he kissed her breast, but she kept her hands stiffly down by her sides. He slid a hand down her belly and she trembled. He rolled onto her and kissed her again. Long minutes spent just kissing her, since it was the only thing she was really comfortable with. Deep, slow, wet kisses.

Sumiko relaxed slightly, gradually feeling some of her nerves dissipate the longer Udon's body touched hers. Her legs unlocked and he parted her thighs with one knee, settling his hips between her legs. His soft manhood came to rest against her sex. She tensed, but he only continued to kiss her.

No matter how long he kissed her or where he touched her, Sumiko remained stubbornly dry where he most needed her to be wet. She did not touch him anywhere save his arms and his head. He pushed up from her at last, beginning to panic.

He knew she loved him. Loved him unquestioningly, deeply. He'd thought tonight she would show passion, that her self-control would slip. That he could make her cry out in need and longing and fulfillment. He hadn't expected her reservations to carry over to their wedding night. He sighed.

Then he reached into a drawer near the bed and pulled out a tube of lubricant. He'd entertained fantasies of doing kinky things with it, perhaps trying anal sex for the first time, something Konohamaru said was unbelievable. Now he only used it to coat his soft organ, stroking himself until he eventually became hard.

Sumiko watched. Her breathing sped up as she saw how much longer and wider his manhood became. She had a hazy memory of one of the harpies telling her bigger was better but just then she could not see how. Her husband placed his wet fingers at the juncture of her thighs, which she'd closed again from nerves.

Udon did not even try to pry her legs apart, knowing and accepting that his wife was stronger than him. He only stroked until she parted her thighs on her own. Her leg muscles were as hard as a rock. He suspected she only parted them in order to have the ordeal over with.

He rubbed the lubricant on her hairless lips, noting that they were small and thin. His finger grazed her slit. She stiffened further. He tentatively brushed her small clitoris and was rewarded with one leg coming up sharply, poised to kick. She gasped, grabbing the sheets and arching. He hastily removed his hand; a kick from her would be deadly.

It couldn't be put off any longer.

Udon positioned his member at the entrance to her sheath, pulling her into his arms as he did so. He took his glasses off, folded them, and set them near the pillow. Sumiko held his shoulders lightly, her eyes screwed shut.

The thrust was quick, popping the thin membrane of her virginity before either of them could really register it. Sumiko did not cry out or react to this loss, only continued to hold herself stiffly until the pain subsided. Udon then moved slowly within her, progressively picking up the pace.

Sumiko relaxed. A little. It wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be and this sliding back and forth of his width in her body made her aware of new sensations she'd never felt before. She felt warm for the first time since entering her house, then hot, then a slow burn began low in her belly, somewhere deep in her pelvis. She lifted a hand to her suddenly flaming face as tension built in her-

Udon stiffened and cried out, spilling his seed in her body with a shudder. The building tension in Sumiko was lost, leaving a tingling sense of having missed something important in its wake.

He lay on her for awhile, as he caught his breath. Then he picked his head up, studying her in the faint moonlight from the window. He searched her eyes anxiously. "Are you all right?"

She smiled, stroking his face. "Yes, love."

"We can try again later… if you like."

She gave a small nod. "Okay."

* * *

Akane talked non-stop. She said that even though her own house was prepared for them both, she wanted their first night to be in Ibiki's dingy apartment. When he asked her why she'd said, "Because every girl dreams about losing her virginity in a bachelor's bed, silly."

It made no sense to him, but then most of her ideas regarding him and sex made little sense. At least she was consistent. They made it to his building with her running ahead, holding her kimono up indecently around her knees. Her hair was falling out of its intricate style, spilling lopsidedly down one side of her face as she ran up the stairs in his building to his door. She waited impatiently for him to follow her up, jumping from one foot to the other.

Ibiki was terrified.

This further display of her urgency for him did nothing to alleviate his condition, but only twisted his nerves tighter. He was almost sick with dread.

If she weren't a virgin, it would be so much easier to bed her. That and her clear assumption that he was some kind of sexual master had him breaking into a cold sweat. It was her _expectations_ of him that had him so reluctant. He was terribly afraid he would fall far short of them and he didn't want to disappoint her.

The past week of her little erotic games had helped him loosen up around her, but only because sex hadn't entered into it. The Kazekage's books had also helped, but just now he couldn't remember a single thing he'd read in them. He unlocked his door and just barely managed to get the key out before she slammed into it, bustling into his small apartment with a squeal. She hurried into his bedroom.

He closed his door and took a moment to lean on it. He took several deep breaths, closing his eyes to try and calm himself.

His feelings for her had grown. The warmth they generated in his previously cold heart was another thing that had him uneasy. Love was something that could be used against you. Exploited. It was a weakness.

But he welcomed it. He loved her wildness, her willingness to please him in her quirky ways. A woman had made the mistake of resting her hand on his arm as she asked him something at the job the other day. Akane had materialized, Sharingan blazing, and nearly taken the woman's head off with the kick she'd delivered. Said woman was still in the hospital, under observation. He'd been horrified… at how much her violence and possessiveness pleased him. He belonged to her and she made sure everyone knew it, including him.

Sometimes she was quiet. She wasn't always wild. Instead of roping him into one of her games, sometimes she would sit and simply stare at him. Her love for him was so full, so obvious in her worshipful eyes, on her pretty face that he could never look at her for long when she showed it. It shamed him to be loved so intensely by such as she. He wasn't worthy. And he didn't know why he felt that way.

He opened his eyes now and locked his door. He slowly went to his room and found her looking at a picture he kept on his dresser. It was of his younger brother, Idate. She turned at seeing him, her grin brilliant.

"Keep the lights on please? I want us to see each other clearly," she chirped. Then she squealed again, bouncing in place, her hands clasped. "Kyaa, I'm so excited! It's finally happening, I can't believe it! Do you have any _idea _how much I've wanted this, how long I've _waited?! _Take me, Ibiki!" And she threw her head back, flinging her arms wide as if surrendering herself to martyrdom.

Ibiki swallowed, eyeing her warily. "You do know that I am an old man? I will probably fall far short of your expectations of me."

Akane held her position, her messy hair fairly vibrating on her head with the force of her excitement. "No you won't. I think you'll do fine. Come on!" She gave her foot a little stamp, making her _geta _clack on the hardwood of his floor.

He remained where he was. Her hands lowered slowly as she looked at him.

She flew at him. Literally.

He caught her around the waist, her kimono blinding him as she ripped it off herself in a wild flurry of material. He was suddenly holding his naked bride in his arms as she attempted to treat his clothes to similar disregard. "Stop it," he said, dismayed. "Akane!"

She twisted out of his grasp as he finished removing his own clothing. He stood before her, nude and bashful, as she took in the sight of his scarred body. "Have _mercy,_" she whispered. "Ibiki, you are _so_ fucking hot!"

He had to duck his head. Impossible woman.

"Do you like my body?" she asked sweetly. She twirled in place, her hair, tangled with her hair ornaments, straggling in waves around her shoulders.

She was perfectly proportioned, he saw. There wasn't a hair on her anywhere, and her legs… god, her legs were the stuff of fantasies. Straight and shapely, creamy. She was flawless. "I do," he said.

She whooped, turning to leap onto his bed, where she bounced up and down on her knees crazily. She did this until he finally stepped to the edge of the bed. Then she became still. Finally still and quiet. She gazed at him in bald adoration.

***

Akane had seen his penis when he'd chased her in the woods, but it had been a brief look. It had been soft. And when he'd undressed just now she'd seen it again, still soft. Now he was next to the bed, his eyes running over her nudity and he was starting to get hard. It kept growing… and growing… and growing. Her eyes widened at seeing the final length.

Suddenly she was a bit scared. All she could think was _that's going to hurt._

The head stood out a good half an inch from the shaft all the way around. The shaft itself was probably the only unscarred part of his body, she reflected giddily. It seemed to be average width-wise, but god… that was one long piece of meat. It had hung several inches past his heavy balls before it stood out stiffly with his full arousal. She shivered deliciously, her excitement coming back tenfold.

He knelt next to her on the bed and she came to him, sitting on his folded legs. Her kiss was hot, eager. He kissed her back dutifully.

But her thirst for him was too great to allow any hesitation on his part. Her mouth devoured him, her hands pulling on him and squeezing his muscles. She made urgent growling sounds in the back of her throat, gyrating her hips in his lap, her wet heat pressing against his cock where it stood rigidly between their stomachs. Her madness infected him. His lust was slow to kindle, but when it did it burned bright and hot, free at last from the constant restraint of his lugubrious personality. She freed him. His arms came around her in a crushing grip and he bent her backward almost double as he kissed her fervently.

"Ibiki," she gasped, but his mouth shut her up before she could say anything else.

His kiss shocked her, then pushed her excitement to a point that had her kicking and punching, biting and shrieking. She slapped him hard, snapping his head aside, then grabbed his face to hers again. He restrained her hands behind her back, holding her against his broad chest as he fell with her to the bed, holding one of her strong legs still with an arm. She fought and he matched her. She bit and he bit back. She screamed and he buried his face in her throat, wanting her just as much, finally understanding the need in her. It awakened a need in himself, one that was equal to hers in its intensity.

He wasn't gentle. She didn't need him to be. He closed his mouth over the peak of one breast, sucking furiously. She nearly came off the bed. The sounds she made only increased his ardor, making him move to her other breast. He bit her. Her fist landed on his head, her legs trying to dislodge him from where he lay between them. "More," she said tightly. "Bite me everywhere!"

His lips were a brand, his tongue like fire where his mouth traveled her skin. Between her breasts, over her clavicle, down her stomach, circling her navel ring. He did bite her, leaving teeth marks on her shoulder. Then he kissed her, the first time he'd ever initiated the act.

Her arms and legs were distracting, hitting and kicking him in her fervor. He leaned up and turned her roughly to her stomach, hooking one arm under hers to put her in a half nelson. His hand held her head still as his other hand grabbed her leg under the knee and jerked it up so that it left her spread for him. Her hips arched up against him, his cock resting between the warm halves of her ripe little ass. Ibiki dropped his head to her shoulder. She struggled in his unbreakable grip, his weight pushing her into the mattress. The leg he'd pulled up was spread sideways on the bed. Now he grabbed her other leg and pulled it up in the same position so that her knees were spread flat on the bed to either side of her body.

She bucked, wanting to kiss him again and feel his mouth on her. Ibiki held her down easily with the half nelson and his upper body.

She stilled as he leaned aside enough to press a hand between her spread legs. His fingers were hard and callused against her sensitive flesh. She yipped at feeling him part her moist folds… then she quivered. The tip of one broad, rough finger came to rest on her clit and lay there, unmoving.

Akane was barely capable of coherent thought. The entire day had whirled by in a blur of noise and sharp anticipation on her part. This. This moment right here, was the only thing she'd been focused on almost since her father told her Ibiki would marry her. She thought it might be possible to die from sheer horniness. She loved her man, yes, she loved him with everything she had. But she was young. She'd engaged in a _lot_ of sex play with guys before meeting Ibiki. Hell, she'd engaged in a lot with Ibiki himself. Her body could take no more teasing. She wanted him. On a sub-molecular level. And now it was happening.

She'd been powerless to keep from attacking him, wanting to eat him alive, so sharp was her desire. It was good he was holding her down like this. It felt good; she'd been coming apart at the seams, losing her mind. He anchored her, calmed her enough for her to feel what he was doing.

And god, she loved how he took whatever she threw at him and retaliated. She couldn't hurt him.

His finger began a slow rubbing, a firm massage and she trembled, quaked, bit her lip as her pleasure built steeply, rocketing through her so that she bucked strongly in his grip. "_Ohh!_" The rest of her cry was lost as he kept rubbing and she came again, her breath gone, frozen as the waves undulated like lava through her body. He lowered his face to her cheek, murmuring unintelligible words.

And then, without warning, he shifted and she felt the blunt, wide tip of his cock at her entrance. He had the hand not holding the half nelson braced on the bed beside her as he pushed past her well-lubricated nether lips.

Akane closed her eyes, savoring the feeling; she'd only lose her virginity once, after all. He broached her hymen with a subtle pop they both heard. He didn't stop. It stung like hell, but she breathed shallowly, keeping her body relaxed. His cockhead kept invading, pressing deep and deeper until he came up against her womb… and kept going.

"Unnng," she whimpered. "Ibiki… I can't take anymore!"

"A little more," he grunted. Gods, she was tighter than anything he'd imagined. His hips only needed another inch or two before they lay flush against her ass. He pressed deeper, making her tense and squeal, sheathing the final inches of himself in her heat.

"Aaii! _AAIII! IBIKIIII!!_"

He was all the way in. He had to exert constant pressure to remain so, but he was in. She trembled violently beneath him, gasping and panting. He noticed sweat on her brow and brushed it back into her hair. "Akane," he murmured. "My love…"

Akane's heart hammered against the mattress as she panted. He was in so deeply, she could barely stand it. Tears of lust and desire sprang to her eyes, glazing them as she felt him flex his hips, pulling out halfway to slide back in. "Uhhhhhh…"

Each inward stroke was blindingly deep, forcing her to take all of him. It wasn't something she could get used to. She could only curve her arm around his where it held her down and ride the piston of his cock as his movements sped up, driving into her. She shrieked, the pleasure bordering on agony, unable to contain herself. The way his wide cockhead scraped her tight inner walls each time he pulled back, only to hit so deeply when he thrust in again soon had her screaming incessantly, her mind finally gone as she came again. And still he pounded into her, the force of his thrusts jerking her entire body. The entire bed shook with his thrusts, knocking against the wall.

Maybe it was his age that delayed his release, but he slammed in and out of her young body, making her see stars, for more than an hour. When he came, it was a hot rush deep inside her, flooding her sore pussy with welcome, soothing heat.

"Nnnng," she groaned weakly, nearly asleep. She felt herself being turned over, her legs maneuvered so the soft cock within her wasn't dislodged. Ibiki gathered her close, sitting up with her on the bed.

He stroked her head where it lay heavily on his shoulder. She'd done more screaming than he'd have thought possible, but he'd been unable to stop, driven mad by how delicious she felt, how she responded to him. "Darling-" he paused. To his knowledge he'd never called anyone by that term. He frowned, cleared throat. "Akane."

"Mmf?"

"If I hurt you-"

She picked her head up, regarding him with sleepy eyes, completely sated. "You did, but it was so fucking good… I can't even talk. My heart is still pounding, see?" She raised his hand to her chest. Her heart banged insistently against his palm. "I'll probably never walk again, but you… you are a fucking sex _god._"

She smiled, kissed his nose and put her head down on his shoulder again. He held her close, stroking her back as she slipped into a light doze.

***

He didn't sleep. And when, half an hour later, his manhood hardened within her, she woke with a gasp, trying to climb off his lap and escape the impossible depth of his long cock. He held her hips steady on him as he grew and grew, making her whine. He silenced her with his lips, all reticence gone. He'd pleased her. All the stress and worry he'd labored under melted away. He smiled against her fragrant hair. He would please her again.

The bed broke on one side as he slammed her body up and down repeatedly on his cock, but he didn't stop. Not even when her nails left long bloody welts on his shoulders and she left the imprint of her teeth in his neck. And when the bed broke completely, he took her on the floor, against the dresser and on the fire escape outside his window. Then she slept. He carried her to the couch and let her.

For a few hours.

While she slept, he retrieved one of the Kazekage's books and flipped to a section describing oral sex. He refreshed his memory on certain techniques. When his bride woke two hours later it was to find a _very _knowledgeable head between her quivering thighs. She was not allowed to sleep again.

* * *

Hiroko didn't bother to knock. She tried the knob on the door to the apartment Konohamaru had shared so recently with Udon. It was locked. She could hear him in there, stumbling around and cursing. It hurt her foot to do so, but she lifted her leg and broke the lock on the door with a kick her brothers would have been impressed with. She hobbled inside.

Konohamaru was slouched in an armchair in the main room. He barely glanced at his visitor, upending a fresh bottle of _sake _into his gullet. When it was empty he belched wetly. Then he cocked his arm and threw the bottle at her.

Hiroko ducked, the bottle sailing past her head to crash against the wall behind her. Careful to keep him within sight, she tried to close the door. It rebounded, the jamb twisted from her kick. She gave up and walked closer to him, slowly holding out a hand. "Konohamaru? I-"

"Get out."

"I just want to say-"

He didn't bother speaking again, but jumped from the chair, crossed to her and shoved her hard, all before she could blink. She fell, tripping over her kimono to land on the floor. "I said get out, bitch," he yelled down at her. "Just go. I don't even want to look at you." And he kicked at her.

Hiroko rolled, shrugging out of her kimono angrily to give her freedom of movement. She didn't think twice about dropping the costly, rich fabric on the floor and trampling it as she stomped angrily towards her husband. She barely held in her Sharingan.

Konohamaru was tipsy, true, but not full out drunk. He was mad. But not mad enough to ignore the way her _hadajuban_ showed her body. The material was thin, her panties clearly visibly. As was the fact that her mountainous breasts, currently heaving with wrath, were unrestrained. They threatened to spill from the opening of the simple undergarment.

The slap caught him by surprise, staring at her body the way he was. He snapped his head back to glare at her, before drawing back a hand to punch her. He hesitated, then dropped his hand with a snort. "You know what? You're not even worth it." He turned to find more _sake. _

Hiroko would have welcomed the punch. It would have hurt less than his words. But she wasn't backing down. Not now that she'd made up her mind. Her lip quivered a moment before she firmed her resolve. "Konohamaru," she said sternly, speaking to his back. "I'm sorry. Okay? I… I was wrong. I see that now. I shouldn't have tried to deny you your marital rights." She tried to say more but he spun around and regarded her with naked shock on his face.

"What's this? The ice bitch speaketh! Let's think about your words for a sec, shall we? Hmmm," He rubbed his chin with the hand currently holding another bottle of _sake. _He cocked his head at the ceiling_. _

Hiroko did not like confrontations. His words, his tone, the way he looked at her as if she was dirt, all felt like blows to her already bruised spirit. She'd been through so much emotionally in such a short time: The move back to Konoha, Kabuto, her father's anger, and now this. She couldn't take more. Nearly all of her family was against her. She had nowhere else to turn. He was all she had left. "Konohamaru, please," she whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to cry in front of him. "_Please._"

He impassively watched as she hung her head. Her shoulders shook. He swigged from the bottle in his hand. "You know what? You've ruined my life. Completely and royally fucked it right up." He sauntered to a window, hearing her faint sniffles as she lost her fight not to cry. "Wanna hear about it?"

She gave a muffled plea of his name again.

"I thought you might," he said cheerfully. "Grab a seat, this will take awhile."

She remained standing until he went to her and shoved her again. She stumbled to the armchair he'd vacated, and sank into it. She sat huddled on herself. The sight of her, once so proud, now so broken, really did his heart good. He strutted back and forth in front of her. He took another swig and swished the liquid in his mouth before swallowing.

"It's not an exaggeration, me saying you ruined my life," he said after a moment. "It's the truth. You're all I think about, all I want and you? You, who said, and I quote, "I will never stop loving you. I will save myself and wait for you until I die," you ignore me. You flirt with every male under the sun. But me, the guy who actually loves you, you ignore."

He emptied the bottle and flung it aside, feeling the alcohol starting to buzz through him. She kept her head bowed, staring at her lap. He glared down at her blonde hair.

"I get that I didn't accept your apology. I get that I rebuffed you when you were younger, but fuck you were a kid! What was I supposed to do?! I forgave you, didn't I? What more do I have to do to make you see me?"

Now she picked her head up and fixed him with a black glare. "But you don't see me!" she wailed. "All you see is another woman, someone to add to your conquests. How can you say you love me when you don't even know me?"

"How could you say you loved me when you were a kid of _ten_?" he shot back. "I don't know! I don't understand it. All I know is how I feel, how I break when you smile at another man, how I die when you say my name. Why do you think I married you??"

"But-"

He held up a hand. "You have no idea how angry I was when you gave your little ultimatum. I actually went out and tried to get laid, just to lend credence to your fucking theories about me. And you know what? Can you guess what happened?"

Fresh tears spilled from her lashes as she started to shake her head. Then she remembered what Akane had said to her. Oh god. Oh no. He saw understanding dawn in her eyes and smiled cruelly.

"Women run from me. Seriously. I don't even have to approach them, they just look at me and run. Can you believe it? I managed to get one alone and the bitch was so terrified, saying you Uchiha women had declared me Uchiha property and that I was anathema to all women in the village. Said she'd rather slit her wrists than be caught talking to me." He stared at her. "It gets even better. During a particularly… low… moment, I approached a guy. For sex. Call it… an experiment. Know what the dude told me?"

Hiroko didn't bother guessing. She only looked at his handsome face in misery, hating the twisted expression his anger gave him.

"I was told that your twin had announced that he'd personally end any man who dared touch you that wasn't me so he assumed the threat worked both ways. Now… I know your twin works in a school and all, and he seems mellow enough. But he made a point to demonstrate his sincerity in a, shall we say, most public fashion? Yeah so, I can't get laid if my life depended on it. And my _wife_," he grabbed a fistful of her hair, craning her head back so he could sneer into her face, "has stated in no uncertain terms that she and I are just _friends_." He released her.

Hiroko sat where she was, a hand to her sore scalp as she closed her eyes. Hiroto's actions were news to her. She wished she was dead. Her happy, carefree existence seemed only a memory. She felt like she'd been hurting over one thing or another all her life. She listened to him pacing as he resumed talking.

"Well that bit of fuckery got out, yes it did. The bastard I approached went around telling people I'd crossed to the dark side or some shit. Your brother put a stop to the rumors, and the bastard spreading them – don't ask me what he did with the guy, I haven't seen him since – but by then the damage was done. I left the village for awhile."

Hiroko remembered him standing near her at the ceremony. She'd thought he was protecting her reputation. Now she knew he'd probably been afraid of what her family would do if he stood anywhere else.

"But now," he said brightly, "here you are, taking me back! I can fuck you at long last! Oh joy! My god, I think I'll declare today a national holiday or something! Can I get an amen?!"

His humor, one of the things that had attracted her to him, was forced, poisonous with the clear hatred behind the words. She stood up. "I'm sorry. For everything. I don't know how I can make it better or fix it. I keep screwing everything up since I came back to this village." Her face crumpled, soft sobs escaping her as she covered her face with her hands. "I'll leave. I'll agree to a divorce if you want it, and then I'll go to Suna."

Her voice was muffled by her hands but he heard her clearly. He stepped to her and grabbed one wrist, yanking it down so he could look at her face. "Go? After you offered me your golden pussy at last? Oh, I think not, missy. You're not going anywhere."

She tried to twist from his grasp. "You're hurting me."

Konohamaru narrowed his eyes as he held her, a suspicion forming in his mind, no doubt thanks to the booze. "Come to think of it, why are you offering yourself? You haven't said you love me, so it can't be that. You were damn sure about keeping this marriage in name only… so what is it?" She tried to pull away from him when he grabbed her shoulders. "Are you pregnant? Is that it? You're carrying Kabuto's brat and hoping to pass it off as mine?" He shook her when she began protesting. "Don't lie! You think you can use me on top of everything else?"

He slapped her. Hard. Her hair came undone. He snatched her by it, hauling her from the floor where she'd fallen to throw her against the wall. She screamed his name, catching herself before she could fall to the floor again as he came toward her, head lowered, fists balled.

Her_ hadajuban _had torn, showing one large milky breast. She tried to cover herself with her hands, her pleas lost in the dull roar of rage pounding through his skull. It was too much. After she'd lain with the enemy, and tried to cover the bastard she carried by whoring herself to him, now she would deny him the sight of her. He yanked her hands away from her chest, pinning her against the wall.

"Well," he said thickly, "I might as well have you while the offer stands…"

She was numb, she decided. She didn't feel the way his hands bruised her wrists, the way his mouth, bypassing her lips entirely, traveled wetly over her throat and her exposed breast. He left her wrists to grasp her hips, lifting her against the wall, ripping away the rest of her _hadajuban _in order to feast on both orbs. She marveled that he'd never kissed her. Outside that time when she was ten, he'd never kissed her.

***

She found herself on the floor, staring at the ceiling, at the small cracks there, as Konohamaru's rough hands roamed her body, pinching, hurting. Kabuto had shown more care for her than this. This… this was the man she was married to, the man she supposedly loved. And he was going to rape her.

Her Sharingan was activated, but she held off using it. She would try one more time to reach him.

Konohamaru jerked at feeling her arm come up to hold him. She'd lain passive while he made a cursory exploration of her body. He was undoing his pants when he felt the touch on his shoulder, saw her red eyes looking at him calmly. Of course she'd be calm. She'd come here to get laid and he was obliging her. He knocked her hand away, lined himself up with her two-timing pussy, and shoved forward.

Hiroko gasped at the entry, but there was no real pain just yet. Just the sense of him filling an inch or two of her body, of stretching. He was immobile above her, his body covering hers as he kept his face in her neck.

Konohamaru didn't think he'd ever risen from the depths of inebriation to sobriety so quickly in his life. He encountered the proof of her promise to him and just _barely _pulled back in time from piercing the thin membrane. Shock and cold horror at himself, at what he was doing, at how he'd nearly-

He got up and backed away from her hurriedly. Hiroko sat up slowly, bringing an arm up to cross over her breasts as she drew her knees up to her chest. She didn't look at him.

Konohamaru's eyes were wide_. You weren't even under a Genjutsu this time, you fucking shit. What's your excuse?? She pissed you off so you try and RAPE HER??? _"Oh Jesus." He covered his mouth with a shaking hand… all of him was shaking. He looked at where her head was bowed, her hair falling around her. He saw bruises on her, a cut on one foot from where she'd stepped on glass. "I…"

But there was nothing he could say. Nothing.

He turned from her and went to his bathroom. He shut the door, expecting that she would leave. He couldn't look at her, couldn't poison her further with the sight of him. His face twisted in agonized self-loathing. The things he'd said to her… Even drunk, he would never have believed himself capable of such consummate assholery. Jesus, he'd hit her. He was nothing but a walking cumstain.

Dazed with the level of his own shittiness, he turned on the cold water in his shower and stepped into the spray.

She'd waited for him. She'd saved herself for him. Wonderful as that was, it paled beside the knowledge that she hadn't lied to him about Kabuto. That despite what he'd done, he hadn't raped Hiroko.

_Yes, as you nearly did._

He hung his head beneath the freezing water, too furious with himself to cry, though his eyes stung with the need. What was wrong with him?

He stayed in the shower for a long time.

* * *

The triplets were asleep. Shouta and Yachiru sat on the floor in the living room amidst discarded wedding preparations. They were silent as the sound of Shouta's father and Gaara making love drifted throughout the dark house.

They'd spoken with each other about the events of the previous day. Yachiru had yet to return to her sunny random craziness, remaining subdued. Shouta was likewise scared shitless, but he missed her usual annoying personality. It had been starting to grow on him. He looked over at where she sat beside him, her large eyes downcast, staring at the lengths of ribbon they were supposed to be winding on a spool.

"I heard you tried to save me," he said quietly. "That's how you got hurt."

A small nod. "I couldn't let them take you."

Her voice, when she wasn't shrieking horrid nicknames for people, was low, soft and pleasant. Shouta looked at her bowed face. He felt a warmth in his chest for how this small girl had gone up against Akatsuki for him. He touched her hair gently, stroking the pink stuff with a hand. And when she turned her brown eyes up to his, he leaned forward and kissed her smooth lips, just as softly.

He pulled back, suddenly embarrassed. "Thank you," he stammered. "For trying to save me."

She smiled. Then she laid her head on his shoulder. Shouta, feeling quite proud at delivering his first kiss, cautiously put an arm around her. They sat that way, staring at the mess around them.

* * *

Kenta grunted, but didn't cry out at the harsh way Yumichika ripped into him. He knew something had happened yesterday, but didn't ask. He trusted he would be told when the time was right.

For now, he held his peace and held onto the headboard, biting his lip as the shinigami brushed his prostate. Yumichika had been like this since whatever had happened yesterday.

* * *

"What?!" Raiden stared in horror at his dad. "But… that's not fair!"

Naruto stared hard at his son. Then he glanced at Sasuke. "Kid's still not getting it. You try explaining."

Sasuke folded his arms, looking at his angry children and one properly chastised Wyatt. He repeated what Naruto had just told them. Only repetition would penetrate their thick skulls. "From now until Wyatt gets taken back to his world, you boys will remain in Naruto's presence. At all times. No sleeping alone so you can grope each other, no leaving the house without Naruto there with you, etc. Try and fold or orb away and we'll come after you. We'll find you and things will be a thousand times worse. Even if we can't find you, you'll be hunted by every hunter-nin and ANBU I can bribe. There'll be no shelter for you in any nation, anywhere. And you, Aimi, will be by my side until Kenpachi leaves. You'll be my shadow. Where I go, you'll go. Try to go to Kenpachi and I will kill him. If I have to get every Uchiha alive to do it, I will. He's not touching you. You don't belong to him. Understood?"

Their chakra was still absent or the place would have rung with the roars of transformed children.

Naruto fondled the stick he'd kept tucked into his sash. "We said do you three understand. I got no problem refreshing this morning's lessons-"

"I understand," Wyatt said quickly.

Sasuke and Naruto stared at Raiden and Aimi. Aimi hung her head and nodded reluctantly. Raiden stared daggers at his dad. Naruto tilted his head, eyes narrowing.

"You look like you want to hit me, son," he said mildly. "Why don't you go ahead and try it?"

Raiden didn't move, only glared. "When my Tenketsu open, I'm running away. You'll never find me. Never. I hate you." He turned and walked up the stairs to his room, slamming the door hard. Wyatt gulped, hating to see such strife in Raiden's family.

Naruto swallowed, frowning fiercely at how much Raiden's words hurt. Sasuke looked at his demon's brave attempt to ignore their son's words and made a decision. "Watch Wyatt and Aimi," he told the blonde. "Let me deal with that shit."

***

Sasuke went up to Raiden's room and calmly entered. He went over to Raiden, who was lying furiously on his bed, and snatched him up by the scruff of his neck.

Raiden, enraged and left with no way to show it without his chakra, did something very unwise. He didn't know what his father could want with him now and didn't wait to find out. They'd taken his chakra and now they'd taken his time with Wyatt; he spat in Sasuke's face.

He expected to be hurled through the nearest wall. This time he would fight, chakra or not. Instead, his father's eyes slowly turned red. That was the last thing he saw.

Sasuke quivered with the effort not to murder his son. To just kill him once and for all. The thought was fleeting, but he imagined how much relief it would give him to indulge his black rage at the audacity of the kid to spit on him. He contented himself with the Genjutsu and slung his unconscious son over his shoulder. He went back downstairs.

What-" Naruto began at seeing him.

Sasuke only said he'd be back later and left the house.

* * *

Asami entered her house and found Toushirou waiting for her. She smiled, going to him and throwing her arms around his neck. He held her, burying his face in hair. They were alone. Akiko had taken up staying in her own house with Ikkaku.

They were silent as they held each other, their feelings wrapping around them almost palpably.

Hitsugaya was in a quandary. He loved her. It pulsed through him like his own blood… but he didn't know if he should tell her. He has never loved another. And though he ached with it, he knew he'd be returning to his world at some point in the future. He couldn't bear to hurt her, not after she'd been hurt so much already.

God, but he bled for her. To have her, knowing they would have eternity to be with each other. Their kisses are passionate. She loves him, he knows. She's told him often enough, with words and gestures and luminous glances. Her heart is in his hands. So easy to break, if he wasn't careful.

He wants her. His arms tightened around her as the now familiar ache settled in his bones. He wanted her more than anything, but he was sure it would complicate matters. If their circumstances were different, he would gladly ask Itachi for her hand in marriage. But what right did he have to ask her devoted father to give up his child to another world? None. And his responsibilities as a captain weighed heavily on him. He couldn't abandon his duty to live here with her. He couldn't. He wouldn't. He shouldn't even be falling in love, but he had no control over that. All they have is now.

***

Asami felt the tension in his body. He'd been uneasy since yesterday. She knew something had happened when he'd brought her Yachiru, seriously injured. Then he'd been gone before she could ask what and by the time he'd gotten back, injured himself, he wouldn't say anything. It hadn't escaped her notice that the rest of the shinigami and her own father had been hurt, then healed by Wyatt. Still, she didn't press. She would get the information eventually.

They moved to the living room and sat on the couch. She snuggled in his arms, liking the way he never demanded things from her. He was content to be near her, whether kissing her or holding her. She'd never been so relaxed with a man, ever.

Still, as much as she loved him, it made her nervous not knowing if he loved her too. It was obvious in every touch of his hand, in every kiss, that he cared about her. That much she could see. But she needed the words. She needed _him_. He was all she saw, all she thought about. So she waited and hoped, unafraid to be hurt. She was willing to follow him anywhere, to any world… if only she knew for sure that he'd have her. She would not ask.

For some time she'd felt desire for him physically laced with their steamy kisses, but she'd thankfully retained enough of herself not to offer her body. Nor will she, not until he states his feelings for her one way or another. Devastating as her love is for him, she'd have no coward. If he showed the courage to state his feelings, she would let him have all of her. Only then.

* * *

Ikkaku isn't troubled with thoughts of leaving the woman he loves. He'd already made up his mind to stay wherever Akiko called home. He's not leaving her, not after the woman yielded herself to him with an abandon that had him ready to kill for her.

All but her heart, that is. She didn't love him and told him so repeatedly. Right before she pounced on him. He'd told her how much he loved her and that he would wait, but she only stared at him with her gorgeous black eyes. Right before demanding he fuck her. Again. The one time he tried withholding sex from her, she caused such hell around everyone that Gaara had come to him and told him that if he had any mercy for the rest of the family, he would take Akiko and just screw her already. Ikkaku had eyed the black and blue bruise on Gaara's cheek and given in.

He was a slave to her. He saw the way she shunned all women now, how she lived for the moment she could be under his body. How could he not be enslaved by her? No woman had ever given herself to him so completely. She is fierce, but intensely loyal to him, attacking people who have the nerve to comment on his bald head before he even has a chance to. She ignored the longing stares of women she'd bedded. Everything she said and did told Ikkaku she was into him and only him. So why wouldn't she give her heart, too? Is he that repulsive to her? Doesn't she know he'll never do anything to hurt her, would die protecting her? Well at least she was enslaved to him, too.

He gazed down into her glazed eyes as he pounded steadily into her, her legs thrown over his shoulders. She stared back, her hands caressing his bald head as her orgasm built. "Harder. Don't stop," she begged.

He gave her more. He wouldn't give up, not until he won her completely.

* * *

Neji studied the unconscious boy stretched out on the dining room table, his Byakugan activated.

"Can you see his Tenketsu?" Sasuke asked. "Are they still closed?"

"Yes," Neji replied in a low voice. The house was asleep. "But a few are starting to reopen. What is it you want me to do?"

Sasuke scratched his chin. "He has this one jutsu… ability, rather. That lets him travel between dimensions. Is it possible to prevent him from doing that?"

Neji's eyes roamed the pathways only he could see. "Not without impairing his ability to perform Ninjutsu entirely."

"That's just it. I'm not sure it is Ninjutsu. Aimi can do it and she can't do Ninjutsu at all. If he… if he did it, now, while you were watching, could you figure out how he does it and prevent him from doing it?"

"I could try. No promises, though. By the way, does Naruto know you're here?"

Sasuke fidgeted. "Uh… well… not in the _strictest_ sense-"

Neji turned from the table. "Get out."

"Neji, wait! I need your help on this, the kid threatened to run away and-"

"And I just spent weeks of my life with a set of broken legs. I promised Naruto I'd watch myself around you and you, too stupid to learn, are right back here in my house, _at night_, just begging for him to come and kill me. Get out!"

Sasuke lowered himself to beg. "Neji, please. Look, I'll send a clone to him, all right? Will you do it then?"

Neji hesitated on the far side of the room. "If he sends his clone here… maybe."

Sasuke understood. He sent his clone and waited, Neji tensed and ready to attack, until Naruto's clone came back and entered the dining room. It looked back and forth between Sasuke, Neji and Raiden. "What's going on?" he asked.

Neji stepped forward. "Sasuke wants me to prevent Raiden from going to other worlds. We did nothing but talk of that. There was no touching. We-"

Naruto chuckled. "Easy. I believe you. Sasuke?"

"What he said. I wasn't trying to get with him or kiss him or-"

"I meant what you decided about Raiden," Naruto snorted.

"Oh. Well, I'm not letting him run off to god knows where. I thought it was worth a shot…"

Neji had resumed his position by Raiden, Sasuke and Naruto on the other side of the table. "I need to see the move."

Sasuke nodded. He manipulated the Genjutsu until Raiden was in a false state of consciousness, almost like a dream state. It wasn't mind control, but it was close. He'd been trying to learn from Hiroko. He spoke to Raiden. "Son? Can you hear me?"

Raiden spoke as if drugged. "Uh huh."

"Can you access your chakra?"

A pause. "A little."

"Enough to Boom?"

"I think so."

"Okay, listen," Sasuke said. "Get ready to Boom, but don't. Just hold yourself on the verge of doing it, okay?"

"Like… Boom halfway?"

"Yes. Or… in slow motion, if you can. Just don't actually Boom. Got it?"

A small distracted frown appeared between Raiden's dazed eyes. Sasuke knew he was dealing with the boy's subconscious, holding down his conscious mind forcibly. He could feel the kid struggling against the Genjutsu, throwing what chakra he could access into dispelling it. He held it as he waited for Raiden's answer.

"Okay," the boy said at length.

"Good." Sasuke looked at Neji. "You ready?"

Neji nodded. Naruto looked on quietly.

"Do it," Sasuke told Raiden.

***

Raiden concentrated, calling up his seventh sense. With it, he felt for the fabric of reality. Ordinarily he would part it, creating a fold in time and space that took him directly to another dimension without actually traveling the space in between. The way his chakra swelled into a bubble shape around him was his way of shielding the world from the rip in reality. Without that shield, the rip would widen, sucking everything into it, letting other things in. He surrounded his parents and Neji in his chakra bubble now and slowly, slowly, opened a tiny rip in reality, letting in a cacophony of sound that made no sense to their human ears.

Neji winced at the sound, at feeling the air in the bubble sucked through that pinprick-sized hole a foot above Raiden's head. He concentrated on studying the boy's chakra, on what it was doing. He felt the hair on his head trying to stand up.

Chakra consisted of spiritual and physical energy within one's body. The energy Raiden was using didn't seem to be physical or spiritual, yet it required that his chakra be in place. The energy seemed to stem from some unseen place in his being, dependent on his body and chakra, yet apart from them. And while the boy held the technique, not using it, his chakra declined sharply. The strain on the body was enormous, likely the reason behind why the ability itself normally only took a second or two to execute. Anything longer would soon drain him. Neji studied the pathways in the boy's brain. There was one Tenketsu there that seemed to be glowing more than the others. He believed it to be located near the part of Raiden's brain that operated this ability he had. Working carefully, Neji released chakra from one fingertip and lightly touched Raiden's head, above his left eyebrow. He inserted a miniscule amount of chakra through this Tenketsu.

Almost immediately the technique vanished around them. The silence was deafening. Raiden sagged, fatigued from holding the Boom. Sasuke and Naruto watched anxiously as Neji ran his eyes over the other Tenketsu, making sure they were unimpaired. "Raiden?" Neji said after a moment.

"Yes."

"Can you use a fire jutsu now? Or any jutsu?"

Raiden had a minor ball of fire, one of water, one of air, and one of lightning revolving around each other in a few seconds. Neji was impressed.

"Now. Can you Boom?"

Raiden frowned, apparently straining. After a minute the chakra bubble sprang up about halfway, then dissipated. "No," he said.

Sasuke stepped up. "What about folding. Can you do that?"

A pause. "No."

Naruto whistled. "Wow, Neji… how'd you manage this miracle?"

Neji continued to stare at Raiden thoughtfully, clearly seeing things in him the other two men couldn't. "Whatever he's doing when he Booms, it's not chakra based… but needs chakra in order to work. It's strange. I guess it would be like how we don't use our blood specifically to walk or run, but without it we'd be unable to. The blood carries oxygen through our body, allowing us to have the energy we need. The ability needs his chakra in place. It drains his strength and energy ridiculously, though. The move is not meant to be held. How long does it ordinarily take to Boom?"

Naruto shrugged. "A second? Less?"

Neji nodded. "I think it has to do with the mysticism surrounding him. Whatever part of him that isn't human. Whatever force that made Kyuubi is probably what allows Raiden to Boom. Something unknown to mortals. Still, he controls it with his brain and I tapped that part of him with my chakra, canceling it out. I don't know how long it will last. Maybe a few weeks. The brain is more susceptible to chakra than the rest of the body."

Sasuke smiled. "Neji you're a miracle worker. Thank god. Now I can relax. I think Aimi is cowed enough not to go against us anymore, but Raiden was a problem. So, thanks. A lot." He tapped Raiden's head and put him back to sleep.

Neji bowed in acceptance of the gratitude. He looked at Naruto's clone and held out a hand. After a moment Naruto took it. They shook.

* * *

She was still there.

Konohamaru stepped out of his bathroom, dripping and naked, expecting to have the place to himself, but she was still there, getting to her feet at seeing him emerge from the bathroom at last.

They stared at each other, her hesitant, him stone cold sober.

He dropped his eyes. "I'm… sorry." He took a deep breath. "So sorry. I was drunk, but I was also angry. No excuse." He shook his head briefly, about to say something, but thinking better of it. "If you still want to divorce me-"

She was in front of him, having come up to him silently while his head was bowed. She was unashamed of her nudity or his, looking steadily into his eyes as she rested her fingertips on his lips. Her face was shadowed, but he saw her. Saw how she took a deep, steadying breath. "I love you, Konohamaru," she whispered. "Only you, always you. Never anyone else."

His eyes searched hers slowly as it dawned on him that she did, she really did, or she wouldn't still be here after he'd hit her. The light in her eyes as she gazed at him cleansed him of his shame. And now the tears do come, because he knows he doesn't deserve her forgiveness.

"Konohamaru?" her voice was a caress of her warm breath against his lips. "Will you… if you don't hate me… will you kiss me please?"

His heart just about broke at hearing the uncertainty in her voice. But he wanted to, has wanted to for a long time.

***

Her mouth has ripened since she was ten. He was kissing a woman. His woman. Her lips don't need to be coaxed apart, already parted for him, only him. His tongue fought a lazy battle with hers, learning the feel and texture of her palate, skimming over her gums-

Making her swoon. He caught her, staring at her fluttering eyelids in concern. He swept her up, her hair covering her body and sticking to his, and carried her to his room.

He was gentle. At least, gentler than when he'd nearly raped her. She roused herself enough to twist her hair into a loose tail that lay beside her on the bed. He came down on a forearm and resumed kissing her, his hand flat against her belly.

She wasn't as luscious as he'd thought she would be; she was more so. He finally broke the kiss to run his hands over her limbs at long last, absolutely _glorying _in the thickness of her thighs, the width of her hips, the heft of her breasts. He groaned, burying his face between them, nearly suffocating as he squished them against his cheeks, making a sandwich of his head. He felt her hand undo his soaking wet ponytail and leaned up, shaking his hair like a dog so that the cold water sprayed her everywhere. She laughed and squealed and he knew then that he'd waited for her too. All these years, he'd been waiting for her, for this, for when they could really be together with no shame.

He grabbed her to him, molding her legs around him, filling his arms with her healthy curves. He was more than man enough for her with his heavy, muscular frame, rolling with her so that she was on top of him. He took care to wind the tail of her hair around his forearm, keeping it out of the way. She grinned down at him.

"I'm sorry," he said again, brushing a strand of hair from her temple.

"Me too. I was just so scared you'd mock me… for still loving you. That you would only see me as just another of your women."

Konohamaru shook his head slightly at the strangeness of women's thoughts. "I could never see you as anything but the superior creature you are."

Hiroko blushed. "I really messed things up, though. I'm s-"

"Enough apologies," he told her. His eyes dropped to her breasts. "Hiroko…

"Yes, Konohamaru?"

"You know I love you?"

She scrunched her shoulders, blushing harder than ever. She nodded, her lip between her teeth.

"Good… because I'm going to make love to you."

Her eyes widened, but then he moved her hips so that the erection that had risen behind her while she sat on his stomach slid between her spread thighs, directly over her moist crotch. "_Oh,_" she said in a small voice.

He was serious now, sitting up to lift one breast to his lips, watching her face as he sucked the ripe nipple. Her head fell back, her face slack with immediate pleasure. She breathed through her open mouth, her hands bearing down on his shoulders. He moved to the other breast, sucking hard for a few moments. He released both breasts to roll the peaks in his fingertips, feeling her lower lips swell and grow wet against his cock.

Her hair still around one forearm, he ran his hands over her dramatic curves, grasping her hips. He drew her tightly against him, watching how her face tightened with the pleasure of his shaft against her. He rocked her against him for several slow minutes, until her breathing was ragged.

"Hiroko, look at me." He waited until she did, her eyes heavy-lidded and glassy. "Do you touch yourself? Here?" He jerked her against him slightly.

The blush again. "N-no."

He held her eyes as he ran his hand down her stomach, circling her navel before dipping into the sticky cleft of her vagina. He had her pegged as sensitive, highly responsive. He probed her fleshy folds until he could slip one thick finger inside her. He leaned her back a bit, guiding her to support her weight on her arms. Still holding her sleepy gaze as he slid his finger in to the second knuckle, watching as her breasts rose and fell with her rapid breathing.

Hiroko let the brown eyes heat her blood to boiling, even as his hand did the same. It was so different from what Kabuto had done… it didn't make her feel dirty. It made her feel cherished. His finger pressed deeper and she arched. His thumb settled on her clitoris and a cry escaped her, her pleasure sharpening drastically. The near rape seemed like a distant nightmare now. She could hardly remember it, her entire being focused on Konohamaru and the fulfillment of her fantasies at long last.

Konohamaru pressed, only that, working his finger in her carefully. He wanted her ready, not coming… not yet. When she came, he wanted to be sheathed to the balls inside her, feeling every delicious tremor and spasm.

She twisted and writhed, murmured and moaned… when she begged in a wordless cry, he finally removed his finger. He swung her to her back, her meaty legs wrapped around him as he positioned himself. His eyes found hers and she held her breath. "I love you, Hiroko." He entered her strongly.

She gasped, sucking in air as she arched against him, blinking in shock at how he filled her. There'd been a tiny twinge of pain, but it was already receding by the time she registered it. She came down slowly, Konohamaru watching her face anxiously.

Konohamaru had to stiffen every muscle in his body, leaning up on his hands. She was like hot oil, tight and slick around him. He tried to move slowly in her, biting his lip viciously, frowning down at her as heat and pressure settled instantly in his balls.

But then she wrapped those solid legs around him, and drew him down to her heavenly breasts and he was lost. Lost in her, to her. He wrapped his body around hers and abandoned restraint.

Now she did scream, once, but it was hardly from pain: the insanely wild thrusts hit some place deep inside her repeatedly, sending out zinging tendrils of pleasure through her body. She held onto him tightly, the bed making an awful racket as he pummeled her with his body. She squeezed him with her strong legs, the feeling she'd gotten when Kabuto touched her building up in her a thousand times stronger than it had for him. She whimpered in pleasure, in fright of that wave coming to drown her. There would be no fighting it, no recovering, no escape. She tensed against it, remembering how awful it had been when Kabuto had made it happen. It would be so much worse now… "_Konohamaru!_" she cried.

"Let it come. Don't fight it, baby, I got you. Just let it happen."

"Ngnngnn… no!" she could hardly speak, her breath leaving as that wave came closer and closer.

"Yes, 'Ko, let it." He pumped his hips harder, destroying her control as pleasure swamped her, bringing the wave closer still. "Come for me."

She held onto herself grimly, refusing to give in. "I c-can't," she sobbed. "Oh please!"

"You can, baby, do it. Now."

"Oh god…" she was slipping, the wave almost upon her.

"Now, Hiroko," he urged breathlessly, holding back, waiting for her. "Do it. Come. Now!"

The wave crested, broke, crashed around her and Hiroko slipped, falling, rising, coming explosively enough to drench Konohamaru's flexing hips with a deluge of creamy cum. He was there with her, emptying again and again, his thrusts continuing though he was sure he was dying of the pleasure. The sounds of his thrusts became impossible wet, splashing their mixed fluids as he gave and gave and gave…

She came again, harder than before, then again, the waves crashing and crashing until they both screamed.

* * *

They used a conference room in the Hokage building. Kakashi presided at the head.

All the Uchiha, save the triplets, were present. Hiroko, Sumiko, and Akane were present with their husbands. Akane and Hiroko in particular looked exhausted, their husbands scarcely much better. Naruto and Sasuke were present, their kids and Wyatt standing, suspiciously unable to sit down. All the shinigami were present. Gaara was there. Naruto's friends, sworn to stand by him, were also present, Akamaru sniffing doubtfully at Wyatt. Kakashi began the meeting by clearing his throat.

"As you all know, Akatsuki is supposed to be arriving. That day has come. They made their appearance the day before yesterday. Itachi, if you will?"

Itachi spoke above the outbreak of shocked mutters, detailing the encounter. Raiden gave an account on Madara and what was said about their inability to die. Akatsuki's current location was mentioned, the time left to them before they might come back. "But that could be sooner or later than six months," Itachi finished.

Konohamaru, Udon and Ibiki glared at their wives for holding back this information, before turning back to the Hokage.

"Naruto only has one half of Kyuubi's chakra," Kakashi stated. "He has grown up with it, learning to incorporate it. He can control his Bijuu because of this. Akatsuki likely has both yin and yang aspects of their Bijuu's chakra. They are new hosts. As such, they were unable to control the demons. Wherever they are, you can rest assured they are overcoming that hurdle. Madara was never a fool. He will go over what went wrong and set about making sure it never happens again. He does not make the same mistake twice, ever. Add to that the fact that they have no souls, are essentially unable to die and the problem is endless. Naruto can go all out, but it is hell on his body. They can go all out and walk away like nothing happened."

"We have to get stronger," Sasuke said into the silence. "Itachi, Naruto and I need to train ourselves, but Raiden, Aimi and Wyatt also need to train. Every Uchiha here needs to step up their game a lot. Madara is possibly the strongest, most capable Uchiha to ever live."

"Not only that, but what about past followers of Orochimaru?" Itachi asked. "I know for a fact that if they caught wind of Orochimaru back and in power, they would flock to him. The Five Great Nations have many enemies. It will be like taking candy from a Genin to amass an army quite apart from Akatsuki itself."

"You let me and your friends worry about the human threats," Konohamaru stated. Lee, Sakura, Neji and the rest nodded. "You Uchiha worry about controlling those Bijuu. Sharingan can do that, right?"

Itachi just barely held off from snorting. "Not all Sharingan wielders can control Bijuu. Sasuke can, and Madara could. I believe Aimi can?" he asked his brother.

Sasuke nodded. "Kyuubi, anyway. I don't know about the others. Or if I can do anything with the others, either. I've only ever tried on Kyuubi."

Itachi turned back to Konohamaru. "So you see, it's not as easy as it sounds."

Kakashi rubbed his chin, staring at the ceiling. "A pity they don't have souls, Akatsuki. With Sasori human, Kakuzu without his hearts and Pein in his original body, they would be fairly easy to kill." He lowered his head to look at Naruto. "What of this army of Bijuu? Where will we find one?"

"I don't know, sir," the blonde said. "But Wyatt said the visions don't lie. If Phoebe said that was the way, then there must be an army of them lying around somewhere."

"What we need," Gaara said in somber tones, "is help."

"But where are we going to get it?" Itachi asked.

* * *

Outside the door, the triplets crouched, listening. Kei turned to his two brothers, a puzzled frown on his face. "But… that's obvious, isn't it?"

They scampered off to discuss what they'd heard.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Ppl. Number one, Naruto and Sasuke were NOT Raiden's age when they got involved. They were 15. Number two, they aren't being kept apart because the parents don't believe they should be together. I addressed this in separate PM's, but it's also addressed in this chap.

Moving right along, this chap officially begins pt 2. I needed a few days to conduct research or it would have been up sooner. Research done, I've already begun drafting chap 24. Threats against me to update quickly aren't needed. I always update as quickly as I can, so please lay off the begging and threatening, k?

I believe I've thanked everyone in PM's for their reviews, but in case I missed anyone, a big sloppy kiss and hug for the wonderful reviews! Love u guys!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 23

The triplets ran through the village, to the Uchiha compound and on to their father's house. Once there they closeted themselves in their room.

"All right, Kei," Ryota turned to his brother. "What, exactly, is so obvious?"

"Where they can get the Bijuu army," the thin redhead said. He went to his desk and withdrew a notebook he was often seen scribbling in.

Like the proper brothers they were, Masaru and Ryota had peeked in this book often when Kei wasn't around, but the scribbling never made a bit of sense to them. They watched as he drew a series of tiny circles forming a helix pattern. He drew several helixes, so that the paper was soon covered with dozens. The dozens of little helixes themselves formed one giant helix and the entire thing consisted of the little circles. Done, he held up his notebook and showed his two brothers.

"And what, pray tell, is that supposed to be?" Ryota enquired.

"Dimensions of the universe." Kei sounded as if this, too, should be common knowledge. He didn't elaborate.

"How does that picture provide help?" Masaru asked.

Kei waved his pencil at the circles. "There. These circles are worlds. Help is in there."

Ryota and Masaru exchanged a glance, eyebrows arched identically. It was Ryota who walked to Kei and threw an arm around his neck chummily. "Listen, bro. We all know your genius-ness is more than our poor puny mortal brains can comprehend. But check it out. It would really do _wonders _for our understanding if you could, like, speak Human once in awhile. Not often, since we know how it taxes you to relinquish your awesomeness, but now, for instance, when we have an apocalypse on our hands, you know? We could do without the vagueness."

Kei studied Ryota's grin. "I hate it when you put 'ness' at the end of every word."

"And we hate it when you think we can read your mind just because we're triplets." Ryota left Kei to flop on his bed.

Truth was, they did pick up odd thoughts and feelings from each other most of the time. It just didn't apply to Kei's higher intelligence. He held his notebook up and explained the basics of supersymmetry and string theory. Even using the simplest language he could, it took over an hour for Masaru and Ryota to get it. By then Kei's audience was stretched out on Ryota's bed, brows furrowed with concentration.

"And that's not even getting into my theory, which I can almost certainly prove mathematically to be fact. Other worlds and dimensions _are _fact, proven by Raiden and Aimi and the way they travel. However, what I'm saying here is slightly different. And actually, I already have all the proof I need that it's not mere theory, but also undeniable fact." Kei smiled proudly.

Ryota blinked, dazed. He struggled to keep the explanation from dissipating from his strained mind. "So… what is this proof?"

"Mom," Kei answered.

Masaru sat up from his reclining position. "Mom… you mean _our _mother? Ours and Yanagi's?"

"Willow Rosenberg," Kei confirmed. He turned his drawing to look at it, a small smile gracing his thin features.

There was a silence. Finally Ryota threw a pillow at Kei, startling him and Masaru both by bursting out with, "_How, _you ass?! How is she proof?"

Kei rubbed his head, searching for simple words to explain. When he found them, they came haltingly. His brothers listened.

"That's impossible," Masaru stated flatly.

"It's not," Kei insisted. "Because of where Wyatt and Raiden brought mom _from_ before she had us. Later, Raiden, Aimi and everyone else went back to her world and it was real. So my theory is true."

Ryota, more flexible mentally, rubbed his chin in thought. "Okay… so when do we tell Dad and everybody where the help is?"

Kei sat down. "I don't know if we can get there, though. We'd need Raiden or Aimi and knowledge of dimensions that they don't possess. So far, they only go to the separate ones like I explained. Not the other ones in my theory."

"But they could," Masaru said as he came to squat in front of Kei. "Because they got mom."

"No, that was Wyatt, as I understand it. And he did it magically, which is just a way of bypassing the laws of physics by employing the power of entities too complex for humans to really understand." Kei thought a moment. "However, I think if they understood, if they had, say, a visual, then it might be possible for them to learn how to get to where we need to go."

"Where would we get a visual?" Ryota asked. He looked doubtfully at Kei's drawing.

"I think we need to speak to Mom," Kei said finally. "I need more information."

* * *

Raiden walked ahead of his parents on the way back from the meeting. He walked quickly, encased in his roiling anger against the pacifying smiles and attempts to engage him in conversation from his dad. His pop didn't bother, a first rate brooder himself.

Wyatt and Aimi left behind, Raiden slammed into the house, stormed forcefully up the stairs with enough strength behind each stomp to demolish the treads, and swung his door shut with all the power in his arm. He then turned and threw himself onto his bed with extreme violence and crossed his arms.

He sprang up immediately, his bruised ass singing stridently through his nerves, making him whistle out a moan of misery.

For the hundredth time he tried to fold or Boom. Nothing. Persistent trying brought on an ache over his left eyebrow.

He remembered. He'd been unable to go against what was happening, but he'd been able to watch what his pop and Neji had done as if watching a movie. He didn't understand how his body had spoken and responded without his will, but then he'd never claimed to understand Genjutsu or the many nuances it contained.

What he did understand was the fact that his pop hadn't taken his abilities away as punishment for spitting on him or in worry of him running away and maybe getting hurt.

No. His father had done it for no other reason than that Raiden's threat had hurt Naruto. His dad. He'd seen the look on his dad's face as he turned from him. It had even given him a mean thrill of satisfaction to hurt his dad like that.

He'd never really considered it before, the way his parents interacted, what they meant to each other, but nonetheless he knew. It was something just there and irrefutable, like the sky. His pop wouldn't let anything hurt his dad. Not anything. If that something happened to be their very own son, well then said son had better think twice and look sharp. It gave Raiden an odd feeling to know that his pop might be capable of hurting him, really hurting him if it meant sparing his dad. Also irrefutable yet unspoken was the knowledge that this was an Uchiha trait. There was a certain propensity for doing these kinds of things in the history of that clan. An ability to hurt the ones they loved in order to achieve something else. If he needed further proof of the lengths his pop would go to for his dad, Raiden only had to look at the fact that his pop had willingly laid down his life for his dad. Not only could Uchiha hurt the ones closest to them, they could hurt themselves, without limit. To achieve something they considered important.

It wasn't even the same as ordinary ninja ability to sacrifice for the greater good. Whatever it was, Raiden knew that as long as his pop was around, he'd get away with nothing that would cause his dad grief. He might get… hurt, if he tried. He couldn't bring himself to think his pop would kill him, not outright. But the thought lingered in the back of his mind. He'd always considered his dad to be the most dangerous because he was so powerful. But really, when you thought about it, there wasn't any doubt that his pop was more dangerous for the simple fact that the only thing that had any power over him was his dad. No special morals or rules he lived by outside those that kept him by his dad's side. Raiden intuited this, though he'd never seen his pop behave in anything but a correct manner.

_He loves me and Aimi,_ Raiden thought. _He wouldn't let anything happen to us, especially Aimi. But Dad comes first. _

The thoughts were comforting and not. Then he remembered that for all his pop might lack, his dad had in abundance. With his dad, he and Aimi _did _come first. Which made the punishment all the more horrendous. Didn't his dad know how much being without Wyatt hurt him? It was worse than the beating, which he could admit he deserved. In fact, the beating had been getting off light. But no Wyatt… no hugs and kisses and snuggling with him…

As if conjured by some odd melding of Wyatt's magic and Raiden's previous thoughts, Naruto walked into the room and shut the door behind him. Raiden stared at the floor from where he sat on his bed. His dad took up a position across from him on Wyatt's bed.

The area Raiden stared at had been precisely where Naruto slept the previous night. The sight of the folded blankets only served to remind Raiden of how he was being unfairly kept from his friend. He felt his anger simmering, heating his cheeks.

"So," Naruto said cheerfully. "You're angsting and pissy and just so 'misunderstood'. Right?"

Silence.

"Why don't you tell me what has you so angry since I obviously don't know?"

Emphasis had been put on the words 'obviously' and 'misunderstood' so that the boy knew his father was being sarcastic.

"Raiden…" A note of warning now.

Raiden raised eyes brimming with tears of frustration that he didn't allow to fall. "Why do you have to keep me away from Wyatt?" he burst out. "He's like the only good thing in my life right now! Every other shitty thi-"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the language. Raiden hastily backtracked, but continued speaking, the dam of his anger bursting so that he couldn't stop if he wanted to.

"Every bad thing that's happening, I can deal with if he's with me and you just had to take that away! _Why?_ Why don't you want us together?"

Naruto held out an arm. Raiden looked at it mutinously. "Come here," the blonde said. Raiden reluctantly got up and plunked himself down stiffly next to his dad. Naruto put the arm around him, drawing him close. "I would never think of keeping you from the one you love, son. But as punishment, you're going to be denied the privilege of your cozy little nights together. I know your dad and I have been pretty lax while we were dealing with our problems, and you're used to running things with your hunter team, but that doesn't mean you can run things here or disobey us, Raiden. You understand?"

Raiden turned his head and looked into his father's eyes. "I can be with Wyatt?"

"When the punishment is over, yes."

"When is that?"

"I'm going to say two weeks."

"Oh. It sucks ass that I-"

Naruto squeezed Raiden's neck muscle hard, making him hiss in pain.

"-I mean, it's really not fair how I can't fold or Boom."

Naruto studied Raiden as the boy rubbed the muscle gingerly. "And it really hurt me when you said you hated me."

Raiden became still. He risked a peek at his father's face and found the blue eyes staring at him intently, a frown between them. He'd forgotten that he'd said that. He didn't hate his father at all… except for maybe a tiny bit right at that moment. "I'm sorry?" he said uncertainly.

His dad didn't respond. After a few minutes he got up and left his son's room. Raiden was left feeling extremely remorseful. The idea that he'd hurt his dad's feelings was a large and humbling thought. His dad didn't seem like he could be hurt by anything other than a falling mountain. Gone was the triumph he'd felt when it happened.

* * *

Itachi came by that afternoon with the entire clan and the new grooms. Sasuke and Naruto joined them in the backyard for a lengthy discussion. The triplets located Raiden, Wyatt and Aimi and decided to have their own little discussion. Yanagi tagged along with the triplets.

Raiden's room was used.

"It's like this," Ryota began. "We overheard the whole conversation this morning at the Hokage building. We know they're talking about training and help and the Bijuu army. Kei here figures he knows where we can find all that."

All heads swung to Kei. Kei ran through the explanation as succinctly as he could, flashed his visual aids and then waited expectantly.

Raiden frowned. "That's very interesting. So you're saying the way worlds and dimensions are is just one part of the universe? There are also other realities?"

"Yes. And as of now you and Aimi have basically only been using the three common dimensions to travel. Aimi has a grasp of the fourth dimension, Time, evidenced by how she reversed it to undo certain events."

Aimi narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?"

"We overheard it," Ryota smirked.

"Do you three eavesdrop on everything?" Wyatt asked.

"Pretty much," Ryota shrugged. "It's the only way we're able to stay in the loop since no one tells us anything. We're the babies of this family, remember?"

Kei coughed loudly, not liking to be interrupted. "As I was saying. Aimi, since you can manipulate Time, you should theoretically also be able to travel back and forth in it."

"I can barely move time as it is, let alone that!" Aimi was aghast, though she'd secretly harbored thoughts about it.

"That's another thing," Kei said. "You think you're moving the whole of Time backward but you're not. At least I don't think so. Not based on what I've overheard and what I've been able to deduce. Likely you're only moving time in a small isolated pocket. More about that later. What I was saying before is that you're used to traveling the three dimensions and have a slight knowledge of the fourth. By using the fifth and sixth dimensions you can travel to any point in time."

A few seconds of silence as this was digested. Then-

"But why is this necessary?" Raiden wanted to know. "You said the other realities would have what we needed."

"Yes," Kei confirmed. "But it's through the fifth and sixth dimensions that we'll access the parallel realities. Besides, the realities were for one thing. The other help is not in this time but in another." He turned to Aimi. "Can you feel the fourth, fifth and sixth dimensions I talked about?"

Aimi cast her mind out, opening her senses wide. She sensed Time, grasped it, felt it with her awareness in a sort of mental caress. But she couldn't feel anything beyond that. She sighed. "No."

Everyone wilted except Kei. "That's all right," he said now. "I'm probably not explaining it too well, but I bet my mom could. Which is why we need to go see her."

"Wait," Yanagi, silent until then held up a hand. "We're going to see our mother? Our real mother? Now?"

Nods from the triplets.

Yanagi stood up in alarm. "But look at me, I'm a mess! I don't want to meet her in these clothes!"

"And who said we're going anywhere," Raiden asked. "I can't take you."

"Aimi could," Masaru said. "And all of us aren't going. Just us, Aimi and Yanagi. You and Wyatt stay here and make clones of us."

Wyatt chewed his lip nervously, remembering his thrashing. "And _why_ aren't we telling the adults again?"

Masaru fielded that question. "When we tried to tell Dad just now he told us it was noble of us to want to help but to leave it to the adults. He said Genins had no place in this business. He barely even let us get a sentence out."

"But if we explained," Wyatt persisted.

"He won't listen," Ryota said.

Aimi discreetly felt her sore bottom. She and Raiden hadn't been allowed to heal themselves or seek healing from Wyatt. "I'm already in trouble for not listening to my parents. If I do this we have to be back before they notice I'm gone."

"I'm not making any clones," Raiden announced. "They'll only be seen through, anyway. Just try and come back quickly."

"I can't believe you guys are doing this," Wyatt moaned. "This is all so sudden. Shouldn't we talk about this some more?"

Again, Masaru answered. "There's no time to talk. We might have six months or less. You should be thinking about bulking up whatever magic powers you have, not whining about wasting more time."

Wyatt was used to dealing with younger brothers. He seemed to stop cringing at the thought of getting into trouble to walk up to the stout redhead and lean into his face. "I'm not whining. But maybe an adult should be brought into this before something serious happens. It's called thinking things through, you little-"

"Guys," Kei interrupted loudly. "The longer we stand around here arguing the less time we'll have to do what needs doing. No adults for now. Aimi, do you remember where my mom's world is?"

Aimi nodded that she did. Kei paused, tilting his head. "Really? Because the fact that you do means you _can _perceive the higher dimensions. She's not only in another world, but in another reality."

"Well," Aimi said carefully. "Once I've been around someone I can always find them again. It's like a thread is tied from them to me."

Raiden nodded. "Yeah, that's generally how we get to where we want, by following our sense of _who _we want."

"Oh." Then Kei brightened. "I bet our mother won't even recognize us."

"But if I could just change," Yanagi wailed.

Her brothers shook their heads. A moment later, Aimi gathered the redheads and Boomed.

Wyatt looked at Raiden. "They didn't seem nervous about seeing their mother after all this time."

Raiden shrugged. "We should go downstairs and join my dad. We're not supposed to be alone together."

***

In the backyard, the discussion was well under way. Naruto noticed his son and Wyatt taking up seats to one side and gave them a brief nod. He wondered where Aimi was, but decided it didn't matter much since Kenpachi was present and accounted for. He turned back to the discussion.

* * *

The slayer population was slowly being replenished, but the loss of so many ten years ago was still felt. Buffy surveyed the meager ranks as they trained. She felt the quiet, yet powerful presence of her friend come to stand beside her.

"We're only at barely five hundred," Buffy said. "It's taking forever to find more, waiting for them to mature enough to be called. We can't even send them out and coordinate cells in troubled areas or Hellmouths."

Willow put an arm around Buffy. Even all these years later the petite blonde was bitter, frustrated at the blow they'd been dealt. "I know it's hard without Giles and Xander and… everyone." She did not say Dawn's name. "But you've still got me."

Buffy's jaw tightened. She shrugged the arm off.

***

Things weren't the same between them.

Buffy's grief had been sharp, and still was. Piercing. It had cleaved her in two neatly, separating the halves of her life into Before The Night in Hell and After. Before consisted of her time with her family and friends. After… after was better left undiscussed, though it was all around them.

As was her wont, Buffy internalized much of her grief. During the first wave of it, when she'd woken to Willow's healing in Itachi's world, it had been fairly externalized, shared with Willow. But once back in their own world, surrounded by the memories and the… loss, she had withdrawn.

All the baddies that had been in flight from an army of slayers before had somehow gotten wind of the decimated ranks. They descended en masse and not even Willow's prodigious magic skills had been enough to hold back the horde entirely. Buffy had quite a few scars on her now, several on her face. Willow's healing had been taxed again and again with saving what few slayers they could find.

She never came right out and said it, but Buffy felt that if Willow had been present, things wouldn't have been so bad. That the night in Hell would have gone differently. Willow was eaten with guilt, and Buffy with resentment, but whenever they tried to talk about it the conversation went nowhere. Buffy would state that Willow had had a right to see to her children, whereupon Willow would say she could try to bring everyone back magically. Buffy would decline, remembering the near disaster with her mother, and Willow would reluctantly admit that magic wouldn't bring back so many, maybe none of them. Then they'd be right back where they started. The death of their friends especially was an unsightly mass of scar tissue on their friendship, one they could never remove. And so they got on as best they could, but never as they had been. They never laughed together anymore, never shared personal fears and dreams. Willow was just one more weapon in Buffy's army. The Slayer had shut herself down completely and would let no one in again, ever.

Willow, nonetheless, had done a spell when she'd gotten back to find out where Buffy and the children had all been. When she discovered they'd been in L.A. and that Angel had succeeded in angering Wolfram and Hart enough for them to put the city in Hell, she'd lost it a little. It had taken nearly every good talisman she possessed to reverse the curse and completely annihilate Wolfram and Hart in this dimension. She didn't have the power to do away with the organization in all dimensions, but they wouldn't be opening shop on Earth again any time soon. She'd needed weeks to recover. When she came to, she found Angel, Spike, Illyria, Groo, Conner and Lorne hovering around her. They'd tended to her while she'd been unconscious. When she told them the news with Buffy and the Slayers, they decided to pack up shop and join ranks with Buffy.

Angel was human now. Buffy, however, went to Spike. Willow couldn't say for sure if there was love, but whatever there was left of the Slayer's heart, it was clear that Spike had it. He didn't make demands of her, let Buffy come to him whenever she needed it. He was patient. Angel was livid, but kept his peace.

It was obvious to Willow that Buffy treated the others differently from how she treated her former best friend. She tried to include Willow, to make an effort and treat her the same way, but the past kept getting in the way. After awhile they stopped trying. They orbited each other, Willow supporting and helping as selflessly as she could, Buffy accepting. Both hurt over the break between them, but could see no way to get past it. And now that years had passed, it didn't seem like things would ever be mended.

Willow watched Connor training the new Slayers for awhile before she went inside. They were using the castle. Willow had opted to leave it in Tibet, where Raiden had folded it so many years ago. It was cool and empty. She went to her room and sat on her bed. After a moment, she gave in and drew her knees to her chest. She put her forehead on them and cried, hoping the release of tears would ease the pain she lived with.

***

The booming sound was very loud in the confines of the room Willow used. It came and left, the lavender bubble dissipating to reveal five kids. She stared at them, the sound triggering her memory. That was the sound Raiden had made… when… he…

Aimi saw the woman's eyes widen as she looked at them. Yanagi trembled at her side, the boys ranged behind her. The woman, Willow, had bypassed Aimi altogether to stare at the four red-haired children. She stared and stared and then finally she uncurled herself from the bed. There were tears on her face and now her eyes filled up with more. Aimi stared back with interest, taking in the ivory gown she wore.

Willow knew. Not just from how they looked, but she could feel it. Her children. Her own children come back to her. "Oh… my," she squeaked.

Her daughter, last seen as a newborn, stood rigidly against a girl who could only be Aimi. She tried to smile at the her daughter.

Yanagi relaxed a bit and smiled back, Gaara's rare smile, the same mint green eyes shining.

Now the tears came. Came freely, with sobs and kneeling and outstretched arms, and her daughter came to her and threw herself into her arms and the boys, her boys, they came slowly, but pressed to her tightly once in her arms. Willow squeezed them all, inhaled their smells, drank in the feel and truth of them as a desert drinks in the slightest moisture. Just then the feel of the children she'd given up was so good as to be painful. She sobbed against them.

Aimi grinned broader but did not join them. She saw that the triplets' hair was the precise color of Willow's while Yanagi's was the darker red Uncle Gaara sported.

"Uhg," Willow gasped, pulling back. "My gosh, let me see you. Baby?" she addressed her girl. "What did Gaara name you?" She brushed the dark red hair with her hand lovingly.

"Yanagi," Yanagi said shyly.

Willow had to bear down against more tears. Gaara had given her Willow's own name in Japanese. She kissed her and turned her eyes to her sons.

Their environment and personalities had wrought changes in their previously identical appearances. They shared the same face, the same blue eyes, but their hair and builds were different. "When I saw you three last, you were all small and fat. I can't tell you apart now. Who is who?"

Ryota loved his mother on sight. She was soft and smelled good and was beautiful. He stared open-mouthed as he made the introduction. "I'm Ryota. That's Masaru and that's Kei."

She hugged them each in turn again, noting that Masaru was a bit stiff. He did not stare at her adoringly as Yanagi and his brothers did. His look was bland, unflinching. _That one is Itachi in miniature, _Willow thought in wonder.

***

An awkwardness settled wherein everyone stared at Willow and she at them. Finally she moved back to her bed and sat down, knees together, hands clasped nervously on them. She wondered if they'd come to accuse her for leaving them, but when Kei spoke, she found that wasn't the case. Soon her attention was diverted from accusing thoughts all together.

"Dimensions up to the sixth?" she said with interest. "Sure. Well, as you know-"

Aimi and Kei were the only ones who remotely understood the babble of long words that came next and the explanation Willow gave. Ryota and Yanagi busied themselves exploring their mother's space. Masaru stood stoically, arms crossed. He watched Willow with concealed dislike.

"How do alternate realities come into it? I can't sense those at all," Aimi asked.

Willow, thrilled that Kei exhibited her smarts, turned to Aimi after answering his last question.

"Before you can do that, you have to become proficient at navigating fifth and sixth dimensions. How do you alter Time? What is the process?"

Aimi came and sat cross-legged on the bed in front of Willow. She frowned in thought. "Well… when I Boom normally, it's like I'm going straight. But when I want to freeze Time, it's like I turn a corner, instead of going straight, only it's not _me _turning. It's like-"

"You turn a corner in your mind," Willow finished excitedly. "Exactly. Look." Willow made a tossing up gesture with her hand and a miniature galaxy, sectioned with glowing lines filled the room. Ryota and Yanagi crowded near the bed with Kei and 'ahhhed' dramatically. Masaru blinked.

"What is that," Aimi breathed.

Willow pointed to a few of the lines, near the center. "This box here represents the three dimensions you're accustomed to traveling," Willow answered. They all listened as she explained the box cubed represented Time. The lines that cubed the box twice more were the fifth and sixth dimensions. They made the structure into a fantastic construct, barely comprehensible by normal minds. Kei understood it, Aimi barely, the rest not at all. "Now," Willow said. "After turning a corner in your mind, try turning in a one-eighty and going up or down."

Aimi could be seen squinting, concentrating… "Gruh!" she said in frustration. "I think I almost had it! Something was there, shimmering." She pouted with disappointment.

Willow smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. I don't know anyone who can do it without magic. That you can grasp it at all is amazing. It will take practice. For now, try seeing if you can locate a different point in time, past or future. Ordinarily, one can only move forward in Time, in the direction Time flows, but some beings are exceptions. Can you?"

After a moment, Aimi said no. Then she recalled something Kei had told her. "When I move time backward, it feels like I'm moving all of Time, but Kei says I'm not."

After questioning Aimi about the technique, Willow said, "You're probably only moving what you freeze, which is generally only what you can see. And Time isn't some all-encompassing thing. It has layers and levels… people themselves have their own timelines."

Oh," Aimi said faintly. So much to think about.

Willow went on to explain more about the higher dimensions in detail, while the children listened.

***

"Mom?" Ryota said hesitantly into the silence.

Willow smiled at him.

"Will you come back with us? Dad's told us what a kick-ass fighter you are. There's a whole world of trouble coming our way. Will you come back and help us?"

Willow's mouth trembled before she could firm it. She stroked her son's soft hair. "I'm sorry, sweetie. But I can't. I'm needed here."

Kei sided with his brother. "We need you too, Mom."

"No, you don't," Willow said sadly. "You have a lot of family around you. The people here need me more. I don't fit into your world or your lives anymore, if I ever did. This is where I belong. Your dad takes good care of you, I'm sure."

"He wasn't there at all for ten years of our lives," Masaru said acidly now. "Just like you weren't. You both left us." He looked at his sister and brothers. "Come on, we found out what we needed, let's go."

Willow was disturbed to hear Itachi had left their children. Gaara, her daughter piped up, hadn't left her ever. But then Willow had always considered Gaara the better man. She listened as they began talking about themselves, giving her a glimpse into the years she'd missed with them.

She learned that Yanagi lived a life of pampered luxury, complete with private nanny, manicures, massages and every wish granted. Willow had expected nothing less of Gaara. He'd spoiled his daughter rotten.

Ryota reminded her of Xander a bit. Masaru was so serious, yet a dedicated ninja according to his brothers. And Kei was her little clone, the same mind, the same way of looking at things. He was even a bit quiet the way she'd been herself before college.

"Are any of you magical?" she asked suddenly.

The boys and Yanagi looked at each other. Masaru snorted.

Willow went to each of her children in turn. Of the four of them, Ryota was the only one to have a spark in him, though it was dormant. She stood looking down at him.

She suspected that he was the original ovum, from which Kei and Masaru had split. They were identical, so they should each have the spark, but she could only detect it in Ryota.

She went to her shelf and gave him a book on basics. He looked at it curiously, listening to her explanation that he might be able to do magic. She gathered a few supplies and materials as she spoke, moving around her room, putting them into a grey velvet drawstring bag. She held the bag out to him. Ryota took it carefully.

Finally, after another awkward silence, Kei said they should be going. Yanagi was holding a fragrant candle Willow had given her, Kei a book on dimensional portals and Masaru had refused a gift.

"Will you visit me again?" Willow asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Kei said. He didn't ask if Willow would come see them. He knew the answer. Something held her here.

"Give me a hug, then." Willow held her arms wide. Ryota, Kei and Yanagi went to her willingly, Yanagi sniffling a bit. After a moment, Masaru was yanked into the embrace by Ryota.

Maybe it had something to do with being hugged by a mother, but the four red-haired children felt a distinctly cool tingling sensation ripple through them.

They pulled back and Aimi got off the bed, where she'd been quietly trying to access the fifth and sixth dimensions.

Willow watched them Boom away, the chakra blowing feathers and papers around her room. Her shoulder-length hair settled, showing her that she was alone. She went to the one chair in her room and sat slowly, dazed by the miracle that had come so unexpectedly into her gloomy life. Her children. Grown and strong and well. She hugged the memory of their voices and touches and kisses to her as she watched the day edge toward evening.

* * *

Back at the house, in Raiden's room. Aimi ran to the window and looked out. The meeting was still going on.

"I think we're safe," she said turning back to them. She cocked her head to the side. "How come you guys don't get sick when you Boom? Everyone else does."

The boys said they were nauseous but not enough to throw up. Aimi was left considering if adults' constitutions were different from children's.

Each occupied with their own thoughts, they went downstairs to see about food.

***

Shouta entered the kitchen a few minutes later, grabbed a soda, and looked at them. "Where you idiots been?"

Kei ignored this to peer up at his older brother keenly. "What went on in the meeting? Has a decision been made about training?"

Shouta's golden eyes narrowed. He loomed menacingly over his slight brother. "How do you know what we were discussing? You been eavesdropping?"

"No," Kei said quickly. Too quickly.

Shouta cuffed him on his ear."That's for snooping where you don't belong," the blonde teen said. Then he ruffled Kei's hair affectionately.

Ryota flicked a certain finger at Shouta's retreating back. All their older siblings treated them like babies. Honestly, they were ten, nearly grown!

"Well," Kei said as he rubbed his hands briskly. "We got our work cut out for us. Shall we get started?"

The five youngest members of the Uchiha and Uzumaki families put their heads together.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Not everyone went in this chapter, and yes I will get to why they didn't go. My smart reviewers are guessing the plot before I submit it! *grumbles*

A pic of Raiden and Wyatt, at their current ages, in up in my DA gallery. Head over there and let me know what you think!

I greatly appreciate your thoughts and comments. I hope I didn't miss anyone when replying, but in case I did, thank you so much!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 24

They sat in the grass of Sasuke's backyard, trees budding in the spring air and shading them. A mild breeze blew over the assembled people, ruffling clothes and hair, rippling the grass and making the roses on the bushes nod their multi-hued heads.

"The bottom line," Itachi said for what felt like the tenth time, "is that we need someplace to train, someone to train against, and a way to kill Akatsuki. Those are our three objectives."

"Precisely," Sasuke concurred. "Now let's take that apart. The first item, a place to train, needs to be someplace isolated. It needs to be durable enough to withstand the release of all our chakra and what that might do. Any suggestions?"

The meeting had been in session for hours. They'd been through all this before, with no solution. Into the thoughtful silence, Raiden spoke up. "What about another world? Like where Aimi and Kenpachi Taicho went?"

Kenpachi grunted in approval. "Kid has a point."

"I suppose," Naruto said slowly. "I mean, when you think about it, another world would be ideal. No people, no casualties. I assume once the ability returns, you could find that world again?" The blonde looked at his son.

Raiden nodded. "Or Aimi could."

"So that's settled," Gaara said importantly. "What about the next problem? Someone to train against?"

"I don't understand why you can't train us, Daddy," Sumiko said. "You're the strongest Uchiha, aren't you? Aside from Madara, I mean."

Itachi flushed with embarrassment. "That is debatable. At any rate, I must train myself. It has been many years since I used Susanoo, Amaterasu or Mangekyo. Destructive though wielding those jutsu is, I must reacquaint myself with them if we are to have a chance. Someone else must train you all."

Naruto nodded, looking at Sasuke. "You and I need to brush up on our combo moves. At the same time, someone needs to train Raiden and Aimi."

Wyatt raised his hand. Gaara invited him to speak. "Well, I think I can train myself in magic… if I got some things from my world and the Book of Shadows. Magic seems to be pretty effective against Akatsuki." He swallowed as everyone stared at him.

"Not a bad idea," Sasuke said, impressed.

"I have a sword, too," Wyatt went on. "I think I'm old enough to wield it. The sword is extremely powerful, and the one who wields it is considered the Ultimate Power on my world. It's called Excalibur."

Yumichika looked at Wyatt with naked interest. "You have a Zanpaktou?"

Wyatt shrugged. "I'd need someone to train me in swordsmanship, though."

Hitsugaya inclined his head from where he sat near Asami. "We will assist you in that area. Where is your blade now?"

"My mom put it someplace for safekeeping," Wyatt grimaced. "But I can call it to me, I think."

"And it will answer? A most fascinating Zanpaktou," the white-haired captain murmured. "By all means, bring it."

"What about me?" Raiden asked. He looked at his parents. "Are you guys going to train me and Aimi?"

Sasuke said as how everyone needed someone to train them and yet there just weren't enough people to go round. Talk turned to killing Akatsuki.

No matter how many ideas they bounced off one another, no one could come up with a way to kill them since they didn't have souls. It was suggested by Wyatt that if they killed Izanami, Akatsuki might revert to the underworld. But no one possessed enough power to kill a goddess.

Itachi sighed shortly and brought up another point. "What of this Bijuu army?"

"Where do Bijuu come from?" Ikkaku asked. "Are they of this world? If not, maybe Raiden or Aimi could find their host world and recruit more."

There was a lot of excited talk about this until Itachi said, "They were originally one beast that the Sage of Six Paths defeated. He entombed its body in the moon. Before he died, he split the chakra in nine parts. That's where the Bijuu come from. Where the original beast came from, no one knows."

Another hope shot down.

Raiden and Wyatt looked at each other. _Should we tell them what the triplets suspect? _Wyatt thought.

_**-Not yet.-**_

_-When?-_

_**-When they know something for sure. And not while they aren't even here to back up our words.-**_

"Still, that beast had to have come from somewhere," Kenpachi grumbled. "I say we try and search for more."

There were half-hearted replies to this. Raiden felt his sister arrive back in the house at the same time Itachi stood up and said the meeting was over. So far they'd agreed to train in another world.

"We will go there tomorrow and see about setting up training grounds. I will inform the Hokage," Itachi announced. Everyone stood around talking for a few minutes, going over what they'd need to take to this other world.

***

Shouta had gone into the house and come back out with a soda. Kaito watched him as his other brothers and sisters jostled him as they left. Shouta had been quiet throughout the meeting. Now he went and sat by the small pond in Sasuke's backyard, sipping his soda thoughtfully. Yachiru came up to Shouta and spoke something briefly in hiss ear before leaving with Kenpachi. Shouta's eyes lingered on the pink-haired sprite, a small smile quirking up one corner of his mouth.

Kaito waited until the backyard was empty of everyone save himself and his little brother. Rubbing the back of his head nervously, he walked over to Shouta and sat next to him. Shouta glanced his way, then returned to studying the calm surface of the pond.

Kaito didn't hang around this particular brother. He hung out sometimes with Kenji or Hiroto, more often with Akane. He pretty much left the younger ones alone. Draping his arms over his knees, he stared at the pond, wondering how to begin.

Shouta was brought out of his thoughts when his big brother sat next to him and proceeded to say nothing. Kaito never sought him out so this was a surprise. More, it was unnerving. What could Kaito want with him? He tried to peek at him without being obvious. His brother continued to stare at the pond, black brows knit over something. He was just opening his mouth to ask what was going on, but Kaito spoke first.

"Shouta… do you remember when you were very little?"

Shouta blinked, turning his head to properly see Kaito. Kaito didn't look at him, only kept staring at the pond. Shouta thought back. "How little?"

"On the mountain."

"Oh. Some. Bits and pieces."

Kaito grit his teeth, clenching his jaw tightly as he closed his eyes. "Do you… remember when I… When I… hurt you?"

Shouta's golden eyes caught the dying rays of the sun, making them glow so brilliantly that they seemed capable of illuminating the shadows encroaching on the quiet scene between these two brothers. When Shouta didn't answer, Kaito took a breath and looked at him. He continued speaking, though his throat was tight with self-disgust.

"I broke your finger. Your thumb. I did a lot of horrible things. To you and the others, but you were a baby and-"

Shouta watched as Kaito turned his head away sharply. His shoulders shook once, twice, and were still. When he spoke this time, his voice was froggy with whatever emotion he refused to show Shouta.

"When Dad told of how Akatsuki had you, how you were nearly l-lost to us… well, I never said I'm sorry." Kaito took another deep breath and turned around enough to look at the pond, still avoiding Shouta's gaze. "I don't want something to happen to either of us and that to have gone unsaid. I'm sorry, Shouta. For every bad thing I did to you. You… you know I'd never let anything happen to you now, right?" Here Kaito threw a quick look at Shouta's face.

Shouta didn't answer, only stared at Kaito steadily. After a moment he nodded.

Kaito smiled in relief. "Am I forgiven?"

Shouta blinked his beautiful eyes. "I got no idea what you're talking about, but sure. We're cool." He stood, gave his older brother a little bow, and sauntered into the house, his head back as he drained his soda.

Kaito, nonplussed, laughed. He'd bared his soul over an incident Shouta didn't even remember. His laughter died down as he looked toward where his brother disappeared. He decided then and there that he would try to get to know his younger siblings better. They might not have much time left.

* * *

Itachi stopped in the doorway to Raiden's room. Aimi and the triplets were sitting around the floor.

Masaru only maneuvered a kunai in his hand, forming intricate patterns. Kei was leafing slowly through a book and Ryota was rummaging through the contents of a gray sack. Aimi sat with her eyes closed, hand held in a formation that denoted the focus of chakra. All were silent.

"We're going home," Itachi announced. His sons got up and followed him out. He passed Wyatt on the way down the stairs.

***

Wyatt entered the room he shared with Raiden and closed the door. "Aimi?"

"Hm."

"How'd it go?"

She answered without moving or opening her eyes. "Fine. Willow helped me understand about higher dimensions. Ryota's magical. She gave him a book and some stuff."

"Really? Wow. And what are you doing?"

"Trying to grasp the fifth and sixth dimensions."

Wyatt sat on his bed. "How's it coming?"

Aimi huffed, opening her eyes. "I don't know. I keep getting close, but… it's like I can't hold the idea."

"What idea?"

"Turning a one-eighty in my mind. Every time I think I've managed it, my mind turns around again."

"Oh. Well, guess what. Your dad said you can take me to my world to get some supplies and Excalibur."

Aimi bounced off the floor, coming to sit beside Wyatt. "Oooh, when?! I can't wait to see Piper and the rest!"

Wyatt held his hands up to calm her. "Easy. If we're lucky we won't run into my mom or anyone else. I can't risk them getting their hands on me, I might never get away again."

Aimi pouted. "Oh. Okay. So when?"

"Tomorrow morning. And Hiroto's coming with us as backup. This is what I'm going to need you to do."

Aimi listened as Wyatt outlined the plan.

* * *

Lee opened his door after the hard knocking to find Naruto. "This is a surprise," he said. "Come in!"

Naruto entered, scanning the pretty apartment. Sakura wasn't home. He saw some files on the coffee table, one of which contained his daughter's picture and her information.

Lee bustled up, asking Naruto to sit. They sat on couches opposite each other, the coffee table between them. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" Lee asked brightly.

Naruto gestured at Aimi's file. "You've had your team for awhile now. What's your assessment of Aimi?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked, Naruto-kun. I was going to come by and speak with you and Sasuke-kun both, but then we had the meeting…" Lee frowned, remembering the meeting with the Hokage that morning. "Anyway, I've come to several conclusions about Aimi. First, your daughter is exceptionally strong, though she doesn't use the strength unless she needs to."

Naruto tilted his head. "Meaning?"

Lee rubbed his chin, speaking carefully. "I mean that she accesses strength the way others access chakra. Only when needed. I would imagine she doesn't break many things around the house or hurt members of her family by accident, but when I asked her to she lifted a boulder the size of three men."

"_What?!_"

"Yes," Lee nodded. "I use quite a bit of power when sparring with her and she is able to withstand it easily, dealing strong blows of her own. Not only that, her stamina is virtually bottomless. I noticed when she ran the ten miles, but once I had her run for the entire day. She did not collapse or seem taxed. The strength in her body is amazing, Naruto-kun. She doesn't get hurt easily. Despite her weight, she is agile and quick."

"I see," Naruto said faintly. "What else?"

"She is skilled at Taijutsu. She may match the glorious Sumiko-san, or even exceed her with time. I have but to show her a move once and she copies it perfectly. I know she isn't using Sharingan to do this, since that is impossible. She relies heavily on her mental powers, though. I am trying to wean her off of that crutch. Otherwise, she is a superb student."

"I'm glad to hear that," Naruto said. Then he recalled his reason for being there. "I've just come from another meeting with Itachi and the others. Sasuke and I got to talking afterward and we were wondering something."

"Yes?" Lee shuffled papers in Aimi's file, putting them in order.

"Well, we sort of wondered if Aimi could learn to open the gates."

Lee stilled, his head down. He spoke in a low voice. "The gates?"

"Yeah, you know the ones you taught me? I can only open three, and I'm definitely not cut out to teach that jutsu, but I know you can open all eight and-"

Lee stood up abruptly, rivers coursing down his cheeks as he howled in fierce delight. "You want me to pass on my legacy to your child! But of course I will teach her! _Kyaaa!_" He held one fist clenched by his jaw, positively quivering with pride.

Naruto edged away from Lee, moving sideways on the couch. He cleared his throat. "Yes, well. I wasn't sure if she was able to learn. Is she?"

Lee composed himself. Naruto thought the way his already thick lashes clumped together with residual tears was most disturbing. He swallowed as Lee's over bright eyes bore into him. "I believe she can, yes. She has uncommon control of her body. More, due to her special abilities and natural strength, I don't think she will suffer the damage that Gai-sensei and I suffer when opening the gates. At least, not to the extent that we suffer it. But Naruto, are you sure? I've seen her chakra. Opening the gates with that chakra would arguably be the most destructive force on the planet. I cannot imagine a situation ever requiring that kind of power."

Naruto passed a finger over his lips in thought. "That's just it, Lee. This whole situation is beyond imagining. Akatsuki back, Jinchuuriki, evil goddess… we don't know what might happen next. I think she needs to be able to fall back on more power." He explained about the decision to use another world.

"If I'm going to be training her in opening the gates, an unpopulated world would certainly be best. Yosh. I will do it, Naruto-kun."

Naruto bowed seriously. "Thank you."

* * *

Sasuke was cooking when he saw Shouta and Kaito leave. He turned the fires down low, before heading upstairs. He saw Raiden sitting in the living room by himself, apparently lost in thought. He decided to speak to him instead.

"Hey."

Raiden glanced up. "Hey."

"Still pissed?"

Raiden gave him an odd look. Sasuke couldn't read it. It almost looked assessing, calculating. The question his son asked surprised him.

"Would you sacrifice me for Dad?"

Sasuke sat next to Raiden, studying him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean if things get really bad, worse than they are right now. Would you sacrifice my life for Dad's?"

Sasuke could barely tolerate the thought. "Why would you ask something like that?"

Raiden turned to look his pop square in the eye. "Because you took away my powers. Because me running away would hurt Dad. I know he's the most important thing to you. I just want you to know that I won't let you… hurt me. I have jutsu you can't block or defend against."

Sasuke's lips thinned at the threat. He was quiet, analyzing the expression in the wide eyes of his son. "Raiden, you don't have to be afraid of me. I would die protecting you."

"But if Dad-"

"Your Dad can handle himself."

"But-"

"Stop." Sasuke held up a hand. Then he ran it through his hair, thinking furiously. Raiden was staring at him, waiting for an answer, waiting to hear he was wrong. Sasuke forced a smile. It galled him to think his own child was so scared of him. "Raiden… let's take your assumption that your dad is the most important thing to me. You and Aimi mean the world to him. If he really is as important to me as you say, then I would be pretty stupid to hurt you, wouldn't I?"

Raiden dropped his eyes, uncertain. "I guess…"

"But Raiden, I would never do what you're thinking. Not even for your Dad. I know your dad is more affectionate, but I love you deeply. You're my son. You make me angrier than almost anyone outside your dad is able to, but I love you. Both you and your sister. Okay? I would never hurt you the way you're thinking. Discipline is one thing, but I would never hurt my family."

Raiden nodded. He tried to take comfort from his pop's words.

"We're in this together," Sasuke added. "Thinking like that will weaken us."

Raiden nodded again. "Okay."

Sasuke patted his son's knee before getting up. Raiden watched him leave the room, powerless to keep doubt from clouding his features again.

* * *

Sasuke found Aimi alone in her room. She was sitting on her bed, and appeared to be meditating. "What are you doing," he asked.

"Training."

"Training what?"

"Trying to find the fifth dimension. I keep losing it and the sixth is even more difficult."

Sasuke stretched out on the bed next to her. "And what, pray tell, are these dimensions?"

"You know how I turned back Time?" When Sasuke said he did, she attempted to explain further.

"Where did you come by that information?" he asked.

"Kei."

"I see. Why are you trying to do this?"

Aimi sighed, opening her eyes. Concentrating was impossible while talking anyway. She turned to Sasuke. "Papa?" He raised a brow. "If I said we could find help, would you believe me?"

"Who's we?"

"Me and the triplets."

"Find help where?"

"In another world."

"Who?"

But Kei had said to keep that a secret until the help was actually brought. That was imperative, or they'd never be allowed to bring them. "Just… some people."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What kind of people?"

"Strong people."

"How do you know them?"

Silence.

"Are they dangerous?"

Aimi shrugged. "Yes. But so?"

"You're not going to any world to get anyone. Let the adults handle this, Aimi. If and when Akatsuki comes back and you're called on to fight, then you will, but until then, no. You'll be training, okay?"

Aimi wisely nodded without protesting. Kei was right. The adults would never believe the babies of the family had solved the problem unless they saw with their own eyes. Her papa got up and left her with a kiss. She smiled until the door closed softly behind him.

***

Alone again, her smile faded. She needed to get this dimensions thing down.

Operating on a hunch, she transformed. She opened her seventh sense and nearly cried out at how stupid she'd been. Of _course_ she'd need to transform in order to access higher dimensions! It was what she did when she manipulated Time, after all. Her brain was capable of more complex activities only while in this state. She spent a few seconds berating herself for not thinking of it sooner.

She spent some time exploring the fifth dimension, now easily accessible, but more on the sixth. She saw clearly the parallel timelines and realities. She sent her mind to one, drawn to the very people Kei had mentioned. It was odd in the extreme, physically sitting in her room while mentally traveling through another dimension.

A twist of her mind had her examining Time again. Aware as she was now, she saw the way it weaved and turned, warped and looped, but always moving forward. Had she really thought she'd moved Time in its entirety? Impossible. Now, though, while calling up the sixth dimension, she tried to see alternate points in time.

It was difficult. Extremely. Time seemed to be in an almost constant state of flux. She couldn't fix one specific point long enough to get a good look. Brushing a strand of white hair behind an ear, Aimi settled down to practice.

* * *

Ryota slammed the book his mother had given him shut. Masaru, stroking some kind of beetle, looked over at him. "What's wrong?"

"This magic stuff is pure _garbage_," Ryota seethed. "Impossible. I can't even understand most of the spells! I ask you, what am I supposed to do with this book?"

Kei slowly turned a page in the book of dimensional portals, looking at a diagram as he spoke. "I think you're supposed to access your latent abilities in order to help in the upcoming-"

The book of magic clunked against the side of Kei's head. Kei clutched his injured noggin, sitting up to glare at his brother. "What was that for?!"

Ryota paced up and down the room they shared. "I know what the hell I'm supposed to do with it," he said testily. "What I don't see is how I'm supposed to initiate myself into the world of magic. That shit is volatile. You need a guide. I could end up killing myself or someone else. Those powers aren't to be messed with without supervision. I can't believe mom expects me to. It's not like I can even ask Wyatt for help, since his magicks are inherited and thus totally different from the elemental magic mom uses and passed on to me. I mean, honestly, that book requires far more supplies than what she gave me, where am I even supposed to get that stuff?" He stopped pacing to turn and stare at his awestruck brothers. "What?" he asked, looking back and forth between them.

"Seems like you have a pretty good grasp of magic already," Kei said cautiously.

Ryota waved a hand dismissively, resuming his pacing. "That's just stuff I read in the book."

Masaru sat up, putting the beetle in his pocket. "But you understood it so quickly. Can you do anything from the book?"

Ryota glanced at him. "Like what?"

Masaru shrugged. "What's the first spell?"

"Conjuring an energy ball and manipulation of the four elements." He paused, his eyes far away as he thought. "Actually, it's sort of like chakra, but not. For one, I don't need to use chakra to do any of those things if I go by the book. Second, magic is way more versatile."

Kei exchanged a glance with Masaru. Ryota never displayed the fact that he was far from as stupid as people tended to think. He wasn't Kei's level in intelligence, but he was far above average. Seeing his brain in action now fascinated both brothers. Masaru turned back to Ryota. "So can you? Do those spells, I mean."

Ryota sat down. "I don't know. I guess I can try conjuring the energy ball."

Masaru and Kei watched as Ryota consulted the book briefly, skimming over a passage he'd obviously already read. He held his palms a foot apart in the air in front of his chest.

Ryota concentrated. The book described a well of power inside oneself, a connection with the elements. Their mom had said she knew nothing of magic when she started, but she turned out to have a natural affinity for it, allowing her to excel at it as few did. He wondered if he had an affinity, too. He was doubtful, since he couldn't even feel the stupid well of-

Masaru and Kei shrieked, diving for cover as the energy blasted all around them, blowing things around the room. Kei peeked from under his bed.

Ryota sat at the center of a blue-white maelstrom of energy that felt nothing like chakra. He seemed surprised. The space between his palms was a brilliant, blinding white, too bright to look at. Ryota released the energy at the same moment Gaara kicked open the door, sand hovering behind him.

The silence was deafening.

Gaara swept into the room, noting how Kei crawled from under the bed and Masaru crept out of the closet. The three boys, Ryota getting shakily to his feet, stood and stared around the room, then at Gaara.

"I saw light shining all around the door just now," Gaara said in a shaking voice. "What was that?"

"I have no idea," Ryota said innocently.

"Why does this room look like a tornado hit it?" Gaara asked skeptically.

"Looks normal to me," Masaru said stolidly.

Gaara's face held a wealth of disbelief. "Why were you all screaming?"

"I didn't hear screaming," Kei said in a falsely surprised voice. He turned to his brothers with wide eyes. "Did you guys hear screaming?"

They all shook their heads. Gaara stared hard. "Whatever you're doing, stop. You're lucky your father is meeting with the Hokage right now. As it is, I think I'll tell him to question you when he gets back."

Gaara slammed the door on his way out. The triplets stood where they were a moment, listening to his footsteps recede angrily down the hall.

Kei said, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Ryota answered softly. "One minute nothing… the next, all this power was in me. It was awesomeness. I want to do it again."

"Not right now," Masaru admonished. "We almost got in trouble. If Dad and Gaara find out you're messing with magic it could screw up everything."

***

Outside their room, Gaara couldn't make out what Ryota said. He frowned as he moved silently down the hall, hearing Itachi enter the house downstairs.

* * *

The next morning saw the Uchiha and Uzumaki families assembled outside Itachi's house with the shinigami, Lee and the Hokage. Udon, Ibiki and Konohamaru had obtained leave from ANBU, Kakashi having spoken to the captain. They were going with their wives. Hiroko had also been given leave.

Kakashi surveyed the group with one lazy eye. "Let me go over the plan. You all will scout for and find another world to train in. You will remain there until needed here, correct?"

"Yes," Itachi stated.

"How will you know that time has arrived?"

Aimi stepped forward. "I'm going to establish a link with you via my Sharingan. It's something I came up with when my papa asked me to. You have Sharingan too, so it should work."

Kakashi was mystified. "Excuse me?"

Aimi twisted her mouth, searching for words to explain. "I guess it's a kind of Genjutsu? It's like… I leave a tiny piece of my mind in yours. You should be able to communicate with me through that piece."

"I see," Kakashi replied. "How will you do it?"

"Let me see your Sharingan please, Hokage-sama." Aimi accessed her own.

Kakashi lifted his forehead protector. Almost immediately an image of Aimi swelled in his mind, blanketing his thoughts with her presence. The image of her dwindled slowly, picking a corner of his mind to occupy. The image vanished entirely yet he could feel her there, a tiny pulse that beat in counterpoint to his own being. An intrusion, but a minor one. This tiny awareness that was Aimi spoke to him in his mind, the thought forceful. _**Say something to this part of me, Hokage-sama.**_

He tried. _Can you read my thoughts?_

_**-I could, but I won't without your permission.-**_

Kakashi opened his eyes, unaware that he'd closed them. "And this connection will work wherever you are?"

Aimi nodded happily. "If I'm consciously maintaining it, yes."

He nodded, before addressing the rest of the group. "We will be training here as well. I know you haven't figured out everything, but good luck. We're all going to need it."

He left them then, and Itachi turned to Sasuke. "How is this going to work? You said Aimi has a mission with Wyatt and Hiroto, but we need her to find a world for us."

Sasuke rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "We'll find a world first. Aimi? We need someplace without people, but lots of natural resources."

Aimi nodded, eyes already yellow. After a few moments she said, "There aren't many that have resources without people or other life forms… there are some without any life or resources."

"We need the resources," Sasuke insisted. "We'll be living off the land."

Aimi was quiet for nearly twenty minutes. Finally she said, "Okay. I found one, but there are animals and stuff. It's pretty hostile." A pause. "I think the atmosphere is compatible with our own. I can't sense any higher intelligence or other evidence of people."

Sasuke looked to Naruto and his brother. They nodded. Aimi blinked and her eyes were blue again. Everyone trooped to the backyard, where a mountain of supplies was stacked almost higher than the house.

Juro and Yukio had packed all their tools, as well as some materials and books they'd gotten from Wyatt's world.

Kenta and Kenji had packed almost their entire workshop. Asami had a host of medical supplies, and Sumiko had every weapon known to ninja-kind.

"Whenever you're ready, Aimi," Naruto said.

The group of nearly twenty-five people disappeared with a thunderous boom of Aimi's chakra.

* * *

Though it was Ibiki's first time experiencing the power of his wife's relatives, he was nevertheless able, barely, to hold on to the contents of his stomach. Consequently, he was the one who spotted the danger first. "Look out!"

No one was in any condition to look at anything other than the contents of their stomachs as it came gushing up. The only ones who heeded the warning were the triplets, Raiden, Wyatt and Aimi, and of those only Masaru reacted favorably.

Apparently they'd landed in the nest of some kind of insect. No big deal if it had been an anthill or something similar. These creatures were the size of horses. They were mottled gray and red and currently trundling with avid curiosity toward the group of retching humans. The high buzzing they issued was loud enough to set the ears ringing.

Aimi shrieked and ran. Wyatt threw up his shield around himself and Raiden and Raiden just stood staring in fascination at the huge things. Kei and Ryota were avoiding being splashed by Konohamaru's breakfast.

Masaru stepped forward and released a wave of chakra. The insects halted, temporarily under the control of one terrified ten-year-old. "A little help!" Masaru gasped. Holding at least fifty gigantic, murderous bugs immobile was far from easy.

Naruto recovered enough to search for Aimi. He found her frozen behind a rock, quivering as one of the bugs clicked its long antennae at her, still held by Masaru. He managed to talk her down from her fright enough to fold the bugs away, but she clung to him, shivering and whimpering. "What's wrong with you," he asked her. "I didn't think you were afraid of anything…"

Neither had Aimi. She didn't particularly like bugs, but these were so monstrous that she couldn't quell the terror they inspired. She held to her father, looking around nervously.

Naruto was reminded of how young his daughter was. He frequently forgot she was only ten, dazzled by her abilities and her intelligence. He tried to soothe her as they walked back to the group, who were only now recovering.

Itachi straightened, delicately wiping his mouth. His cheeks were pink with embarrassment at having endured such a reaction. Booming to Wyatt's world hadn't been so bad. He was forced to conclude that Aimi had less finesse with the ability, or else less skill at Booming so many. He turned to Masaru. "Well done, son. So unmanned were we that we might have died before we knew what was happening." He clapped Masaru on the back, throwing Sasuke a look.

Sasuke correctly interpreted that look. He hadn't realized he was in a competition with his brother to see who had more talented children. He snorted, rolling his eyes.

They looked around. Wherever this world was, it was night. The moon hung large and porous-looking in the deep purple sky, frosting the nest. The nest itself consisted of leaves and branches of enormous size. The trees they came from must be far bigger than anything in Fire Country. They formed a latticework construct above their heads. Sasuke leapt nimbly from branch to branch, heading for the top of the nest and open sky. The others followed.

***

The landscape had their jaws dropping. The trees _were _huge. The forest that stretched in the distance was as high as a mountain range. The plain they were on featured a large ditch, the site of the nest. Yukio turned around in a circle, examining everything, from the bluish grass that grazed his knees to the size of the ditch they stood at the edge of. Kenta bent and dug out a handful of earth, examining it closely. Kei looked at the odd constellations.

"How in fuck are we getting our stuff out of that ditch?" Juro asked suddenly.

"Clones," Naruto said absently. He stiffened. "Did anyone else hear that?"

They listened. A sound, as of some large creature, reached them. It sounded like a cross between howling and whining.

"Could be mating season for whatever lives here," Udon said.

"Or we could be dinner," Kenji supplied. "I say we get our shit and find cover."

Suiting actions to words, the older people made ten clones each. Naruto made a hundred. The triplets, Raiden, Wyatt and Aimi kept watch at the mouth of the ditch as the adults jumped back inside.

***

"Damn, were those bugs the coolest?" Raiden burst out. He was grinning. "Makes you wonder what other goodies this world has to offer."

Wyatt shuddered. "I didn't know you liked bugs."

"I don't, but you gotta admit it was something else, right?" Raiden peeked behind him into the ditch before sidling up to Wyatt. He held his hand, pleased when Wyatt squeezed back.

"I wonder how cool you'd have thought them when they ate you," Masaru asked. He was diligently keeping a watch for danger, noticing that the animal, whatever it was, sounded closer.

Raiden was now nuzzling Wyatt's neck, but he paused long enough to answer. "Please. Like I'd let that happen. I might not be able to Boom yet, but I can still do everything else. One Death Sphere would have handled them."

"Didn't notice any coming from you," Masaru retorted.

"You calling me a coward?" Raiden stepped away from Wyatt.

"Well if the shoe-"

"Um, guys?" Ryota interrupted in a quavering voice. "Are those eyes over there, looking at us?"

They peered in the direction Ryota was pointing. If they were eyes, there had to be several dozen pairs. Even at a distance, the height of the glowing eyes from the ground was noticeable. Aimi prepared to fold them away, but the adults came back. Ryota hysterically pointed out the eyes. His noise seemed to spur the creatures into pursuit. They began loping toward the encumbered group of ninja and clones.

"Should I fold us or them?" Aimi asked, almost hysterical herself.

"Not us," Sasuke said, measuring the way the creatures, still cloaked in darkness, covered so much ground with each leap. "No telling where we'll end up. Might land in another nest. Raiden."

Raiden dragged his gaze away from the sight of those glowing yellow eyes. "Huh?"

"Transform. Fly above us and take care of them while following us. Everyone else, run!"

Run, they did. They pelted madly, using their chakra to speed them along. Raiden flapped overhead, throwing Death Spheres at the odd creatures. They dropped, holes blasted into their bodies, or their heads gone from their necks, but more always came, apparently drawn by the smell of blood. Raiden caught sight of one of the things clearly and nearly fell from the sky.

They were hideous. They ran on two legs, their forelegs held oddly beneath their large heads. They had two large eyes and two smaller eyes set beneath the first pair. Their teeth protruded in such a way that the lower canines came up over their ugly faces. Long, sharp talons curved outward from their powerful feet. They were incredibly fast, using their muscled hind legs to propel themselves at great speeds. They seemed to be a cross between mammal and reptile, but Raiden couldn't be sure. They were the color of dead, rotting things, brownish yellow, and they stank horribly. And they were enormous, at least twenty feet high. One leapt up at him, aware that Raiden was killing them off and he had to dodge quickly. It fell back to earth, the top half of its body gone, courtesy of a Death Sphere.

Wyatt silently thanked Mr. Lee-sensei for his harsh training. He kept up with the others, his terror giving him the stamina to run as he'd never run before. Every time one of the beasts got close, grunting and snorting, a zap would be heard from Raiden and then they'd be safe again, until another got too close.

Eventually the creatures displayed some intelligence and opted to stay away from the fleeing group. Raiden flew along, his wings already tiring from carrying his body. He glanced behind himself and saw the dead bodies being dragged away by the ones still alive. He kept careful watch, in case any of the things came back. He did not think this world full of goodies anymore.

* * *

They ran for the rest of the night. When they finally stopped, it was at the base of a series of rock formations. Scaling the side, they found a large plateau, miles wide. The rest of the land spread out around them, a thousand feet below. The clones set their burdens down and disappeared with faint _pops_.

"Perfect," Naruto panted. He looked over the steep edge of the plateau. The drop was sheer. They'd climbed it using chakra, the shinigami employing something called Shunpo. "Easily defensible. We'll see anything coming in plenty of time to deal with it."

"Unless it drops from the sky," Hitsugaya said. His eyes followed something flying in the distance. It was too far away to be anything but a speck to the group.

Itachi wiped sweat from his lip. "We'll build here. Several structures, as planned."

They'd decided to build a few small buildings, instead of one large one, in case something happened. They'd have several shelters instead of just one. The shinigami would have one, the Uchiha one, and the new couples one each. Lee would bunk with the Uchiha.

Yukio shaded his eyes from the bright sunlight. "That forest is still there, dead east. Jesus, would you look at the size of it? Good thing we brought that stuff, neh Juro?"

Juro hauled a chainsaw from the pile of supplies. "Sure is. These tools from Wyatt's world will come in right handy."

Sasuke gathered Wyatt and Aimi close. "Alright, you two. After breakfast, you and Hiroto head out and get what Wyatt needs. You can rest when you get back. Come back to this location, nowhere else."

Aimi suppressed a shiver. "Like I want to end up anywhere else! This world is awful, but it was the only one that would suit. Of course I'm coming back to this spot." She buried her face in Sasuke's stomach, clutching at him tightly.

Sasuke stroked her dark hair as he looked at Wyatt. "You anticipate any trouble with your family?"

Wyatt shook his head.

"A week ago I could have been happy to see you go back, but the truth is we need you. Still, if you find you want to stay there we won't hold it against you, Wyatt. This isn't your fight."

Wyatt stared back without blinking. "They're after Raiden. That makes it my fight. I won't let anything keep me from coming back here, Mr. Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded.

Luckily they'd brought some food with them. Until they knew what plants and animals were edible it would have to suffice. Raiden hugged Wyatt hard before he left with Aimi and Hiroto, but once they'd gone, he promptly collapsed, exhausted.

The triplets were in no better condition. They hadn't even eaten; they stretched out on the rocky surface of the plateau as soon as they'd reached it and were snoring shortly after.

Hiroko covered the sleeping children with a blanket. Forgoing rest in favor of establishing safety, the adults set about building camp.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: The plot thickens.

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 25

Itachi stretched his back with a wince. His hair was loose, falling around his shoulders in a sopping, sweaty mass. It was hotter wearing his hair this way, but it was the only protection his neck had from the ferocious sun that blazed in the sky.

He was shirtless, as every other man was. His daughters wore as little as possible, working in skimpy shorts and bras. Raiden and the triplets had woken up and were lending what aid they could. The majority of the work was done by Juro, Yukio, Naruto and clones of all three.

They had one structure, the large one for the Uchiha, complete. Had he not seen it with his own eyes and participated in erecting it, he never would have believed it possible to complete an entire ten-room house by shortly after noon. Or what he assumed noon was. The yellow-white sun was just past the noon mark in the sky.

The majority of the work had been done by Juro, Yukio and their clones. Everyone else, Naruto's hundred clones included, took instruction from the fraternal twins. Itachi got to see his sons in their element. They were true geniuses in their field, even braving the forest to cut down several of the towering trees.

That had been an enterprise in itself. The forest was actually farther away than it appeared. Traveling at speeds that generated a cooling wind on their bodies, they had needed more than two hours to reach it. Once there, they'd stood staring in open-mouthed shock at trees that climbed well into the stratosphere of this world, some even crowned with cloud cover.

The chainsaw broke on the first tree. Disgusted, Yukio brought out a huge cross-cut saw. He and Juro gripped the wooden handles on either end of it, set the teeth against the bark of the enormous tree and proceeded to work with an economy of motion and synchronization that amazed everyone.

It was hard work. The only way to keep the teeth of the saw from warping on the granite-like bark was to move it fast enough to slice through the ridges in the bark. The chainsaw was a good tool, but not as sturdy and crude as the cross-cut saw. Juro and Yukio set their feet in a wide stance, pushing and pulling the saw rapidly between them. It was soon evident why they were as muscular as they were. It was grueling work, the muscles in their arms and back rippling steadily as they sawed furiously.

There were two cross-cut saws. Konohamaru and Naruto took up the other, since they were the two strongest men present. They watched how the twins worked the saw and set about cutting down another tree that Yukio pointed out between grunts.

Naruto swore, alarmed at how it taxed the back atrociously to move the saw against the grain of wood. Konohamaru gave it his all, his ponytail dripping down his bare torso as he labored.

The trees crashed with earth-shaking force, sending up clouds of broken branches and whirling leaves. They'd been careful to choose trees with a narrow enough circumference to be cut by the saws, but even so, they were tremendous.

Kenpachi had a brief bit of fun whacking off the thick branches, until they were left with a relatively smooth log the length of the tree. The branches were piled to one side. Naruto and Raiden set to work using needle sharp wind chakra to slice the trees into wheels and planks. Everything, planks, wheels, saplings and branches, was carried by everyone back to the plateau. They'd set to work immediately.

Now Itachi stood back, taking a break as he watched Juro hang a door on the recently completed house. Off to one side he saw Konohamaru slap at Hiroko's ass as she passed him, making a remark about when their own cabin would be finished. Itachi saw his daughter blush brilliantly, ducking her head to hide her smile.

It was wonderful being surrounded by all his children, working with them, learning things about them that he'd never known. He hadn't known the harpies were capable of such taxing labor, or that Shouta could run so fast or that Kenji was afraid of snakes. A large one had watched them in the forest and Kenji had shamelessly hid behind Kenta while his twin roasted it with a fireball. He hadn't known Kaito was into botany either. When asked about it, Kaito said it was something he'd studied as a hobby after Zetsu had kidnapped him and he'd been forced to live off plants during their run to the Akatsuki hideout. Kaito had steered them all clear of some plants he recognized as poisonous by the way everything around it seemed to be dying.

The only blight on Itachi's contentment was the absence of Gaara. The Kazekage had opted to remain in their world, preparing his country for the arrival of Akatsuki. Yanagi was with him, having said a tearful goodbye to the triplets. Itachi had wanted to send the triplets with Gaara, but they had set up their own pleas to remain with their father. Masaru had even unbent enough to wrap his arms around Itachi's waist, begging not to be sent away. Itachi, a stern expression on his face, had melted inside. He'd quickly extracted himself from the embrace and hidden himself in his room, blinking furiously to hold back the moisture in his eyes. Of course he'd consented to let them come. Had he known that little scene had been a calculated act on his sons' part he might have decided differently.

Sasuke was setting out food. Itachi estimated Aimi, Wyatt and Hiroto had been gone about seven hours. He wondered, as he walked to where everyone was sitting down to lunch, if their mission was going well.

* * *

It wasn't.

The first part had gone smoothly enough. They'd arrived in the attic of the manor, finding it thankfully empty. Aimi said she sensed someone downstairs. A quick, silent search showed Coop sitting in the solar, reading a book. He didn't see or hear them and they retreated back to the attic.

Wyatt scratched his chin. "I wonder what he's doing here and not my mom or Dad?"

"Hurry and get what you need," Hiroto said shakily. He'd had little in his stomach to heave up so recently after the move to the other world, but it hadn't stopped him from retching anyway. "I want this mission over with before trouble comes. What do you need me to do?"

Wyatt went to the Book of Shadows. "Cover the door. Put a Genjutsu on anyone who comes through."

Aimi had instructions to tell him when she sensed his mother or aunts coming. She sat on the couch and proceeded to keep a mental lookout.

Before opening the book, Wyatt reached into a pocket and pulled out a long scroll. Ryota had jotted down an endless list of magical supplies in his untidy scrawl, things he said the magic book required for spells. Some of it was stuff Wyatt needed himself. He was sure some of the ingredients could be found in the kitchen, but most of the items Ryota had listed Wyatt had never heard of.

He shrugged. He'd deal with the list later. He opened the Book of Shadows, took a blank notebook out of his backpack and proceeded to look up and copy all the practical spells he could find, ones not dealing with specific demons.

He'd realized belatedly that he couldn't just take the Book out of the manor, much less to another dimension. His parents would notice. Copying the spells took precious time, but it was the only way.

He wrote for hours. His hand cramped several times, but he kept at it until he'd copied all he could. Shutting the book, Wyatt looked up. Hiroto and Aimi hadn't moved. "We still good?"

"No one coming yet," Aimi confirmed.

Wyatt took out Ryota's scroll again. "Good. I have to leave for a bit, see if I can find this stuff. Will you guys be all right here?"

"Go," Hiroto urged. "We'll be fine."

Wyatt orbed away.

***

He was careful to hurry. The longer he stayed in his world, the greater the chance his aunt Paige would sense him. The Elders themselves might sense his presence and inform his mom and aunts. He didn't even want to think about how ugly things would get then. He didn't want to fight his aunts and he especially didn't want to go up against his mom's blasting power when she was really pissed.

Getting the supplies required another few hours. He made it home towards evening, orbing into the attic to find Hiroto pacing with worry. "What took you so long," the blonde man hissed. "I heard that man moving around downstairs. We need to go back now."

"I can't," Wyatt said. He struggled to set all the packages down without making noise. "I need my sword."

"Piper and Leo are on their way home," Aimi said from the couch. "From across town, I think."

"Damnit!" Wyatt ran a hand through his hair, noticing absently that it was past his collar now.

Okay, he thought to himself. Focus. How to call the sword? He tried calling for it vocally, but nothing happened. Aimi and Hiroto watched. He tried again. "Excalibur."

Still nothing. He devised a spell on the spot. "Blade of magic, owned by man, bring Excalibur, to my hand." He held his hand out, willing the sword to appear. Nothing happened.

And that was when the mission started going south.

A squeaking of the stairs leading up to the attic was their only warning. Coop opened the door suddenly and Hiroto rushed to cast a Genjutsu.

"Wait!" Coop said desperately. "Wait, don't attack." He held up a hand in a warding off gesture, gripping the doorknob in his other hand.

Hiroto glanced at Wyatt, waiting for instructions. It was his world, his relative after all. Wyatt, on edge, gestured stiffly. Hiroto backed down. Coop relaxed slightly, coming into the room and closing the door behind him. "Wyatt?" he asked softly.

Wyatt nodded jerkily, tensed to orb them all away. "What's the matter, Uncle Coop? Don't you recognize me?"

Coop almost hadn't, actually. Wyatt had been gone for a month. He'd changed drastically in that time. His hair was longer, streaked with blonde as if he spent a lot of time outside. His skin was tanned, also lending to the outdoors theory. His body was thicker, looked stronger, as if he did a lot of physical activity. There was a confidence evident in him that hadn't been present before.

Coop's eyes went to Aimi as she stood and came to stand by Wyatt. He went back to studying his nephew. "Wyatt," he said now. "Your family is worried sick, they'll be so happy to see you're back."

"I'm not," Wyatt said, aware that time was escaping him, bringing his mother closer to the manor. "I need to find Excalibur. Do you know where my mom put it?"

Coop didn't argue with Wyatt, but he didn't give up either. "Wyatt, please. If you could see how heart-broken your mother and father have been… It's why I'm here, actually. Piper requested someone always be in the house in case you came back. Please, Wyatt, at least talk to them, tell them you're all right."

From downstairs, came the sound of a door slamming. "Coop?"

It was Piper.

Wyatt, desperate, closed his eyes.

_Excalibur_

Coop lunged for the attic door, opening it and shouting at Piper that Wyatt was up stairs. A distant scream, before Hiroto could be heard tackling Coop to the floor.

_Excalibur is-_

Piper, with Leo, running up the stairs, screaming for Wyatt, making his heart pound and hurt abominably with the remembered sound of her voice. He suddenly remembered the way his mother smelled, how good her cooking was, how much he loved and missed his family. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, tears leaking from them as he fought against the urge to answer her. She'd be mad, but then she'd be loving and soft and motherly and he needed that. Raiden's world was so hard and he needed his mother.

But Raiden needed him too. His love for Raiden shielded him against the emotions his mother called up and just as she was coming up the last few stairs to the attic, he bent every particle of his mind on that sword.

_EXCALIBUR IS MINE_

And with this surety in his ownership, he sensed the sword, hidden, and orbed it to himself. Aimi touched his arm, Hiroto put a hand on his shoulder and they were Boomed just as Piper threw open the attic door, screaming his name. All she caught was a swirl of lavender from Aimi.

* * *

Piper stumbled into the room, Leo behind her. She stood where her son had stood, and she could smell him. She turned, stricken, broken at the thought of her son leaving when he'd heard her calling for him, leaving without seeing her, and found Leo's arms waiting. They sank to the floor, Piper wailing in anguish. Coop watched sadly.

* * *

They arrived back on the plateau and Wyatt staggered away, clutching his chest, where his heart felt as if it was breaking. Raiden ran to him, slamming into him and hugging him fiercely. Wyatt sobbed into the sturdy shoulder. "I heard her, she was right there. Oh god, Raiden. I almost stayed… I-I wanted to, but I wanted to come back more and…. I heard her screaming for me, Raiden."

Kneeling in the rocky soil that covered the plateau with Wyatt, Raiden held him tightly, rocking his bawling friend back and forth. He didn't say anything, didn't know what to say. He only held on, crushing Wyatt to him, feeling his pain as if it were his own.

Aimi walked up to where her fathers were watching the scene solemnly. "I haven't eaten since our own world. I want food. Now. I'm starving."

***

Later when evening fell, a campfire was lit outside the house in a fire pit they'd made. Wyatt and Aimi were still sleeping from earlier in the afternoon. Raiden sat next to his sleeping friend in the room allotted to Sasuke, Naruto and their kids. After awhile he lay down beside Wyatt and slept too. Aimi snored softly across the room on the floor.

Ryota was sharing a room with Masaru, Kei and Shouta. Currently he was the only one in it, looking at all the stuff Wyatt had brought back for him. He held a candle to the jar of newt eyes, examining the beady little things with morbid interest.

"So Gaara was right," Itachi said from the doorway.

Ryota squealed, nearly dropping the jar. He tried to hide the packages by standing in front of them, but this was impossible. The parcels were too many. "Dad! What do you mean?" But he knew perfectly well what his father meant.

Itachi crossed his arms, studying his son. "Gaara said you and your brothers were toying with a power he couldn't identify as chakra. He caught the title of a book lying in your room the night he caught you. Magic. Ryota, what are you up to?"

The boy hung his head, holding the jar of newt eyes behind his back.

"Where did you get the book?" Itachi asked as he stepped into the room. He stooped and picked up the candle. He held it to a bundle of some weedy looking plant labeled as sage. When his son remained silent, Itachi turned to him. "Answer me."

"From mom," Ryota whispered.

"Willow?" Itachi's voice displayed rare emotion: incredulity.

There was no holding the tale in at that point. Ryota had the presence of mind to leave out the reason for seeking his mother out, saying instead that he and his brothers had only wanted to meet her. Finding out he was slightly magical had been an accident, something his mother had told him.

Itachi stared around at the supplies. He remembered how powerful Willow was. She was virtually unstoppable. He had been proud to have her birth children for him, thinking her a warrior that would breed strong offspring.

He looked at his son. Ryota was no warrior. He was a laughing jackal of a boy, never serious about anything. But if Gaara's account of what he'd seen was accurate, he might equal his mother yet. Itachi had no idea how magic worked or if, in fact, it was possible for Ryota to match Willow in ability. As yet, none of the triplets had displayed Sharingan. He was waiting to see if his youngest children would follow in the steps of their siblings, but if not, having a child with Willow's power would be an asset.

"Ryota," he said suddenly.

The blue eyes, so like Willow's, looked up at him fearfully.

"You may continue with the magic. It may help us. But even if it doesn't, it would be well to have an Uchiha as powerful as Willow is." He handed the sage and the candle to his shocked son. "But if I hear of you leaving to other worlds again, you will bleed. I will not have the waywardness of Sasuke's children rubbing off on my own, nor will I be as lenient as he is with disobedience. Going to other worlds is dangerous, and we are plagued with enough without you three disappearing." Itachi held his son's gaze until Ryota nodded shakily that he wouldn't do it again.

Ryota breathed a sigh of relief when his father left. He sat down to organize the supplies Wyatt had brought, still dazed by his father's acceptance of the craft.

* * *

The hard work everyone had put in that day had had them finishing most of the food. Sumiko examined the rations and announced they'd need to replenish their stores soon.

"Someone needs to go hunting," Lee said. He looked pointedly at Naruto.

The blonde frowned. He knew Sakura had thrown a fit when she'd learned Lee was leaving her for months to come train Aimi. When he'd asked Lee about it during a break today, his friend had said that the separation would be good for him and Sakura. "She refuses to marry me, but insists I stay by her side. She and I can both use the time apart to think about our relationship." Lee had turned away then to continue digging the well.

Naruto didn't know what needed to be thought about. Lee and Sakura had been together most of their lives, going on fifteen years now. What he did know was that Lee had been just a little less pleasant than normal since leaving his former team mate. The look he gave Naruto now was sharp, unsmiling.

"Why me?" Naruto asked. "This isn't like the time we were exiles and nobody knew how to do anything. Everyone here can hunt."

Lee didn't answer, wrapping his hands in the strips of cloth he usually wore. He'd taken the bandages off when he'd been working earlier.

"I'm not going into that forest at night," Kenji said. "A lot of snakes are nocturnal." Talk turned to selecting a hunting party and acquiring food in the form of roots and other edible plants.

Yachiru heard a noise behind her and turned around. She saw a tiny creature, perhaps six inches high. It had leathery wings folded on its back, but its body was furry. It crouched on all fours, its huge eyes looking up at her curiously. It made the sound again, a soft fluting, almost like a chirp. A fluttering of wings, and a second creature, identical to the first, landed beside it. Their fur looked as soft as down, glossy black and shiny.

Everyone was sitting in a large circle around the campfire. Shouta was next to her. "Look," she told him, pointing at the two creatures.

Shouta turned to look at what she showed him. He recoiled almost immediately, noticing the long claws on their furry little paws. Their eyes were disproportionately large, standing out from their heads, pale and shining. "Aren't they cute?" Yachiru giggled. She reached out a hand to pet one.

Shouta shouted a warning at the same time the creatures opened jaws impossibly wide and ringed with a triple row of pointed, wickedly sharp teeth. Yachiru screamed, lunging backward as the things lunged at her.

Suddenly the night was full of the things, dropping out of the sky and creeping from beyond the circle of light cast by the campfire from where they'd been quietly gathering.

Now everyone screamed and roared as it became evident that the little furries were hostile. They bit chunks out of the ninja before jutsu were finally called forth to do away with the fuckers. The shinigami sliced them from the sky, froze them, shot them with Kido spells, but when one dropped, ten more appeared. Then a hundred, then thousands of the things were shrieking and swarming around the beset group. Fingers were lost, ears, a nose, an eye. The people were now invisible as the swarm thickened around them, drawn by the light of the large campfire.

* * *

Inside the house, Raiden stirred in his sleep. He heard shouting distantly from his slumber, but didn't wake up, too exhausted from the day of work.

* * *

Sasuke sent wave after wave of lightning and fire, but there was no end to the little shitters. "Naruto!" He couldn't even see his demon.

Gokakyu was the only thing even remotely effective, but it wasn't enough.

* * *

Ryota had fallen asleep. He woke slowly, his face stuck to a page in the book of magic. Still half asleep, he frowned in puzzlement a moment, wondering why he was uneasy…

His bothers. Masaru and Kei in mortal terror. He gasped, running to throw open the house door and look outside.

He had to slam the door shut again, scared badly by the screaming and the black cloud of howling, carnivorous creatures. Some had made it inside the house. They lost no time attacking him. Ryota stumbled backward, dispatching them with lightning shot from his hand. He barely paused to examine this unprecedented display of chakra in himself, running for his uncle Sasuke's room.

Raiden came around groggily to the punches landing on his face. He raised a forearm, blocking tiredly as he rolled over.

"Get up," Ryota hollered. "Raiden!"

Raiden did get up, coming around quicker when he heard Wyatt and Aimi's names being called too. He rubbed his eyes, yawning. "What-" he began. But then he heard the screams. He bounded up, Wyatt and Aimi awake by now and running behind him. Ryota led the way.

* * *

Some of them were down. Shouta was sprawled by the fire, being guarded by a shrieking Yachiru, her pink chakra whipping around her, sword slicing and whirling. Hiroko was down, her Genjutsu abilities likely no help in this situation. She was covered in the creatures, only recognizable by her pale hair peeking out from between the black bodies. Konohamaru dropped next to her, one of the things attached to his face, greedily eating his eyes, even as the four kids watched in horror. Kei and Masaru were down.

Ryota charged, lightning erupting wildly from him. He was soon covered as well, still screaming.

Wyatt was calm. He put his shield up around himself and Raiden and walked into the maelstrom of shrill creatures. They bounced off his shield, their eyes rolling madly, blood and froth dripping from their wide mouths. Raiden held Death Spheres ready in his hands, transformed and trembling, watching how his pop and dad fought back to back, bloody and mutilated.

Wyatt went to the first fallen body and orbed the creatures away from it. It was Ibiki, covering the body of Akane. Both were unconscious and missing a few body parts. One of the creatures was crushed in Ibiki's fist. Wyatt laid his hands on each and began healing them.

His shield dropped.

Wyatt paused as Raiden threw his spheres as fast as he could form them, slinging them at the creatures while beating his own wings to keep them off himself. Apparently, Wyatt deduced, it was impossible for him to do two magical things at once, like heal and maintain his sphere.

A creature landed on the back of his neck and Wyatt felt teeth sinking into his flesh, a hungry mouth sucking the blood that poured forth. Even as he screamed and reached behind himself, he saw one of Raiden's wings being shredded. Raiden's black chakra swirled out of him, already healing himself.

Then Aimi was there, her chakra surrounding her as Wyatt's shield had surrounded him. She came running up, falling beside Wyatt and looking around with terrified eyes. The creatures swooped toward her and were obliterated at contact with her corrosive chakra.

Seeing this, Aimi expanded the shield and enveloped everyone, Pulling them into a tight group by the fire. Outside her shield was pitch black, the sky and plateau obscured by the massive swarm.

Raiden actually kissed his sister quickly before running to Wyatt and examining the back of his neck. Wyatt brushed him aside, speaking urgently to Aimi.

"The bodies, Aimi. Fold the creatures away from the bodies before they kill everyone!"

Aimi did this and moaned behind her hands at seeing how badly everyone was hurt. Kenpachi seemed all right, only missing an ear and part of his nose, but the rest… oh, god her papa!

Wyatt was all business, healing each person in turn until they were back to normal. Raiden could see that restoring eyes, fingers and other limbs required more from Wyatt than ordinary healing did. His friend was sagging by the time he healed Sumiko, the last one. He caught Wyatt as he collapsed, close to a faint from overuse of his magic and too little rest.

***

Aimi still had her shield up. No one went near it, huddling in the middle, as far from its boundary as possible, aware that she couldn't protect them from it if she had to keep it effective against the host of flying creatures. Naruto went to her and sat down, holding her as she watched the creatures dive again and again to their deaths against her shield.

The others were silent, sitting and watching in gruesome fascination, grateful for being whole and unhurt again. Asami healed Wyatt's neck.

Finally Kei said, "It's the fire. They're attracted to the light."

Naruto doused the fire with water he called up. The only light now came from the faint glow of Aimi's chakra.

There must have been a million of them. They dispersed slowly. Fewer and fewer tried to penetrate Aimi's dome of chakra, until eventually the stars could be seen again. Aimi didn't release her shield, but covered her face in her hands and shivered. She didn't cry. She never cried. Sasuke put an arm around her with Naruto, drawing her close. "I hate it here," she shrieked, making everyone wince.

The rest had to agree, this world sucked. Big time. They sat looking at the dead bodies of the creatures littered around the plateau as dawn slowly lightened the sky.

* * *

They waited until the sun was at least an hour over the horizon before letting Aimi put her shield down. They quickly went into the house and barred the door. Yumichika and Ikkaku stood guard.

***

They slept the entire day. Toward afternoon, Kenpachi and Hitsugaya relieved Yumichika and Ikkaku and took over guard duty.

That night they sat in the main room of the house, one candle sitting in the middle of their circle as they discussed options.

"I say we get the blue fuck _off _this sonofabitching world," Kenji stated emphatically. Kenta nodded beside him.

"I want to go home," Aimi whimpered.

"I'm sure Sakura misses me enough by now to marry me," Lee offered.

"I can train in Suna as well as anywhere," Itachi said. He avoided the look of contempt Sasuke threw him.

"I'm useless if I can't use Genjutsu," Hiroko quavered. Konohamaru hugged her, nuzzling her hair.

Akane spoke for all the harpies. "We like a challenge, but this world sucks shit."

Udon used logic. "I think it's obvious that the reason humans don't thrive here is because this world is too unfriendly. The creatures here are at the top of the food chain. We are at the bottom."

"I really don't like leaving Hanabi to have the baby alone," Kaito added.

Everyone except the shinigami and Sasuke had something to say in favor of leaving. Naruto's blue eyes rested on each person in turn as they spoke. He pulled thoughtfully on his lip, listening to everyone's arguments. When they'd all spoken, he sat up straighter and met their eyes. "We're staying."

A chorus of outraged yells sprang up. Naruto held up a hand.

"Here me out," he said. "The challenges of this world are a good thing. We've gotten soft, living in a peaceful village. We need these adversities; we can train against them, use them to make ourselves stronger. This is survival, guys. What better way to prepare for Akatsuki and whatever else might be coming? I say we stop whining and start acting like ninja."

There were thoughtful murmurs, glances exchanged.

"I'm with Naruto," Sasuke said quietly.

"We agree to stay," Kenpachi smiled widely. "Best fun I've had in a long while."

Itachi wavered. He caught the smug, challenging look Sasuke threw him and firmed his resolve. "Very well. We stay."

* * *

Traumatized by the flying creatures from the previous night, they decided that all work must be done before sundown. They spent the next day cutting down more trees and hunting for food.

The youngest kids were left on the plateau. Aimi sat miserably in front of the house, watching Ryota lift a rock with a simple spell. Raiden was watching Wyatt examine Excalibur. Masaru was sharpening a kunai and Kei was looking at his book. He closed it now and came to sit beside Aimi.

"Well, I finally finished the book," he said in tones of satisfaction. "I have a nice working knowledge of how portals operate and where some dimensions are located in relation to where we are. How about you?"

Aimi looked at him dully. "How about me, what?"

"How are you coming with the fifth and sixth dimensions?"

Aimi resumed study of Ryota and his efforts. "I'm good."

Kei nodded. "So shall we go ahead and start bringing the help?"

"I don't know… my papa says I'm not supposed to go anywhere. I'm to stay right here and train."

Kei was silent, waiting. Masaru, still sharpening his kunai, spoke without looking up. "If we don't get that army, we don't have a chance. We need them, Aimi. Your parents need them, we all need them."

Raiden had been quietly listening as he watched Wyatt with his sword. Now he turned to his sister. "Sis, I know you're scared and everything, but we have to do this. Phoebe said it was the only way, remember? We _have _to."

Aimi hugged herself, wishing she was home in her soft bed, her papa downstairs making a nice stack of fluffy buttermilk pancakes. The ones with blueberries in them. She would go downstairs, find a huge stack all for herself, complete with slices of bananas, strawberries and kiwis on top. The can of whipped cream would be waiting for her and she would spends long minutes squirting kanji shapes onto her pancakes and then drown the entire thing in half a bottle of syrup. Those were the best mornings.

Not waking up to find the carcasses of those mad creatures still littering the plateau. Not waking up to find that so much still rested on her shoulders. And _not _waking up to know they were still living this nightmare, that somewhere on a distant world Akatsuki was training to kill them.

Raiden hated when his little sister pouted like that. He scooted over to her and gave her an awkward hug, patting her solid back. She was as filthy as the rest of them were, he noticed. Aimi sniffed, hugging back. Wyatt, Ryota and Masaru came over so that they were all sitting in a huddle. Aimi sat back and took a breath, feeling slightly better. "Okay. The sooner we get help, the sooner we can all begin training."

"Precisely," Kei said.

"Who's coming with me?" Aimi asked.

The boys looked at each other. "Just me, I guess." Kei said uncertainly. "Can you sense any of them?"

Aimi transformed partway, only her eyes changing. She tilted her head back, seeing things only she could. "I sense quite a few… there are some good and bad. Ah…"

"What," Raiden said anxiously.

"I found four together."

"Excellent!" Kei enthused. "Let's go there first."

Aimi frowned, looking at her cousin. "What if they don't want to come with us? They'll be just as hard to convince as everyone here, won't they?"

Kei chewed his lip. "Well… we'll think of something. If worst comes to the worst we simply won't give them a choice."

Wyatt snorted. "That's kidnapping."

"Why, yes. Yes it is," Kei said cheerfully. "And this is life or death. I'd say kidnapping is a small thing in comparison, wouldn't you?"

Wyatt didn't comment.

"Okay, Aimi… shall we?" Kei stood and hugged the book he'd been reading to his narrow chest.

Aimi sighed and stood with him. She looked around, shaking her head. Then she Boomed, taking Kei with her.

The others settled down to wait, sure she'd be back in no time at all. They were pretty anxious to meet this 'help' finally. It promised to be intriguing at the very least.

* * *

Sumiko led the hunting party. She crept silently, watchfully, through the dense foliage of the forest, the plants all higher than she was. Sunlight was almost completely blocked by the high canopy of trees and vines. Occasional tendrils of green-tinged light filtered down, illuminating swatches of the forest. She felt like an ant in the dirt, everything way bigger than she was.

Akiko, Shouta and Kaito made up the rest of the party. Kaito had already filled up a sack with some kind of fig-like fruit he found growing on a bush. He'd sniffed it cautiously, tasted it tentatively, and pronounced the thing fit for consumption.

Sumiko held a drawn bow in front of her, moving forward in a crouch. She held up her fist and the others behind her halted. To be on the safe side, they were all masking their chakra, aware that animals could sense it. As of yet, they'd created no disturbance in the forest. They observed strange birds and ground animals going about their daily business as if they weren't there.

The creature Sumiko had her sights on was large, its shoulder higher than Kaito's head, and he was six-foot-four. It seemed to be a species of deer. The horns were colossal, curving forward in front of the thing's head. It had four eyes, like the creatures that had chased them on their first night here, but the secondary eyes were placed near the odd, drooping ears. The overall color was a tannish brown, with black and white stripes. It grazed peacefully on a pink shrub, chewing the leaves with obvious relish.

Sumiko sighted along the arrow shaft, drawing back to her ear. She took careful aim, wanting to bring the beast down quickly. She waited a heart beat, two… then released the arrow.

It flew true, hitting the beast squarely in one of its main eye sockets, but it didn't go down. It reared up, letting out a deafening bray of sound before turning and galloping away.

The four Uchiha were up and after it instantly, running full tilt in pursuit of their dinner.

The deer thing covered a lot of ground, fast despite its size. It bounded nimbly over enormous tree roots and low bushes, the ground shuddering every time its four cloven hooves came down. Shouta was in the lead, zipping along after it, leaping nimbly along the lower branches as he followed the deer thing's headlong dash. He was forced to unmask his chakra to do it, but he was gaining on the thing.

The deer made a sharp left and headed for a darker part of the forest. Sumiko called out a warning for Shouta not to lose the animal and he heeded, dropping from the trees to land on the thing's back, stabbing into its thick neck with his kunai.

The creature kept running.

Shouta held on for dear life, an arm thrown up to block the branches that slapped at his face. He flattened himself on the crazed deer's neck and reached for the arrow protruding from the eye socket. He gave it a vicious twist, making the creature rear up and paw the air, bellowing in pain. Shouta was thrown into the bole of a tree, the wind knocked out of him. He rolled painfully to his side in time to see the creature charging at him, horns lowered to skewer him where he sat.

Kaito appeared from nowhere, leading with a flying kick that staggered the animal off course long enough for Sumiko and Akiko to land on it, going for its jugular. Kaito jumped in to help as Shouta got to his feet, and by the time the blonde boy made his way to them, the thing lay dying in the dirt, kicking weakly. The blood pulsed from its slit throat in diminishing spurts.

Sumiko went to Shouta and clapped him on the side of his neck. "Not bad, little brother!"

* * *

The hunting party made it back to the plateau just before the others returned with fresh wood for the other structures. Sundown was an hour away, so no work would be done on the other buildings until the next day.

"Damn, what about cooking this thing?" Kaito said. He kicked at the huge deer creature he and his siblings had dragged back. "Only an hour of sunlight left… we can't cook it in an hour and we can't light a fire or those things from the other night will come back."

"We need a wood stove," Juro said. "If we could go back to Konoha for a sec, we could pick one up." He looked at Naruto.

Naruto was looking around, a frown forming on his face. "Where's Aimi?" he asked suddenly.

Raiden groaned inaudibly. He and the others had expected her back hours ago. When they'd seen the adults coming back, they'd secretly hoped the absence of two kids would go unnoticed. There were so many people that it hadn't seemed like an unreasonable wish. But their dad had noticed right away and now the shit was going to hit the fan. Again.

Kenpachi stepped forward. "Boy, you'd better answer. My woman-"

Sasuke delivered a roundhouse kick to the back of Kenpachi's head that had the tall captain sliding his sword out of its sheath, turning with a feral grin of welcome for the sudden violence.

"She's _not _your woman, you fucking pedophile," Sasuke raged. He drew his own sword, but Naruto got between the two men and shoved them apart with a snarl.

"Fuck it, will you two stop?! Look at you! Aimi's gone and all you can think to do is fight over some stupid shit??" Naruto turned in exasperation to Kenpachi. "She isn't your woman, and if you keep this up, we'll be forced to send your bony ass home." He turned to his son. "Now. Raiden. Where is she?"

"And where," Itachi said, coming to stand by the blonde, "is Kei?"

Raiden tried to keep silent. He figured they wouldn't be able to drag the information from him and hopefully Aimi would come back soon and they'd see the answer for themselves. But if he opened his mouth and told them where she'd gone, they'd never believe him.

Itachi's question spawned a deep silence. Naruto, in the interest of preventing further alienation from his son, spoke into this silence. "Raiden, please. Just tell us where they are. No one's in trouble… yet. But we need to know."

Raiden stubbornly kept his lips sealed. Ryota, however, piped up with, "They went to get help. The Bijuu army. Dad, I _told _you we knew where it was, but you wouldn't listen to us."

"The Bijuu army," Sasuke said dryly. He snorted. "From where? There _are _no other Bijuu."

Itachi spoke up, demanding to know where Kei had gone. Sasuke and Naruto spoke to Wyatt and Raiden just as urgently, with Kenpachi threatening dire consequences if Aimi wasn't found. The others started joining in, with Udon asking intellectually where this army could be located and who it consisted of. The noise and arguing escalated as the sun cast dying orange rays of light over the plateau.

***

Aimi Boomed into this scene. Kei was with her, as well as four individuals that had everyone staring in bug-eyed shock. There was a collective gasp.

There were two big men, a medium-sized one, and a boy with Aimi and Kei.

Naruto stared at one of the big ones.

Itachi stared at the boy.

Sasuke stared with red eyes at the medium-sized one and it was this one that spoke, shaking his dreads out of his eyes as he got a good look at Sasuke in turn.

"Well, well, well, Blondie," this dread-wearing one said to one of the big men with him. "Looks like the girl was right and there _are _other versions of us out in the universe. Ain't that some _shit_?"


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: A current pic of Aimi is up on my DA page.

For those of you who didn't know, the newcomers are from Until You. This chapter is short, but the next will be much longer. I've already got some of it written. I'm sorry for the delay, but I got taken with sketching.

Oh, and those not up to date on the manga might not understand the last scene.

In case I missed anyone, thank you so much for the hilarious reviews! Onward!

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 26

The only response to his words was a crack of thunder that shook the plateau, a jagged lance of lightning and the unleashing of a torrential downpour.

He stared at the one that was supposed to be him. His hair was just as black, but not in dreads. He himself had stopped wearing dreads when he'd met Blondie. Then they'd gotten separated for so long, the dreads had come back, and Blondie had been so relieved to find him again that he'd said leave the dreads; they reminded him of the thieving urchin that had given his life meaning.

He shook the sopping lengths from his face now as he looked his twin up and down. _That's one pansy-assed pretty boy motherfucker, _he thought with a sneer. His twin's body was thicker, slightly taller. The hair was gathered off his face into a short ponytail, the hair at the nape of his neck left free in black spikes.

Then his eyes slid sideways and he saw Itachi.

Blondie must have seen him too, because he tensed… but a glance showed Blondie to be staring at a shorter, though just as stocky, version of himself.

He took a good look as well. The other Blondie's hair was in a slightly longer ponytail, just grazing his neck. He looked young, maybe early twenties, but then his own Blondie hardly seemed to change since he'd met him. 'Bee had said the regenerative powers of Kyuubi would likely give Blondie an unnaturally long life-

'Bee. He searched, but could find no copy of him. Nor could he see another version of Gaara. He saw a lot of people he'd never seen on his world before… No, wait. He recognized that aged guy back there. He'd been an examiner for the Chuunin exams. That was it, though. Every other face was just as new and strange as every other face. He glanced at Itachi again, accessing Sharingan, and clutched the object in his hand. He was glad Blondie was with him for this.

* * *

The one Naruto was staring at shifted slightly at the name 'Blondie'.

Itachi stared at the boy, a munchkin version of his beloved Kazekage, complete with a gourd almost as big as he was. Just then the diminutive redhead was gazing around with an expression of eagerness the real Gaara would never have been capable of.

The last one, a huge black man with sunglasses, received little attention.

Naruto blinked rain from his eyes. He raised one trembling arm and pointed a shaking, dripping finger at the one called Blondie. "S-Sasuke… tell me that's a clone?"

Sasuke didn't answer, his insides twisting and heaving in an unpleasant way at seeing the sudden Sharingan in the dread-lock wearing young man. He looked like him… and didn't.

Raiden stared excitedly between his dad and the one called Blondie, between his pop and the one wearing dreads. He cast a brief glance at the little Gaara, before turning gleefully to his sister and Kei. "Hot _damn, _you did it! Do they have Bijuu?"

Aimi nodded. "All except that one," she said pointing at the one with dreads. "I would have been back sooner but they needed convincing."

Kei leaned in to whisper dramatically, "They're expecting to be paid in solid gold bars. I led them to believe we have such currency."

Aimi nodded, whispering as well. "I cast a Genjutsu that made them think a rock was one of the gold bars." She nodded at the one wearing dreads. He was indeed holding a rock in his hand.

What seemed like an eternity passed. Sasuke recovered enough to say hoarsely, "Somebody… somebody give me an explanation right the hell now." That seemed to break the ice. Talking broke out from every throat at once, Aimi trying to explain over Kei, questions being asked of the four newcomers by everyone except Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi. The newcomers remained still and silent, though the little boy Gaara seemed excited at the developments.

Finally Naruto bellowed for everyone to shut up. Night had arrived. Yumichika said he could create a barrier with Kido around the plateau that would prevent the flying creatures from reaching them. This would allow them to make a campfire and roast the deer.

Now Naruto did speak, turning to Yumichika with his hands on his hips and an air of scathing incredulity. "Can I know what prevented you from doing that last night? Or half an hour ago, seeing as how we're soaked to our skin?"

Yumichika stammered something about the thought not occurring to him. Naruto turned from the feathered freak with an annoyed roll of his eyes.

***

Once the barrier was erected, Sumiko and Kaito cleaned and dressed the animal and soon had it roasting over a spit that Juro and Yukio turned steadily. Naruto asked the four wary newcomers to sit and they sat. They were joined by everyone else around the fire. No one spoke, staring at the four guests openly.

Juro and Yukio turned the spit, turned the spit.

The sound of animal fat sizzling in the fire, sparks flying up to disappear against the large square Kido barrier, were the only sounds heard.

Naruto said, "Who are you people?"

Dread-head said, "Uchiha Sasuke."

Blondie said, "Uzumaki Naruto."

The Munchkin said, "Sabaku no Gaara."

And the large black man said, "Killerbee. You can call me 'Bee."

"Aimi?" Naruto said slowly, his eyes on the strapping blonde teen that looked so much like him. "You and Kei start explaining."

Kei did the honors. "It's like this. Remember when Wyatt helped Raiden by bringing Willow to help rescue Uncle Sasuke from the dead?"

"How do you know abo-" Sasuke began shakily.

Kei kept on talking. "Well, I got to thinking. Wyatt brought Willow from a TV show. Straight out of a television set, in fact." There was spluttering and awed sounds that did not hinder Kei in the slightest. All eyes were on him and he was loving this rare bout of attention. "So I said to myself, I said, 'A TV show… that means someone in Wyatt's world had to _play _that part.' There were two Willows. One, who's our mother, and the other, whose name probably isn't Willow, but who looks and sounds like her. Who _is _her in every way except by name."

There was silence. Naruto swallowed, blinked. "So?" he croaked.

"So," Kei resumed with a roll of his eyes. "Wyatt brought our mother, Willow, from an _alternate reality. _It might be only a program in Wyatt's world, but mom's world is real… everyone went to it when Buffy needed help. And if there are other versions of Willow, then there must be other versions of some of us. In other realities."

Brows cleared as understanding sank in gradually. More thoughtful silence.

Naruto rubbed his chin slowly, his mind struggling to grasp such a concept. "So… the other versions of-" his eyes skipped to the huge blonde sitting next to what could only be a version of Sasuke, "-me… have Kyuubi." He sucked in a breath as his eyes darted to the boyish Gaara and the black man. "They have Bijuu, too. I can feel it. This… this is how we can get the army, by getting other versions of ourselves?!"

Kei nodded happily. "Yup, and Aimi said she sensed lots of other versions, too."

Itachi tore his eyes away from the small Gaara to look at his son. "Kei that is absolutely brilliant. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you sooner. _No one_," and here Itachi threw a smug look at Sasuke, "could top such intelligence. You make me proud, boy. Very proud."

The dread-wearing Sasuke stood up. "Well, this has been interesting, but I came, I saw, and now I'm ready to go back. Hey, girl," he hailed Aimi.

Aimi looked at him. So did everyone else, noting how the large blonde who'd come with him stood at his side protectively.

"Take me back," he said.

"Oh, Pa- um, Sasuke… I, um… I c-can't do that." Aimi stuttered slightly at the mean look the skinny version of her Papa was giving her.

"And why the fuck not? That's what we agreed on, isn't it? I agreed to come to this place to see for myself you weren't lying, in exchange for gold." He brandished the rock he was holding. "Then you said you'd take me back. Now take us back, damnit!"

Naruto had recovered some of his equilibrium. He stood and moved to stand in front of Aimi, noticing how Blondie moved to block him from approaching the other Sasuke. "Look here, Rasta-Sasuke," Naruto threatened. "Maybe Aimi didn't explain to you why you're here, but we need your help."

"Rasta-! No."

"You didn't even hear what kind of help we need," Naruto said.

"I don't need to hear. I'm not staying anywhere where there's…" but here Rasta-Sasuke cut his eyes to Itachi. Naruto caught the look.

"What… you have a problem with seeing a version of your brother?"

Rasta-Sasuke's eyes glowed red. "Since my own brother killed off my whole clan and tried to kill me? Abused me, sodomized me and tried to kill Blondie here? Oh yeah. You can say I have a problem with looking at the fucker."

Itachi paled. "I would never-"

Rasta-Sasuke turned to Blondie. "I say fuck 'em. I'm not staying."

Blondie inclined his head. Gaara said, "I want to stay and see the other me."

"And I," said the black man, speaking for the first time, "would like to know what you need an army of Bijuu for."

Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke perked up at hearing this, apparently missing this information the first time it had been mentioned.

Sasuke, staring at his Rasta version, related the events that had led them all to this time and place. The black man, who'd introduced himself as Killerbee, sat down heavily. Blondie stared at the night with wide eyes and Gaara, whom Naruto had thoughtfully named Chibi-Gaara, wore an expression of the utmost seriousness.

Only Rasta-Sasuke seemed unperturbed. "I don't care if these Jinchuuriki Akatsuki are here right now and killing you in front of me. My ass ain't staying. Get that through your thick-as-pig-shit skulls, all right?"

Sasuke bulled his way up to him and stood nose to nose with himself, one Sharingan staring into another. "You'll stay if we want you to. No one's taking you back."

"You'll take me back if I start killing off your peeps, here," Rasta-Sasuke snarled, shrugging off Blondie's restraining hand.

"I'd like to see your narrow ass try," Sasuke bit out. Something about this skinny, filthy copy of himself annoyed the shit out of him.

"Happy to oblige." Mangekyo whirled into place, making Sasuke pause as he saw it and Itachi narrow his eyes in sudden speculation.

Aimi sidled up between the two combatant men with a large rock. "We'll pay you in gold bars for every day that you're here," she said to Rasta-Sasuke quietly.

Rasta-Sasuke looked from her Sharingan to the large, shiny gold bar laying across her palm. He glanced at the other Sasuke again, clearly longing to go for the kill, but the lure of more gold was too strong to resist. He pursed his lips. "A gold bar for each of us, every day that we're here, and you've got yourself a deal."

Aimi nodded solemnly, Pulling more rocks to herself. She left the little pile at Rasta-Sasuke's feet, where he promptly fell on them and began fondling them.

Naruto gave an approving nod to his daughter.

***

The deer was soon ready to eat. Itachi carved off portions for everyone, serving them on broad leaves. Rasta-Sasuke did not accept his when it was handed to him or touch it when Itachi left it by his side. Blondie ignored the look of betrayal cast his way by Rasta-Sasuke and ate heartily. So did Killerbee and Chibi-Gaara.

When everyone was on their second helping, Raiden spoke up. "So what's y'all story?" he asked the newcomers eagerly.

Killerbee did the talking, relating his and Chibi-Gaara's stories in his mellow voice. The listeners were lulled. Then Blondie took up where 'Bee left off, telling how he met Rasta-Sasuke and the first year away from Konoha. His deep, melodious voice had Sasuke mesmerized… until he caught his demon staring at him. He coughed into his fist and looked away.

Rasta-Sasuke finished the tale by telling of his life. He spoke slowly, almost in a bored fashion, hefting one of the rocks he kept by his side and polishing it with his sleeve. He told of the things his brother had done to him, of how he'd killed him, without glancing up at the gasps of shock this caused. He told of meeting some man afterward, of finding Blondie again. Itachi wanted to ask about the man, suspecting it had been Madara, but Rasta-Sasuke kept talking.

"All that was about a year ago. Blondie and I were visiting 'Bee and Gaara when that little freak," he pointed at Aimi, "appeared out of nowhere, scaring the shit right outta me. Damn near had a stroke, I did. Anyways, she's going on and on about how we need to go with her and I says as how I ain't going nowhere with some bitch I don't know who can do shit I can't do. She told me I'd get to see another version of myself. Course I didn't believe her. I mean, Jesus, who would! We go back and forth a bit, but then I said the only way I'd go check out what she was saying was if she paid me in solid gold bars. Hag waves her hand and there one was. Here we are." He finished polishing one rock, the size of a newborn's head, and handed it carefully to Blondie, who put it just as gingerly into a sack he carried. Rasta-Sasuke picked up another rock and began polishing it in loving strokes.

Chibi-Gaara looked around. "Where's the other me?"

"On our home world," Itachi said. The small imitation of his lover incited all manner of horrific feelings in him. He didn't know what it was, but something about the way the redhead constantly grinned, and was in constant motion gave Itachi the impression that Chibi-Gaara was crazy.

"And… this isn't your world?" Chibi-Gaara asked. Rasta-Sasuke stopped polishing, looking up with narrowed eyes.

"No," Itachi said. "We're on a planet unknown to us, here to train before Akatsuki attacks our world again. There are no other people here."

Rasta-Sasuke shrugged, examining his reflection by firelight in the gold bar he held. "I say give them the little shit, avoid the whole mess."

Naruto stared hard at him. "Excuse me?"

Rasta-Sasuke pointed vaguely in the direction of Raiden. "You said they want that kid there, right? Give him to them, what's he to you?"

Blondie noticed the blue eyes going red and accessed his own Bijuu as Naruto said, "He's my son."

That had all four newcomers sitting up and staring. Chibi-Gaara exploded with, "What?! I thought you and that Sasuke there were a thing, like these two here?!"

"We are," Naruto said stonily.

"Did you adopt him," 'Bee asked carefully.

Sasuke answered. "No."

Blondie looked hard at Raiden. He could see himself in the eyes. "Who is his mother?"

All eyes swung to Sasuke, who blushed scarlet and frowned furiously. Aimi spoke up in her quiet voice. "Papa isn't our mother, but he birthed Raiden. And Daddy birthed me."

Rasta-Sasuke stood up, a hand to his mouth as he struggled not to hurl. "Wh-_what?_"

Naruto explained about Sexy no Jutsu. Rasta-Sasuke's round eyes flew to Blondie as Chibi-Gaara collapsed in loud hysteria, kicking his legs. 'Bee turned his head aside, clearly disturbed. Blondie asked clinically, "So I might have a child with Sasuke if he performed-"

The rock Rasta-Sasuke threw at his head was caught without Blondie taking his eyes off Naruto.

Naruto nodded. "If it worked here, I don't see why it wouldn't work on your world. I wouldn't advise it, though. It's extremely unpleasant."

"But to have a child…" Blondie said. Rasta-Sasuke rounded on him, screaming about how that would never happen, threatening all manner of dire consequences.

* * *

The next day was a nightmare for Rasta-Sasuke.

It began with Sasuke kicking him in his back to wake him, telling him that if he was going to be here, he had to help out. He'd turned over and looked up at the broad-shouldered version of himself and spat at his face. He'd had to roll quickly to avoid the foot that attempted to crush his head. As it was, there'd been a brief scuffle (which he'd lost) that ended with him being slammed against the wall, held off the floor by the fist at his throat.

"Get your lazy ass outside, we got houses to build," Sasuke bit out. Then he'd dropped him.

He'd walked outside to find Blondie already stripped to the waist in the searing sun and helping to erect some kind of structure. 'Bee was also helping. Chibi-Gaara (amazing how the new names stuck) was using his sand to smooth planks and other lengths of wood.

He put his hands on his hips and announced loudly, "Since it's the Bijuu you guys want, they can be the ones to help. I'm not participating in whatever war y'all got brewing and I'm not doing shit here. I'm just here until Blondie and the rest can leave."

Sasuke straightened up from sawing a plank in half. "Fine. No gold for you."

Rasta-Sasuke cocked his hip in defiance.

He began trying to help when the pile of gold he'd hidden behind the large house disappeared. He'd shrieked, demanding to know who'd dared to take it. Blondie, curse him, seemed unconcerned. Sasuke, that fuck, smirked at him and he'd seen red. Then Itachi had come up to him, asking if he'd like a hug to soothe his feelings. He'd run away and picked up the nearest hammer.

***

Itachi and Sasuke watched him run off. Then Itachi disappeared with a _poof _to reveal Naruto standing there, chuckling. His laughter died away as he watched Rasta-Sasuke taking sullen direction from Yukio. "Neh, Sasuke. What do you think of them?"

Sasuke resumed sawing planks. "That version of myself is fucked up, plain and simple. I get that he's a product of his upbringing… I just can't imagine being like that."

Naruto looked at him mildly. "I can. You weren't so very different when you were younger, Sasuke."

Sasuke turned to look at him.

"Remember," Naruto said, going to sit by his lover, "how you used to hurt people all the time? How bad things were at home with your mom? What you used to do to the men she… the men who came to her? It was mostly because of Orochimaru, but there was a darkness in you. If you'd continued like that, you could have easily ended up like him."

Sasuke dropped is eyes, thinking. Then he shook his head decisively. "No. My brother didn't kill my family. The villagers didn't treat me like shit. And I had you. Are you saying you could have ended up like Blondie?"

Naruto sighed. "I guess you're right. Even if I'd gone through what he'd gone through… and I went through some of it... I don't think I could be so cut off."

"But they found each other," Sasuke said. "I think the only thing that redeems either of them is that they found each other. Naruto…"

"What."

"You think it's that way with all the versions of us? That no matter what world or reality, we're meant to be together?"

Naruto tipped his head in thought. Then he smiled. "That's interesting. I know what I feel for you is cosmic, but for it to be so powerful that no matter who or where we are… wow."

Rasta-Sasuke had smashed his thumb with the hammer and was hollering. Yukio patiently tried to show him how to swing the instrument correctly while Wyatt healed his finger.

* * *

Blondie went hunting with Sumiko, Kaito, Akiko and Shouta. The four Uchiha watched in awe as the huge blonde dropped to all fours upon sighting another of the enormous deer creatures. He ran powerfully, his claws kicking up clods of dirt. The beast ran from him, and the four Uchiha struggled to keep up, noting the orange chakra that sprang up around him. Blondie leapt, sank fangs and claws into the deer's neck and single-handedly brought the creature down, riding it easily as it skidded a hundred yards to come to rest against a tree. He jumped down, wiping blood from his mouth.

"Well, damn," Kaito breathed.

"My sentiments exactly," Sumiko gasped, clutching a stitch in her side. She'd run as fast as she could and still hadn't been able to match the speed of Blondie.

Blondie stooped and lifted the creature that was larger than an elephant onto his shoulders with a grunt. He turned to them expectantly. Shouta and Akiko beckoned him weakly back towards the direction of the plateau.

Blondie was put in charge of hunting. This freed the rest of the hunting party to assist in building. Two smaller structures had been erected by sundown that day. It was decided the newcomers would inhabit one, while Konohamaru and Hiroko would use the other. No training would take place until shelters were erected for everyone.

***

Rasta-Sasuke collapsed weakly by the fire as the deer was being cooked. He'd never, in his whole life, had to work so hard. He had splinters and bruises and that other Sasuke had taunted him about his weakness at every chance he got. He stared at him now, talking to Naruto and smiling. He saw Itachi come up and rest a hand on his shoulder and Sasuke turned to him with love in his eyes. His whole being brightened at seeing his older brother.

And it was obvious Itachi would kill himself before hurting Sasuke.

Apparently most of these people, and the red-haired boys, were Itachi's children. He'd nearly passed out at hearing that information, as if the fact that Sasuke and Naruto had kids wasn't bad enough. Now Itachi had kids. He was okay with them, too, acting normal and concerned and shit. But how he was with Sasuke was something else entirely. He could believe this Itachi loved his brother more than anything.

God, how that hurt. To see all he'd missed in having a brother.

He tried not to think about it often because it made breathing difficult, but he had nightmares about killing Itachi. He'd been glad to do it, so glad… but afterwards, after the weird man, when he'd been lost for so long, blindly searching for Blondie… it would hit him. How his brother had done so much to him under the guise of love. Why couldn't Itachi really have loved him? Had he been so awful, so undeserving? Why had Itachi done so many horrible things to him, when they were all that existed of the Uchiha clan? Why couldn't he just want to be with him, as his older brother?

He'd had to go into the house, into an empty room, and do something he'd done several times since killing his brother. The tears were stormy, harsh and brief. He would get it out of his system and then be okay for a while. Sometimes a few weeks, sometimes a couple of months. Then the urge would come again. He never did it in front of Blondie, and never told him about it. After, he would be all right, hard and badass again. The way he was supposed to be.

Here, though, with this constant reminder of what could have been in his face, he didn't know if he'd be able to deal. He saw this Itachi glance at him often, but he didn't approach. He'd looked at how Itachi's hair dripped with sweat in the sun, how his bare torso worked alongside one of his children, and would involuntarily remember how his brother's sickening touches had felt. He'd shuddered, feeling cold with disgust.

Now, he watched Itachi and Sasuke and knew bitter envy. Twenty-four hours in this place and he already hated it.

* * *

That night, after the deer had been consumed to the bones and everyone sat around the campfire, Naruto looked at his daughter. "Aimi? When will you bring the next people?"

She shrugged. "I could bring them now if you want."

The adults looked at each other. It had been decided that no version of Naruto or Sasuke would go since that might cause panic in whoever Aimi found. She and Kei hadn't seemed to have any problems last time. "All right," Naruto said. "You and Kei can go bring the next people."

Aimi and Kei stood up happily.

"Wait," Sasuke said. "Are you bringing more versions of me and your dad or Gaara and 'Bee?"

Aimi cocked her head, sensing. "You and Dad."

She and Kei vanished with a blast of Chakra.

* * *

"It's perfect," Sasuke said. "I can feel Itachi's power. I can feel myself getting stronger."

Madara smiled and nodded. "I'll leave you to rest then." Sasuke heard his footsteps walking away, heard a door shut softly.

Some time later, as he lay in darkness, feeling the bandage over his eyes, a loud sound had him jerking up to a sitting position. "Madara?"

Aimi stifled her gasp at the name, and at seeing such a young version of her Papa. She didn't speak. Kei, beside her, looked at the many small boxes lining the walls. They both heard running footsteps approaching the closed door behind them and whirled to face whatever was coming.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Don't worry about the confusion between Sasukes and Narutos. Canon Sasuke will have a nickname too, once more about him comes to light, and the Narutos will also have nicknames. Again, those not up to date with the Manga might feel lost in some parts of this.

Aaaand, thank you for the great and hysterical reviews! I hope I answered everyone...

Beta: Blood Zephyr

* * *

Chapter 27

Konohamaru watched the last of Aimi's chakra fade away before turning to where the ample form of his bride was cuddled against his side. "So," he whispered against her ear. "We finally have a place to continue where we left off… any particular fantasies you want to act out?"

Hiroko felt her face heating with a mixture of shame and pleasure. Konohamaru was just so _forceful _when it came to sex. He hadn't been able to keep his hands off her before they'd come to this world. She'd discovered places and feelings in her body she hadn't even known existed. "Konohamaru," she hissed, scandalized. "We should be thinking about training and these strange people…"

"During the day, sure. But at night…" He grinned lazily, playfully biting at her neck.

Naruto watched them with a faint smile, wondering when he could be with Sasuke.

Akane watched as well. She turned to Ibiki. "I can't wait till we have our own place built. I miss your hands on me."

Ibiki turned to her with a startlingly smoldering look, making her catch her breath. "No more than I miss your wild lovemaking, wife." He leaned closer to her. "Are you wet now?"

"Ibiki!" She was pleasantly shocked. That should have been her line! He'd turned out to be as big a devil in bed as she was. Was it possible to love someone so much? she thought with excitement. She and Ibiki would have to find a bush soon, in order to continue their honeymoon.

Outside the Kido barrier, multitudes of the carnivorous winged creatures shrieked to be let in. Everyone waited for Aimi and Kei to get back.

* * *

In the few moments between hearing the footsteps and seeing the door thrown open, Kei had time to wonder why he was even along on this mission. He wasn't strong or special like Aimi or Raiden. He was his father's weakest child. Weak people shouldn't be along on-

The door crashed open and an elderly man, totally harmless in appearance, swept inside. Kei wilted in relief. "Sasuke?" the man said urgently. "I heard something. I thought maybe you'd fallen…"

The old man looked at Aimi and Kei.

"Madara, what's going on?" Sasuke said from behind the two children.

Madara. Maybe he's not harmless after all, Kei thought with a gulp.

"Who are you?" Madara asked them.

"Who's who?" Sasuke asked. "Is someone here?"

Madara was quiet. Aimi's Sharingan whirled crazily into place, her hair turning white, skin dark, all quicker than it took to blink. Madara instinctively launched himself into one of his dimensions at the lance of sizzling lavender chakra that speared his way, but something held him, some invisible thing and the room shook with the growls coming from that hellish girl.

Sasuke stumbled, losing his balance in the trembling room. "Madara!" he ripped at his bandages. "What the hell is going on?!"

Kei cowered on the floor, hands over his ears, screaming.

Madara, unable to escape, looked back at the girl. Her eyes were now yellow. His Mangekyo appeared and he prepared to defend himself.

Aimi sealed her mind against the incredibly powerful Genjutsu cast her way and folded herself out of reach of Madara's sudden grab. Kei still screamed. Aimi stood on one side of the room, Madara on the other.

Now Madara analyzed the girl, thinking. Such a fascinating girl. He circled slowly, watching as she copied him, circling as well, the boy and Sasuke both yelling in the center. Madara vanished.

And reappeared behind her, grabbing her hair to pull her into his dimension. He could feel her quaking in fright. She resisted. Quite powerfully, she resisted and Madara exerted all of his strength to pull her with him. No one resisted his technique!

Aimi, desperate, gathered her chakra and Boomed her Papa and Kei away. The drain was immediate, but she turned and faced Madara head on, wild with fear and killing intent.

Madara was looking at where Sasuke and the boy had disappeared. "No," he breathed. He dropped his eyes in time to see the girl twisting in his grasp, coming for his throat, fangs bared and dripping.

* * *

They stood up at the booming sound that heralded Aimi's return. She'd been gone less than ten minutes.

Kei materialized without Aimi, a black-haired teen staggering beside him. "Aimi!" Kei screamed hysterically, looking around wildly. Naruto and Sasuke ran to him. "Aimi! Oh God!"

No one noticed the new Sasuke falling to his knees and vomiting. His bandage dangled raggedly from his head, still obscuring his eyes.

"Kei, where's Aimi?" Sasuke shook him frantically, trying to get sense from the blubbering boy.

"M-m-Madara," Kei gasped. "He was there, he had her. She… she was fighting him. I think she sent us away so we wouldn't get hurt. Oh god! We have to go back for her!"

Sasuke stood, whirling to find Raiden. Naruto met his gaze. Raiden had his eyes closed, sweating with strain. All other eyes were on him.

"Nnngg-guh! I can't," Raiden said shakily. "I can sense her, but I can't Boom." He opened desperate eyes. "Pop, Dad, what are we going to do?"

"We can't even go to Neji now and reverse it," Naruto said quietly. Too quietly. His body was tensed, hands fisted. He was trying to keep it together.

"But," Raiden said nervously, coming up to his dad. "But you remember what she said about Booming people someplace if she wasn't along. It takes almost all her power… she needed me to do it last time… how is she going to fight Madara?!"

Sasuke covered his face with his hand. "Aimi," he whispered brokenly. "Oh, precious."

* * *

Aimi had more of her dad's stubborn nature than anyone realized. She did not go down easily, releasing all the rest of her chakra and launching herself at Madara with everything she had.

Madara, old and ill-prepared, made the fatal mistake of pausing to examine the strange chakra and transformed state of his attacker. It was scarcely a fraction of a second, but it let her slip a Genjutsu of such power over him that even as he was working to dispel it, another overcame him and then the shrieking, bellowing mass of female was upon him, ripping his face with her claws.

He fought. With considerable skill and strength, he fought. He battled for his very life, but it was as if the girl had fought him before, countering, dodging, and always, always evading his dimension.

The Genjutsu stilled him long enough for her to reach him with lightning speed. He sent a wave of fire at her, even locked in the Genjutsu as he was, but he felt her take control of the fire and send it back at him, so that fire and girl hit him simultaneously. His long, eventful life came to a bloody end amongst the many eyes of his once prosperous clan.

***

When Aimi came to her senses, she knew some time had passed. She couldn't move. Just the effort of slitting her eyes open had her coughing up a small fountain of blood.

She was on the floor. An eye with Sharingan, detached from a body, sat a foot from her face, staring at her. An empty box, crushed, was not far from it. She couldn't move her head to look, but she knew a large part of the room was destroyed.

She suspected she was bleeding heavily. A trickle of blood left her nose when she tried to call her chakra to Boom. Pain split her head so that she screamed as loudly as she could… but it came out as barely a hiss.

Darkness.

She regained consciousness again, but couldn't open her eyes. She didn't know where Madara was. She sort of had a dim memory of ripping his chest open and tearing the innards from his body, but she couldn't visually verify this. She couldn't do anything but float in the darkness with her pain.

_I think I'm dying, _she thought hazily.

She'd Boomed automatically to her Papa, assuming her Daddy would be with him, though she hadn't taken the time to actually sense if her Daddy was with this Papa or not. It had been decided, back on the plateau, that though the Sasukes most likely wouldn't have Bijuu, they would probably be with the Narutos and not want to be parted. Besides, the Sasukes would be strong allies in the coming fight. So the decision had been made to bring any Sasukes found with Narutos. Aimi couldn't be sure if she'd told anyone that in most worlds she couldn't sense Gaara with a Bijuu and hardly any Killerbees at all. Maybe she'd forgotten.

_I need help._

Her Daddy should still be on this world somewhere. She couldn't Boom, but maybe she could fold. It called up sick pain in her head, but she bore down, concentrating. When she had a sense of him, she took a deep breath, coughed up a wad of bloody mucous, then took another, shallower breath. She felt a lung scrape a rib painfully and then she was coughing uncontrollably, blood flying from her lips. She folded quickly, despite the monstrous pain, before she choked on her own blood or passed out permanently.

* * *

Naruto watched Sakura leave. "Yosh! I'm so happy, I'm hungry again!"

"Your ramen's on the house," the old man announced.

"Really?" Naruto yelled, ecstatic. "You sure?"

Naruto was just about to dig in when a body materialized from thin air, three feet above him, and crashed mightily onto his bowl.

He jumped back, yelling in shock and fear. The body, a girl's, lay on the section of the bar he'd been sitting at, noodles and broth soaking into her clothes. Her arms and legs dangled off the side of the bar. She turned her head slowly, blood pouring from her nose and mouth, and fixed him with dark blue eyes. "Daddy," she choked. Then her body went limp, her eyes closing as her head lolled in a puddle of broth.

Naruto, eyes wide, crept closer. "Daddy? Who are you talking about? Hey…" He put a hand to her bloody face. It was cool to the touch. She was a child, he saw. "Are you all right? Girl!"

Naruto was just turning to the old man to tell him he was going to take the girl to the hospital when he disappeared with a poof. Since he was holding the girl's lifeless hand when he went, she went along with him.

Teuchi blinked shocked eyes.

* * *

Naruto laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, peering into his bent face. "Can you sense her? Speak to her?"

The strain was ignored as Sasuke was able to briefly touch his daughter's mind. "She's hurt bad, Demon. I think she passed out." He didn't say the other possibility, that she might be dead. "I can't speak to her, she's not responding." The hand he had over his eyes shook horribly, adding to Naruto's fear. Sasuke never displayed this kind of vulnerability or insecurity. He himself was sick with worry, but he usually counted on Sasuke to steady him.

Raiden was bouncing up and down, unaccustomed to feeling so helpless. "Oh god, Sis! Pop, Dad, what are we going to _do_?" he repeated. "We have to do _something_!" He turned to the one who never failed him. "Wyatt?"

Wyatt shook his head, frowning into the distance. "No way can I get to her. I can't Boom and I can't sense her."

Itachi bled for the distress his brother was in. He walked up to him, held his head. "We'll get her back. I swear it."

Sasuke held every muscle rigid within himself. It was the only way to keep from howling. "How?" he sobbed softly.

Rasta-Sasuke, diligently counting the rocks he'd been given again by his evil twin, looked up. "What about him there?"

Naruto turned to him. "Who?"

Rasta-Sasuke rolled his eyes. Everyone was looking at Sasuke and Naruto. Seemed he was the only one who'd bothered to notice yet another version of himself sitting in the dirt, bandage dangling from his face, still as a statue. "That new jerk right there? The one the redhead kid popped in with? Why don't you ask him if he saw what's-her-face?"

All eyes whirled to the sitting, bandaged figure.

***

Sasuke had felt an odd sensation, along with hearing the strange sound again, and all the hollering and noise from the hideout had vanished. He heard some kid screaming about someone named Aimi, while he struggled to hold the contents of his stomach down. Some made it up despite his efforts. It splattered warmly onto his chest.

He sensed air around him. The air smelled different. He was outside. He heard a gaggle of voices along with the screeching of the boy who'd suddenly been in the hideout with him. Someone addressed one of the voices as Naruto, but the voice didn't sound like his. It was deeper. Someone else was addressed as Sasuke, and the person answered, but it wasn't him. That voice was also deep.

He sat, feeling the grit of the dirt beneath his hands. He didn't know what was going on. He'd been transported somehow, to someplace. Who these people were, he didn't know, nor did he know who this Naruto or Sasuke could be. He sat tensely, swallowing the faint flavor of his regurgitation as he waited to see if he was experiencing some mad dream or if he was among attackers or what.

When someone mentioned 'the jerk who'd come with the redhead kid', he stilled himself further. Somehow he knew they were talking about him. All voices stopped and there was silence. He was able to hear and sense someone walking slowly toward him. He sensed the person squatting down in front of him. A hand touched his knee and he jumped slightly. The hand was large, warm, rough. Male.

***

Sasuke looked at this adolescent version of himself. He received an odd sensation of vertigo, remembering that this was how he'd looked, while simultaneously disbelieving he'd ever been so young. The kid flinched when he touched him, so he removed his hand. "Hey." His voice was low. He didn't want to startle the kid anymore, or he might not get any answers. "I see your eyes are bandaged. I don't suppose you saw anything?"

The kid hesitated, before shaking his head slightly. "Where am I?"

Sasuke sighed, straightening up. No answers. God, Aimi. His baby was hurt, maybe dying and there was nothing he could do. He was powerless.

* * *

Raiden walked away from the group and sat alone. Wyatt followed him after a minute, sitting next to him and watching him.

Raiden closed his eyes and concentrated. He shut down all awareness but that of his sister. It was extremely faint, but there. A tiny pinprick, where before her presence had always blazed like a sun in his mind. Gritting his teeth, balling his fists on his knees, he bent every particle of his mind on calling his chakra and Booming.

He encountered the familiar barrier in himself that Neji had set up. This time he slammed himself against it with all the force of his being, grunting, groaning, tears coming from the heinous effort. He felt the barrier creak as his head began pounding hard enough to make him nauseous. It creaked, bent, and began giving way… just as his strength began ebbing. He drew his brows together, letting out a scream as he dug deep and found more strength, a little more to put against that barrier.

Wyatt saw the blood, dark and viscous, begin leaking from Raiden's nose. His face was scarlet from the strain of trying to Boom, but the black chakra came. He heard Mr. Sasuke and Mr. Naruto running over. Anticipating events, Wyatt quickly put his hand on Raiden's where it was balled on his knee, squeezing gently.

***

Sasuke and Naruto threw their hands up as the chakra exploded, taking Wyatt and Raiden with it.

* * *

They landed in a heap on the floor of a restaurant Raiden had taken him to once, Wyatt saw. He stood and was in time to catch a very brief glimpse of Aimi and a blonde-haired boy before they disappeared with a _poof_. He was left looking at the aged restaurant owner, who was blinking in shock.

He looked down. Raiden was unconscious. "Man. What am I supposed to do now?" Wyatt wondered.

* * *

Naruto looked around, from the low table set with questionable food, to the two wrinkled toads staring at the girl who'd arrived with him. "How did I get here?"

"I summoned you," Fukasaku said. "What's this?" He was pointing at the bloody black-haired girl. "No one can come here unless summoned." He looked closely at the girl. "She has no contract with the toads. How can this be?"

Naruto got to his feet. "I don't know. I was holding her hand when you summoned me. She's hurt, she needs urgent care."

Fukasaku rubbed his chin in thought. "Even with physical contact, she shouldn't be able to enter this place. There must be some connection I don't know about." He continued to mutter to himself as Shima hopped to Naruto's feet.

"I will look after the girl," she croaked. "You must hurry. Ojiji-sama is going to look at your future, he wants to see you right away."

* * *

Wyatt placed his hands on either side of Raiden's head as the old man watched. He healed him as best he could, but as before, when Akatsuki had nearly gotten them, he was only able to heal Raiden to a certain extent. The toll his special abilities took on him when overused was beyond even Wyatt's considerable skill to heal. Wyatt's magic worked on the physical body. He was able to repair the small rupture in Raiden's brain, but not the drain and fatigue it had caused. Raiden would need to recover in his own time, as he'd done before. For now, Wyatt, finished healing him and put Raiden's head in his lap. He stroked the tawny hair worriedly.

Teuchi came around the counter, wiping his hands nervously on his apron. "Ah… excuse me. I don't know you, but do you require assistance?"

Wyatt, not taking his eyes off the sleeping face of his friend, nodded gratefully.

* * *

Naruto stared at the spot where Raiden and Wyatt had been so recently sitting. "We never should have sent two _kids _on such a dangerous mission," he said to Sasuke. "What were we _thinking?_"

Sasuke only shook his head. It had been gross negligence on their part. Would they ever stop screwing up as parents? Ever? God, how stupid were they? "Hopefully Raiden will come back quickly. With Aimi. And hopefully, Wyatt is able to heal her."

Naruto nodded dejectedly.

But Raiden didn't come back. Hours passed.

Konohamaru lifted a sleeping Hiroko and carried her to their cabin. Rasta-Sasuke carried his rocks into his cabin, followed by Blondie, Chibi-Gaara and a sympathetic 'Bee. The rest filed into the large house, casting worried glances at where Sasuke and Naruto stood, holding each other, forehead to forehead, crying quietly. Itachi went over and touched each briefly, letting them know he was there for them. Then he gently led the newest Sasuke into the house and showed him to a room to sleep. He himself did not sleep, his thoughts on his niece and nephew, and the grief of the two men outside who clung desperately to each other, hoping their children were all right.

Perhaps the worst fear, the very worst experience any human being could go through, was to know – _know_ – that their child is hurt and in danger, but that they could do nothing to help them. It was every parent's worst nightmare, to know their children were hurt and alone and unreachable. Worse even than suddenly learning your child has been in an accident and was dead. Then, at least, some part of you knew your child was at peace. The pain felt is largely for one's self, for the loss of a child so unexpectedly. This… to know your child was beyond your reach, hurt, being hurt, possibly _dying _while you sat helpless… it was unspeakable. Simply unspeakable, horrendous in the extreme, and enough to push the mind to madness. It was unendurable, yet endured because there was. No. Choice.

Sasuke and Naruto sank to their knees, Sasuke holding fast to the sides of Naruto's neck, the blonde clutching Sasuke's wide shoulders, foreheads still pressed to each other. They held to each other fiercely, enduring the knowledge of their children hurt and in danger, inaccessible. Barely clinging to reason, they clung to each other during the endless night, alternating between mentally flaying themselves, fervent prayers to forgotten deities and wild promises to never be so careless again. They did not speak. They trembled as one, wept as one, grieved and hoped and prayed as one. Their hearts worked at triple the pace, pumping blood, pumping adrenaline, pumping fear. They lived those hours in exquisite agony, the solidity of each other the only raft in the sea of insanity threatening to engulf them.

When their bodies could stand no more, the adrenaline abated. The fear, sustained at such a sharp peak for hours, dulled somewhat, allowing small, fleeting, minor thoughts to pass their feverishly worried minds. Still holding to him, Sasuke told Naruto, "They are strong kids. Tough. Resilient." This, too, was a prayer of sorts.

Naruto managed a weak, imperceptible nod. "We should… believe in them." His voice was barely a whisper that passed his lips, no sound to it. "Wyatt's with him. He'd die before he let anything happen to Raiden."

Naruto thought of how strong Raiden was, how the kid never failed at anything, ever. How young he was, yet so smart. Sometimes, when Raiden was still, not mouthing off or goofing around, Naruto would look at him and catch a glimpse of the adult he would become, the powerful man he would grow to be. In those moments his son took his breath away.

Sasuke knew a brief, reed-thin species of hope from his demon's statement. Then the fear took over again.

He knew his daughter. As fragile as she was when it came to strangers, as shy and reserved and insecure as she sometimes appeared, he knew what a fiend she could be. She was truly Uchiha. There was darkness in her that he didn't think his demon or Raiden saw, but that he, having been party to it himself, could recognize. He didn't think even Aimi knew how well her papa understood her. She would not go down easily, despite her tender years. His girl was ruthless. She could act without compunction, and though Raiden sometimes exhibited the same trait, it was nothing compared to Aimi.

They waited. Bodies quivering with strain and frail hope, they waited.

* * *

Sasuke could see no light behind his lids, and the air was cool on his skin. He deduced that he must be in a dark room. Whoever had led him here had been gentle, though he himself had been alert for any killing intent. He sensed only concern from his guide.

He was told to rest, that things would be explained in the morning, but sleep was impossible. The faint ache in his head from the surgery was nothing. His mind crawled busily with swarms of unanswered questions. Sitting up, hands in his lap, he again went over what he knew, what he'd been able to glean from things said in his hearing. He put the information in chronological order automatically, methodical and precise by habit.

First, he'd been in the hideout Madara had brought him to, recovering from the successful transplant of Itachi's eyes.

Second, a sound he now knew to mean a transportation jutsu had brought some boy and a girl named Aimi.

Next, and this was where things started to get confusing, there had been the loud growling of some creature. Sasuke had assumed that the creature had come with Aimi and the boy. His eardrums still throbbed from that audio assault. This creature had apparently attacked Madara when he'd burst into the room. The shrieking, growling, snarling sounds attested to this. He'd heard the boy yelling, but not the girl.

Then, there had been the sound of the transportation jutsu again, and the sound of that boy screaming for Aimi, saying that Madara had been fighting her. He'd been forced to conclude that Aimi must be the name of the creature, possibly a pet of the boy, or perhaps a Summons. In the very next moment, he'd heard another boy say things about this Aimi. That she'd said she couldn't 'boom' things without considerable effort. That meant Aimi could talk and was likely human. His first assumptions had been correct, then, and a boy and girl had come to the hideout. He'd heard the other boy say he couldn't boom either. Sasuke was led to believe, by the nature of this statement, that under normal circumstances the boy could boom. Someone had said Neji's name, mentioned reversing something.

After that, he'd heard the boy who could boom exclaim about a 'sis.' Aimi must be his sister, which explained how he'd come to be here. Apparently Aimi and the boy could boom, but the boy was unable to at the moment. Of equally interesting import were the whispers he'd overheard:

_"Can you sense her? Speak to her?"_

_"She's hurt bad, Demon. I think she passed out. I can't speak to her, she's not responding."_

That had been before the girl had been identified as the other boy's sister. How could someone speak to another who was far away? How could they know if the girl was hurt?

A voice that called up an image of a bad-tempered individual had addressed him as a jerk who'd come with a redhead. Whatever boy had come with Aimi to the hideout had red hair, then. Sasuke filed this information away with the rest of what he was learning. Someone approached him, touched him, and asked him if he'd seen anything. It had been on the tip of his tongue to ask questions of his own. Instead, he'd shaken his head and only asked where he was. He hadn't been answered.

The atmosphere around him held palpable tension and worry afterwards. There had been a period of silence. Then running footsteps, as of two large people, then the distant sound of that transportation jutsu, the boom. Logic said that it was likely Aimi's brother who had gone, probably in search of his sister. There had been more waiting, more silence that lasted hours. Finally his guide had led him into a house. Wooden, if the texture under his outstretched hands was any indication.

Now he sat and ran his fingertips over his bandages, feeling the slightly convex surface of his eyeballs under the rough gauze.

These people knew Madara was dangerous or they wouldn't have reacted the way they did upon hearing Aimi was in his clutches. Why had Aimi and the red-haired boy gone to the hideout in the first place? How did they know of it? What village were they from? What village was he in now? Had they gone there to kill Madara? It would seem so. Madara had not mentioned any enemy so powerful as to be in possession of such a jutsu. He himself planned on copying it just as soon as his bandages could be removed.

_I am among enemies, _he thought coldly. For any enemy of Madara's was an enemy of his. He had not been addressed by name, so he didn't think he was recognized. He would give a false name, and observe these people and his surroundings when the bandages came off. Madara had said to keep them on for a day or two. After, when he could see, he would watch and wait.

Who were the men addressed as Sasuke and Naruto, he wondered abruptly. He'd heard those names clearly in the confusion immediately following his arrival. It was impossible that two people could have those particular names. Whoever they were they were men, not youths his age. He wondered if the Naruto he knew was here. If he was, he had a nice, fatal surprise for him. But he didn't think his nemesis was around. If he was, he'd have made his presence known. Especially to him.

* * *

It was near dawn. Blondie knew his lover was awake, though he kept his thin back to him.

He turned over to make sure 'Bee and Chibi-Gaara were asleep before maneuvering close to Rasta-Sasuke's back. The smaller teen purred softly, snuggling his lean ass into Blondie's warm groin.

"Sasuke…"

"Mmm. Yeah, Blondie?" The voice was breathy with sleepiness that was utterly feigned. No one could sleep with the amount of tension floating around the plateau.

"I want children."

Of all the reactions his little Uchiha was known to exhibit when enraged, the sudden stillness he showed now was the least common. It only appeared when Blondie had crossed a line. Blondie had crossed precious few in the time he'd known Sasuke, having been taught well by the Uchiha what was allowed and what wasn't. But this was too important to him to worry overmuch about Sasuke's peculiar and prickly sensibilities. He waited.

Rasta-Sasuke struggled to keep breathing in a normal fashion. He held on to his control, to his chakra, with iron determination; he felt perilously close to that event that had ended with Itachi's death. He couldn't lose it here, not with the gold present and defenseless, and not with Blondie pressed to his back. Both would be destroyed and he couldn't have that. Breathe. In and out.

He forcefully closed the door on all the emotions Blondie's numbskull remark called up and tried to think. He surprised himself with the calm tone of his voice, with his ability to even think at all. "Why?" Blondie relaxed slightly against him, letting him know that the fool had been tensed, which meant he knew this subject was off limits. He'd deal with that later. For now he listened to the answer that floated to him in the dark.

"I want someone to love. And to love me. I want family."

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, feeling his heart lurch and his control slip a hair's breath. "And what the shit am I? Your dog?"

Blondie hugged him tighter, making him grit his teeth with the urge to turn and bite his fucking face off. "Of course not. You know what I meant."

It was getting harder to breathe. "No, I really don't. You're everything to me. I thought I was the same to you. What… I'm not enough anymore?"

"The child would be yours too. Don't you want family, people of your blood?"

Now Rasta-Sasuke did move. He sat up and turned to look at Blondie. He could barely make him out in the darkness. "Mine? Too?"

Blondie sat up beside him. "Yes."

Sasuke stared hard. Up till now he'd thought the ass was talking about getting some bitch to breed. He could understand how the sight of… whatever those two kids' names were had brought on the urge, but if what Blondie meant was…

No. He'd made it clear that whatever hideous jutsu the other Naruto had used would not be used by either of them. He'd thought Blondie had gotten the picture. Blondie certainly hadn't mentioned anything since then.

But now…

Wait, better be sure. No sense having a heart attack over a misunderstanding. He cleared his throat. "What do you mean, mine too?"

Blondie shifted his weight so that he'd be able to spring the instant Sasuke moved. He did this without calling attention to the fact. He molded chakra and held it ready to use without releasing it. "I mean the Sexy no Jutsu. That the other Sasuke and Naruto used. I want you to bear my children."

Rasta-Sasuke clamped his teeth together as tightly as he could, his breath held. His head pounded with blood, making his eyes throb in their sockets. He imagined that they were pulsing in and out of his face in time to his heart beats. When he could speak, he said quite clearly, "You want me to kill you, don't you."

"No. I-"

"Yes, you do. You want it. You want me to fucking kill your fucking ass, right the fuck here, you fucking _fuck._ Fucking mother_fucker._"

Sasuke repeated these words over and over, in a tightly controlled hiss of such potent rage, that Blondie dropped his head and stared at his lap. A faint sound from Chibi-Gaara's corner drew his eyes, but all was still in that quarter of the room.

At last Sasuke was silent.

"So it's no, then?" Blondie asked when he deemed it was safe.

***

Under cover of his scarf, Gaara pressed the palms of his hands desperately over his mouth, eyes streaming hard enough to blind him. In the effort to keep his screeching laughter silent, he was close to asphyxiating himself, but if Rasta-Sasuke caught wind of his hysterics in his present mood, he'd be history. Just like that. Oh, but he was _dying! _He'd long since pissed himself from laughing.

In the back of his mind he thanked his luck to overhear the entire conversation. Such ammunition he'd have to taunt Rasta-Sasuke with! Another warm stream of urine drenched his front as his hysteria doubled at hearing Blondie ask if it was no. _God save me, please let me survive this night!_

_

* * *

  
_

Shizune held TonTon as she watched Tsunade-sama eating yet another staggering array of food. The meeting was long since over. Tsunade had been eating off and on throughout the night. The office was redolent with the smells of meats and sushi and _sake. _

There was a light knock at the door. She went to answer it and found the head resident medic-nin standing there. "Yes? What is it," she asked.

The medic-nin bowed quickly. "I believe there is a situation you should know about. And the Hokage."

Shizune frowned, admitting him into the office. Tsunade looked up briefly but continued eating. The medic-nin was told to speak.

When his short tale was concluded, Tsunade belched resoundingly and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her stomach. Shizune blushed on her behalf, mortified at such unbecoming behavior in the Hokage.

"Who did you say brought him to the hospital?" Tsunade asked.

"Teuchi, owner of Ichiraku Ramen, Hokage-sama."

"And he said the boy appeared via a jutsu he'd never seen or heard of before? Just as Uzumaki and a girl who'd also appeared the same way vanished?"

The medic-nin bowed in the affirmative. "And there was another with him. Teuchi said this other healed the boy, or appeared to do so, with his hands, but the other boy did not regain consciousness."

"They are both at the hospital?" Tsunade asked, searching the dishes on her desk for any crumb she might have overlooked.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. The boy's vitals show that he may wake soon. The other has not left his side in all this time."

"When did they arrive?"

"Yesterday afternoon, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade sighed, seeing not so much as a smear of soy sauce on a chopstick. "Very well. I will examine them now."

* * *

Wyatt was sitting in a chair next to Raiden's hospital bed. He flew to the bedside and leaned over the rail when he heard Raiden groan weakly. "Raiden?"

"Oh, g-my fucking _head._"

Wyatt let out a gusty sigh of relief. "I was so worried."

Raiden nearly screamed at how much it hurt just to roll his eyes in the direction of Wyatt's voice. He threw up, was too weak to turn over, and began choking on the stuff.

Wyatt hastily supported Raiden in a sitting position, orbing the vomit away even as it kept coming up, steaming and stinking. Raiden leaned against his arm heavily, unable to even hold his head up. Wyatt carefully plumped the pillows before easing Raiden back to a reclining position. As gently as he laid Raiden's head down, the boy still winced horribly when it made contact with the down pillow. He wiped sweat from his friend's brow with a cloth one of the nurses had left.

"Water," Raiden rasped. Wyatt fed him a trickle from a glass on the bedside table. When he'd swallowed and recovered from the agony that caused, his voice was a little stronger. "Aimi?"

Wyatt looked at him sadly. "I saw her. She disappeared almost as soon as we appeared. I think the other Naruto was with her. It was a kid wearing orange and black, who had blonde hair."

Raiden frowned, and immediately stopped when that sent a spike of pain through his head. "Disappeared… where?"

"I don't know. We ended up in that ramen place you told me your dad likes. The guy there brought us here. Raiden, this village is in ruins, like a nuclear warhead dropped on it. I'm… kind of worried. The doctors kept asking me things, but I didn't answer. I didn't want to mess up or get us in trouble."

Raiden was beginning to think. He looked at the window. It was dark outside. "How long have we been here?"

"Uh… around twelve hours maybe? Raiden, can you sense Aimi at all? Is she okay?"

Raiden had been doing that very thing. "I can sense her, but it's really faint."

"And you? Are you okay now, apart from your head hurting?"

Raiden was afraid of the answer. He didn't think he was okay at all. He'd felt something give in his brain when he'd Boomed. He was horribly afraid he'd done some kind of permanent damage to himself, but he didn't say that. "My head hurts, is all."

Wyatt nodded. "You had some brain damage when we got here, but I healed that. Hopefully you'll be okay after some rest, like last time."

Raiden felt a sick swoop in his stomach at hearing the words brain damage. He hoped Wyatt was right.

"Maybe. All right. Let me contact my dad, tell him I don't have Aimi."

* * *

Dawn was approaching, turning the plateau pink, when Naruto let out a strangled cry, scaring Sasuke badly. "Raiden!" Naruto gasped.

His demon was still, listening, and Sasuke waited tensely for news. Was he all right? Did he have Aimi?

Naruto opened moist eyes and sighed. "Raiden's there. They just missed Aimi. He can sense her but can't get to her yet. He's hurt, Sasuke, but Wyatt is with him and has healed him somewhat. He says he thinks he won't be able to Boom again or fold for awhile."

Sasuke felt the fist in his chest that had been squeezing his heart the entire night loosen. He drew breath. "Aimi… he doesn't know where-"

Naruto shook his head. "He says Wyatt saw her vanish with the version of me that lives there."

Sasuke relaxed a little more. "If she's with you, I feel easier in my mind. No matter what version, you would make sure she's safe."

They were quiet, the relief coursing through them weakening them. Things weren't good, not by any means, but their children were alive. Aimi wasn't a prisoner of Madara and Raiden was recovering.

They were stiff as they made their slow way into the house and to their room. They collapsed on the floor, rolling into each other's arms, and were soon sleeping dreamlessly.

* * *

Tsunade let Shizune push her to the hospital in a wheelchair, only to shut the woman up about conserving her strength. It had nothing to do with the fact that her knees still wobbled if she stood for longer than a few minutes, or how short of breath she got so easily. She stiff-armed the door to the indicated room and looked over the two boys as her chair was wheeled to the bedside.

The one in bed did look weak. Dark circles under his eyes suggested he was in pain. There was something extremely familiar about him and his hair. His eyes were wide as they gazed at her. The other boy sat very close to him. He had longish, lanky brown hair. Neither wore a forehead protector or any identifying gear whatsoever. None had been found on them either.

"Who are you?" she barked.

The one in bed jumped slightly and winced. Tsunade speculated on whether or not he had a head injury.

"Uz- Raiden, Hokage." Raiden could not give his surname here. He lay nervously on his pillows. This situation was getting worse and worse. Tsunade herself! A legend and a terror when angry, his Dad had said. A very great lady.

Tsunade snorted. "How do you know who I am?"

"I saw you in a … book," Raiden finished lamely. Damn, he had to be careful.

Tsunade studied him a moment. Then she turned to the other boy. "And you?"

"Wyatt," Wyatt gave a bow that came naturally to him. He followed Raiden's lead and gave no further information. He had been told by Raiden, back in their home world, who all the Hokages had been throughout the history of Konoha. He knew who this was and feared her fierce scowl already.

Golden brown eyes looked back and forth between the two boys. "Where are you from," she erupted.

Raiden cast his mind for some place Tsunade would never have heard of, but her voice was making his head split. He was nauseous again. Wyatt came to the rescue. "The hidden village of San Francisco."

Tsunade muttered with Shizune about how they'd never heard of such a place. Wyatt said it was very far away.

"Very well, what are you doing here? And how," Tsunade said, working the wheels to push herself closer to the bed, "did you get here? Does this have anything to do with the girl who also appeared in Ichiraku's?"

Raiden caught Wyatt's eye and did the talking. "We were following her, actually. She's… my sister. But she's gone and I need to get to her. Do you know where she is?"

Tsunade furrowed her brow as she thought. Going by what she was told, she thought it likely that Naruto and the girl had been summoned to Myoubokuzan. Jiraiya had often disappeared the same way. How the girl had been able to go, she had no idea.

"Your sister is probably unreachable for the time being. If you can follow her, you must know this. Why is she here?"

Raiden thought carefully. _She knows where Aimi is. Dad was right. Tsunade _is_ a bitch. _"We, I mean she, was supposed to… go somewhere else. I think she's lost."

Tsunade leaned closer, and voiced a suspicion in her mind. "Do you work for Akatsuki?"

"Fuck no!" Then Raiden slammed the heel of his hand into his head, which nearly made him pass out. He'd been trapped too easily.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, a smug smile in place. "So you know who they are. You might as well know that I don't like being lied to. You can either tell me the truth, starting at the beginning, or things will be unpleasant for you here in Konoha. Shizune," she called over her shoulder.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Get blood samples from both of them. Put guards on this room, and see that no one enters or leaves without my express permission."

"Right away." Shizune bowed and went to see about these arrangements.

The Fifth Hokage turned back to the two boys. "Now," she said pleasantly. "Explain, in detail, that jutsu you and your sister used. And remember what I said about lying."

Raiden and Wyatt, staring at the challenging look on Tsunade's face, began to sweat.

* * *

Morning. Sasuke could tell by the sounds of people stirring and the subtle perception of warmth on his skin from the rising sun. For the rays to reach him through the wood of the house suggested he was someplace far to the south, in a hot climate. He sat and waited.

A door opened and bare feet made subtle vibrations in the sturdy floor. The tread was male. Sasuke estimated the man weighed around sixty kilos. The space between footfalls was recognizable; it was his guide from last night. The one with the gentle hands.

Right away he heard the second, lighter tread accompanying his guide. Female. Sasuke sat expectantly, alert for any attack. He'd come to the conclusion that if the girl had sent him here with the red-haired boy, then these people must mean him harm. It was possible his identity was known. He would not act without being sure, though. There was too much he didn't know.

His guide knelt by him. "How did you sleep, Sasuke?"

So. He _was _known. He did not let the concern in the voice, or the way it was so disturbingly familiar, undermine his resolve to be on his guard.

Before he'd been transported here, when he'd still been in the howling confusion of the hideout, he'd groped for and found his sword. He'd been ready to defend himself should Madara's attacker succeed. It had fallen from his hand when he'd arrived here. He did not answer his guide now except to say, "I want my blade."

There was movement and the weapon was placed in his hand, long and cool.

His guide spoke to whoever had entered with him. "Asami, see what you can do about his eyes."

Sasuke tensed. A light floral scent hit his nostrils and hair brushed his arm as this Asami leaned close to him. He felt chakra gathered, then soothing waves of it were washing over his face, entering his eye sockets and speeding the recovery of the tissue there. He sat still for this, feeling more power seep into him as his brother's eye tissue merged with his own.

"He's had recent surgery," Asami said. Her voice was soft, but strong. "I can see that he's had eyes implanted. There are… oh my god." The healing chakra was removed as Asami stood up hastily. "Dad, can I talk to you in the hall for a moment?"

His guide also got up and Sasuke heard them both leaving. He couldn't make out their whispers.

Setting his sword by his side, he reached up and located the end of his bandage. He tugged, and it loosened. He spent a few seconds unwinding it from his head, until finally he peeled away the last layer and slowly opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry at first. He blinked slowly, giving his eyes time to adjust. After a few minutes, his vision cleared and he was able to see.

The room was bare, devoid of furniture or decoration. It pleased him. Why this should be, when he had other pressing matters to occupy his thoughts, he didn't know. The voices outside the door stopped speaking. He turned his head in that direction, noticing that the door was ajar.

A foot entered first, and that was what Sasuke saw. His eyes traveled up the black-clad leg to the gray shirt, and on up to the face.

His brand new eyes threatened to burst from his skull, they were open so wide.

It was Itachi. His brother Itachi, standing and looking at him with a serious expression.

Itachi. Alive.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: First off, there's a sexy pic of Chouji and Tenten on my DA page.

Second, My beta hasn't gotten back to me with this chap. I don't know what's happened to her, but she isn't responding to emails either, so I think her net is down. I hope she's ok. However, I'm going to be submitting chaps on my own from now on. There will probably be typos that I miss. If she gets back to me with the chaps, I'll just resubmit them, but if not, well at least you can all stop PM-ing me and asking if I'm ok. So, expect faster updates.

Third, y'all have got to check out this fic called 'No doubling Back' by **kanazerosukenaru**. _Would _that I could write such a unique and detailed story. I personally love it and recommend it to you all. It's NaruSasu. Read and leave reviews.

Lastly, thank you so much for taking the time to review my work...it means a lot to me, especially when I've been taking so long to update. Thanks for bearing with me! Onward.

* * *

Chapter 28

Raiden thought as carefully as his throbbing head would allow. Tsunade's eyes bored holes into him and Wyatt both as Shizune took blood from a vein in his arm. He had to consciously stop his chakra from coming out to heal the tiny prick. When Shizune walked off with the tubes, Tsunade nodded at them to begin speaking.

Wyatt edged closer to Raiden.

Raiden made up his mind. He couldn't get away with lying here, yet he couldn't exactly tell the truth either. He'd be detained and in his present condition he wouldn't be able to fold or Boom himself out of trouble. And on the off chance that he could…Well, all he needed was for some Hyuuga to be summoned to close his Tenketsu. _**Wyatt**__._

_-Yeah, Raiden?-_

_**-Orb us out of here.-**_

_-Orb…where?-_

_**-Outside the village, away from people and this nosy hag. Do it now.-**_

_-You sure, Raiden? Maybe we should…-_

_**-NOW, WYATT!-**_

He knew Wyatt was one of those people who just naturally felt better with authority figures around, but they could not get tangled up here.

Tsunade gasped, eyes wide, when the standing boy dissolved in a shower of blue lights, taking Raiden with him. She saw the lights float up toward the ceiling and vanish.

The Hokage struggled with the wheels on her chair, turning for the doorway. "Shizune!"

***

Wyatt set them down in the middle of Fire Country, away from any living soul. Raiden lay weakly on a patch of grass dewy with condensation, the sun not yet risen to burn it away. Wyatt knelt beside him. "Raiden, are you okay?"

"Yeah." He coughed. "Gimme a minute, my head is spinning."

Wyatt watched as Raiden's color slowly improved. It wasn't great, but he wasn't gray anymore. He stood and looked around.

The trees were huge. They'd provide good cover. He knew ANBU might patrol this section of the forest at any time. Holding out his hand, he thought for a moment, devising a suitable spell.

Raiden was too weak to make a sound, but his eyes bulged as he saw the trees surrounding their little clearing pick up their roots and walk toward him. He couldn't even move. He saw Wyatt controlling their movement with his hands and relaxed somewhat.

The trees continued to walk, flinging dirt from their roots, until they surrounded the clearing neatly. There wasn't so much as a crack of space between them. Wyatt turned to Raiden as if this were nothing and said, "I also put a warding spell around the trees. Anyone who gets near here will see nothing out of the ordinary."

Then he said he was going to try and find some food. Raiden nodded feebly. Wyatt pulled up some grass and bunched it under Raiden's head for a pillow before orbing himself out of the enclosure of trees.

Raiden tried to rest. Thoughts of his sister, of where she could be that the Hokage knew but wasn't telling, kept him awake. The fact that he was helpless and might never be able to fold or Boom again had him scared. He wished his dads were nearby. He'd feel…better.

He did he always feel like he knew better than they did and then the _second _he was in real trouble he always wanted to crawl in their laps? He wasn't a baby anymore. He'd been so mad at them for taking his powers away. Now he just wished one of them was here. For what felt like the millionth time, he swore to himself to behave and not go against his parents, if only he got out of this mess. With Aimi. Just that, and he would never do anything he wasn't supposed to again.

Wyatt came back with a rabbit. He displayed his learning at Lee-sensei's hands to advantage by cleaning and cooking it reasonably well. Raiden ate what he could, washed down by water Wyatt conjured in a wooden mug, the mug itself fashioned with magic from the limb of one of the enclosing trees.

Faint green light filtered from the canopy above. "Lie down with me?" Raiden whispered.

Wyatt stretched out beside him. There, in his arms and feeling comfortable, Raiden was able to sleep at last. He slept deeply.

* * *

Sasuke came awake slowly to realize he was still tangled in his Demon's arms and legs. He stretched slightly, not bothering to open his eyes. The sun was up, he surmised; he was sweating profusely. Naruto's body heat added to his own and the hot climate so that they were both drenched.

A clawed hand scratched his scalp as it fisted in his hair. Naruto muscled him into a kneeling position, shoving his thighs apart. He entered his sweat-greased ass brutally, yanking his head back at a cruel angle by the fist in his hair.

Well, shit.

Growling behind him. Above him. Sharp, driving thrusts in his unprepared hole that both stretched and pleasured him unbearably, until he was growling too, lips skinned from his teeth in a grimace of pain. "Demon…"

Harder and faster, their sweat flying from their bodies at each harsh impact of Naruto's hips. The hand dug through his hair, gripping tighter as Naruto drew closer to his crisis, pulling on Sasuke's head until he thought his neck would snap. Sasuke finally cursed and twisted, swinging out at Naruto, only to have his fist knocked away.

His Demon was mostly demon as he shoved Sasuke to the floor with a thud that shook the room, burying his face in his neck as he entered him again, his claws digging into his hips. Sasuke bit his lip to keep from yelling, then yelled anyway when a pair of fangs sank deeply into his neck. He held onto the sweaty, powerful shoulders as Naruto used him roughly.

***

Naruto climbed off of him when he was done and crawled to a corner. He did something odd: he walked in a circle on all fours several times before settling into a position to sleep. The red eyes gazed at him briefly before closing. Naruto's tongue, long, came out and licked his chops of Sasuke's blood.

Sasuke watched with bated breath, but Naruto did not surface. He slept as if nothing had happened just now. And that wasn't Naruto. The way he was sleeping now, head on his arms, half twisted on his side…that was Kyuubi, Sasuke was sure of it. He felt the dripping puncture wounds on his neck. Most definitely Kyuubi. He spent a few moments wondering if he'd ever had sex with Naruto when his mind was away…or if Kyuubi had ever approached him like that. Years ago, when they'd first become physical, Naruto would go a little Kyuubi, but it had still been Naruto there. This felt different.

Wincing, he got up and saw that his clothes were in shreds. He located a pair of pants in his things, dragged them on with a hiss, and made his slow way out to the main room. He shut the door softly behind him.

* * *

Itachi entered the room, staring at this version of his brother that was so achingly young. Asami had said there was Mangekyo in the eye transplant, transferring power to Sasuke. Itachi had only ever heard of one instance where an Uchiha would receive an eye transplant, with transference of power. He knew of the practice. And it had been known to be done between brothers.

He thought it safe to assume that on whatever world this Sasuke came from, there was no Uchiha Itachi.

He closed the door behind himself and leaned against it, studying the wide eyes of the youth before him. _His _eyes, he had no doubt.

***

Sasuke got to his feet as if in a dream, the long length of the bandage falling from his lap unnoticed. His gaze traveled up and down the man before him. Not a Genjutsu. Not a Henge. It was real. He was real. Itachi was real. Older, yes, but standing before him and alive and _real. _

Sasuke ran and threw himself at his brother, hugging him fiercely around his neck. "Itachi!" he cried fervently, incoherently. "Itachi, you're alive!"

He cried openly, sobbing and speaking at the same time so that Itachi could barely understand a single word. Itachi awkwardly patted the shivering boy clinging to him so desperately.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke sobbed over and over. "I'm sorry, nii-san, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sor-"

The door opened and Sasuke poked his head in. Itachi looked at him as if for help, trying to pry the arms from around his neck. Sasuke came in and surveyed the scene.

He'd heard strange sounds coming from this room and had come to investigate. He looked at his younger self embracing Itachi as if he never meant to let go. "What's this?"

Younger Sasuke pulled away reluctantly, staring at his brother with shining eyes. He was still crying, now hiccupping periodically. He kept his hands on Itachi's shoulders, gazing into his brother's face as if seeing God.

Itachi cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yes…Sasuke…perhaps I should explain-"

Younger Sasuke bowed reverently, low, before straightening and resuming his previous adoring stare. "No explanation is necessary, Brother. I understand."

Sasuke stepped forward. "You do?" he asked dubiously.

Younger Sasuke looked at this older, broader version of himself with quick scrutiny, taking in the blood and bruises, before returning his gaze to Itachi. "Yes. I'm dead."

"Huh?" Sasuke and Itachi chorused. So shocked were they that this juvenile word left their lips without their knowledge, their mouths open in surprise.

Younger Sasuke closed his eyes blissfully and nodded in a devout manner. "Yes. Dead. Something must have gone wrong with the surgery, or else when the creature Aimi attacked Madara, I was slain without knowing. I'm in the afterlife, awaiting rebirth." Here he opened his eyes and looked at Sasuke. "And there I am from another life, probably also awaiting rebirth. Who are these people here, Brother?"

The way younger Sasuke said 'brother' got on Sasuke's nerves. He opened his mouth to set the idiot straight. Itachi stopped him, holding up a hand.

"They are, for the most part, my children. Do you want to meet them?"

Younger Sasuke's eyes brimmed over again. "You have reached Nirvana? You will not be reborn again? Clearly time passes differently here, if you were able to have all these children. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to meet them, Brother. They are my family. Have the gods granted you a heavenly wife then?"

Sasuke bit the insides of his cheeks to keep a straight face. This one was worse than Rasta-Sasuke, so help him.

"Actually," Itachi said as he moved to lead younger Sasuke out of the room, "The children have different mothers. Come."

Younger Sasuke preceded Itachi into the main room. Itachi hesitated in following, turning back to Sasuke. "Any news of them?"

Sasuke started guiltily. He'd momentarily forgotten about his children. "Raiden made contact shortly before dawn. He's hurt. He doesn't have Aimi and can't get to her, but there's reason to believe she's made contact with the local Naruto. Wyatt's with him. We're waiting to see what happens."

Itachi nodded.

"Itachi, why aren't you telling him the truth?" Sasuke asked after a moment.

The elder Uchiha watched through the doorway as younger Sasuke turned in a slow circle, inspecting the house as if he were in a palace. "I think he's dangerous. He was with Madara, who obviously performed surgery on him. I don't think he would have allowed that unless he knew exactly what it meant. Which begs the question, 'what could he have wanted the transplant for?' Have I ever told you of Eternal Mangekyo?"

"No." Nor was Sasuke's knowledge of Mangekyo as complete as he could wish. Itachi always demurred when asked about it, as if the knowledge would somehow taint Sasuke.

"I will tell you later. For now, I need to question and observe him. I…" Itachi lowered his voice. "I don't think he's very stable, Sasuke. He really believes he's passed Onward. I don't know what's happened to him on his world, but I intend to find out."

So saying, he went out to younger Sasuke and put a hand on his shoulder. The younger Uchiha beamed at the contact.

* * *

Tsunade was catching some much needed rest when Shizune came to wake her. "Tsunade-sama."

"Mmfff. What it is?" she yawned.

"My apologies for waking you, but you wanted the test results for the boys as soon as they were completed." Shizune held out the pages long report with a bow.

Tsunade took it, stifling another yawn. She was tired, but didn't want to sleep. Too much needed to be done. And she'd slept more than enough during her coma. She sat up and called groggily for _sake. _Shizune handed her tea instead, which did not improve her mood.

Shizune sat to one side and watched as Tsunade flipped through the report rapidly at first, then more slowly, until finally she reached the page Shizune had wanted her to see.

Tsunade dropped her tea. The tiny mug shattered.

"This…is impossible," Tsunade breathed. She looked up with wild eyes. "Shizune?!"

Her aide inclined her head. "We have run the tests several times, tripled checked everything. There is no mistake."

Tsunade scanned the blood report. The blondish one, Raiden, had unusually high levels of immunity, making him impervious to just about any disease, possibly even able to regenerate spontaneously. But this wasn't what had her shaking.

There, in bold print, was evidence of Naruto's DNA, Sasuke's DNA, qualities documented from Naruto known to belong to Kyuubi as well as elements of the cursed seal Sasuke bore. All united in a cohesive, seamless whole that painted a picture of an extremely powerful being.

Tsunade turned back to previous pages, reading carefully now. The boy's cells were those of Kyuubi and the cursed seal…mutated somehow. No. Not mutated. _Evolved. Combined. _The Fifth Hokage looked up from the report, staring into space and thinking. Thinking very hard.

That hair. The way it stood up, the color…those eyes.

_"Who are you?" _she'd asked them.

"_Uz-Raiden."_

Uz. Raiden. Tsunade would bet her new-found health that the boy had been about to say Uzumaki Raiden. If not for the report in her hand she'd say Naruto had a long-lost relative.

But no. Not with the curse seal and Sasuke's DNA swimming in his veins. There had been no mark of a seal on him, either from sealing a Bijuu or from Orochimaru's experiments. No. This boy was related to Sasuke and Naruto the way …

The way a child would be related to parents. Impossible as it was, it was the only way to explain the way the Kyuubi elements and the curse seal had evolved. Both characteristics were second generation, of that she was sure.

"Shizune," she said now. "Call that shop owner here again. Send a medic team there right away and have them scout around for any drop of that girl's blood. Go with them. Do not come back without a sample. Perform the same tests." She looked pointedly at her assistant. "I think you know what I'm looking for."

The dark-haired woman left immediately.

Tsunade leafed through the report again, even more carefully than before. Odd phrases jumped out at her. _Multiple chakra types…prepubescent…enlarged canines…sign of recent trauma to chakra pathways near brain…_

When she glanced up at a faint sound, she found the shop owner bowing before her, rubbing his hands nervously. "You summoned me, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade shut the report with a snap. "Tell me again what that girl said when she appeared. When she saw Naruto."

Teuchi bobbed another nervous bow. "She called him 'Daddy', Hokage-sama."

Tsunade's mouth tightened. "Daddy. You're sure of that?"

"Quite sure, Hokage-sama. Naruto-kun heard as well. He asked who she was referring to. Then they both disappeared."

Tsunade looked back at the report. DNA that suggested the boy was Sasuke and Naruto's child somehow. The boy had said the girl was his sister. It all added up…and yet didn't. "You may leave," she told the nervous man.

She needed to speak with Kakashi. She wanted to know if Naruto had been around any women and if so, who. And just how could Naruto and Sasuke share a child? Or two children? They were children themselves. _If _either of them had sired children, they would be babies, not these preteens.

What had gone on while she'd been in her coma???

She had to find that boy. Raiden. For now, Tsunade studied the data on the other boy, the one called Wyatt.

* * *

Itachi's children met with younger Sasuke with solemn expressions. He'd warned them beforehand not to say anything to contradict the boy's theory of having died and gone to some form of an afterlife. Upon meeting the triplets, younger Sasuke seemed to become more excited.

"Which of you came to retrieve my soul?"

Kei raised his hand shyly. Younger Sasuke came over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for the loss of Aimi. Was she your Kami pet, the one who aides you in retrieving Uchiha? I take it she fought with Madara because he would have prevented my soul from leaving."

At a loss for words, Kei could only stare. His dad came to his rescue. "Aimi has gone on…another mission."

Younger Sasuke nodded, looking around. "Who is the boy who said he could boom? He left, didn't he? To retrieve his fellow Kami?"

Sasuke tilted his head to the side. "Raiden? He left, yes."

Younger Sasuke nodded. "Raiden. God of thunder and lightning. Yes, the sound was like thunder. I did not know that particular god had a sister." Sasuke looked around the plateau. "This is a remarkably earthy place. I thought the afterlife would be less tangible."

Just then Chibi-Gaara came running out of the cabin he shared with his group, a lightning bolt zinging after him. His sand sprang up to shield him even as he kept running, laughing insanely.

Younger Sasuke turned in time to see a strange incarnation of himself. This incarnation leaned out the doorway Gaara had exited and sucked in a breath to scream after the fleeing redhead.

"That's right you _better _run, you plushie-humping fuck! Let me catch your ass saying that shit again, I'll kill you! Hear me, you fucking midget? _I'LL KILL YOU!!_"

The door slammed shut. A moment later it opened again and a huge blonde kid stumbled out, a fireball briefly obscuring him as he hastened to distance himself from the cabin. A black man that younger Sasuke recognized also skipped out nimbly, a slew of curses following him.

His eyes were on the blonde.

This hulking incarnation of his former team mate brushed singe marks off his face, the minor burns healing even as younger Sasuke watched. He came over to the group and sat silently, staring morosely at the cabin.

Younger Sasuke assessed the blonde with Sharingan, noting that this incarnation of Naruto was vastly more powerful than the one he knew.

Itachi forestalled the questions he knew were bound to come by suggesting that they all sit and listen to younger Sasuke's tale. Elder Sasuke said Naruto was sleeping, to which younger Sasuke gave a quizzical look at the blonde sitting on the ground.

* * *

While Naruto was off with Ojiji-sama and Fukasaku, Shima sat by the girl and assessed her injuries.

There was much internal damage, as if the child had gone up against something larger and stronger than herself. Her chakra was depleted. The girl should be dead, Shima mused, but she seemed to be hanging on tenaciously. The elderly toad hopped to a side cabinet, where she stored her medicines. She returned to the unconscious girl and began setting broken bones, cleaning and bandaging as she went.

"Poor dear," Shima croaked sympathetically. "You rest now. Later, I'll feed you some of my delicious bug stew."

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, we have the data you requested," Shizune said as she entered the make-shift office.

"Let me see," the Hokage commanded. She skimmed the report, skipping to the page that would have the specific data she wanted.

There. Tsunade drew in a sharp breath. The girl, whoever she was, had the same DNA, slightly altered. She and the boy were definitely related. And both children were somehow tied to Sasuke and Naruto. She slammed the report down, wracking her brains for how this could be.

Even if Orochimaru had somehow obtained samples from both Sasuke and Naruto and mixed them in some way, the children would be no more than a few years old. These reports put the children between eight and fifteen years of age. Too old to be experiments, unless Orochimaru had obtained knowledge of how to speed their growth and development. She wouldn't put it past the bastard.

That girl Kakashi had brought, Karin. She would know of Orochimaru's experiments. Kakashi had already been by to tell her that to his knowledge, Naruto was still a virgin. And Sasuke had seemed too intent on his revenge to take a side trip to a brothel and indulge himself in sexual escapades. That concurred with what Tsunade knew. It had to be Orochimaru then, tampering with both boys' DNA.

Tsunade did not believe the boy was telling the truth when he'd said the girl had found Naruto by mistake. He and the girl both could be weapons forged by Orochimaru-

A column of data caught her eye. "Shizune, this can't be right…can it?"

"It is, Tsunade-sama. We matched it with records in our medical archive. His blood was present, leading to the conclusion that the reason the girl was hurt in the first place was because she'd gone up against him."

"Uchiha Madara," Tsunade said. Her voice was tight. She'd woken up to discover how big a part he was playing in everything and now this. The girl's blood and his, found at that ramen shop, the girl almost certainly fatally injured, and all evidence pointing to an altercation with Madara. "And Sasuke was last seen with him. Do you think the girl has had contact with him as well?"

Shizune shook her head, silently saying she didn't know.

"Well," the Hokage said stiffly. "I may not know where that boy has gone, but I'm almost certain the girl is at Myoubokuzan. I need to contact Fukasaku immediately."

"How?"

Tsunade glanced toward the doorway, as if afraid of being overheard. Shizune moved closer to her long-time friend.

"Jiraiya gave me a secret scroll, to be used only in the direst of emergencies. It allows me to alert the toads to my need of them."

"Will you use it now?"

Tsunade hesitated. She could only use it once. And if she was honest with herself, this wasn't _quite_ as pressing as a few other things. "I don't know. Perhaps, if she is there, they will send her back. I'll wait a day and see."

* * *

Silence around the circle. Rasta-Sasuke had come out some time ago and taken up a position in the group, listening to the tale the new Sasuke was telling. Some hours passed during this telling. Water was passed around, fruit consumed. Near the end, Naruto came yawning out of the house, causing the new Sasuke to look back and forth between him and Blondie, before resuming his tale.

But now the story was over and there was ringing silence. The afternoon was markedly cooler than the morning had been. A breeze swept over the still people. Each person was more or less horrified to one degree or another.

Kenji voiced what everyone was thinking. "So…let me get this straight. You willingly went to Orochimaru, killed him, started up your own team, killed your brother, joined Akatsuki, tried to kill the Eight-Tails, then killed Danzo? And then you tried to kill your team mate, some chic who'd helped you? And _now _you're planning on destroying all of Konoha and Naruto? That about it?"

Younger Sasuke offered a small smile. "I _was_ planning on doing those things. Before I'd died and been reunited with my brother."

The stunned looks on everyone's faces seemed not to perturb younger Sasuke in the slightest. Naruto said, "And you and the other me, the one that you know…you two have never been… in love?"

Younger Sasuke stared. The question appeared not to make sense to him. He did not answer, only waited respectfully for enlightenment.

Rasta-Sasuke stood up. "I've heard enough." He looked at the newest Sasuke. "You know what? We all got names here, and I've decided to pick your name for you here and now. Ready? You're Psycho-Sasuke."

The Sasuke in question opened his mouth, maybe to argue, but Itachi cut in. "Rasta-Sasuke, sit down. I told you he-"

"No, I'm not sitting down, and I'm not listening to anymore of this bullshit. This fuck actually went to Orochimaru voluntarily, plans on killing his only hope of salvation and for what? Because he's too simple to know what's good for his ass? Jesus, a snail could come along and say his brother had been killed by drowning and this senseless fuck would swear to destroy the ocean. Do you _hear _him?? First he wanted to kill his brother because he thought he'd killed the clan. Then he swears to kill the Elders 'cuz they caused his brother to be all sad and shit. Then he swears to kill all of Konoha for some stupid reason, and _then _he swears to kill Naruto just because he wants to save his stupid self. How in the name of all that glitters can you think this kid is _sane?_" He turned to the silent version of himself and leaned into his face, dreads swinging. "Look, idiot, you are _not _dead, okay? God, look around, do we look dead to you? Use your fancy new eyes, asshole. Are we walking around looking all holey and shit, or is that little retarded red-haired Sand jerk sitting there in clothes stinking of piss? If Killerbee is alive on your world then what's he doing here? Guess what, I killed my brother too, but you know what?" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Itachi, who was staring in consternation. "That ain't my brother, and he ain't yours either. It's _his _brother." He pointed at where Sasuke stood tensely.

"I-" younger Sasuke said faintly, eyes widening by the second. "I don't understand."

Rasta-Sasuke spoke slowly, as if to someone mentally deficient. "Your name is now Psycho-Sasuke. Got it? Psy-cho-Sas-uke. Dumbass," he added as he turned away.

Chibi-Gaara tested the name. "I like it. It suits; he's sure crazier than I am."

There were general murmurs of agreement to this. Psycho-Sasuke turned to his brother. "Itachi?"

Itachi watched his children and their husbands all get up and attend to various tasks. The Shinigami were hunting today, Blondie going along with them. Chibi-Gaara floated off on his sand, and Rasta-Sasuke went back to his cabin, presumably to count his gold. Only Sasuke and Naruto remained. They stared at Psycho-Sasuke as Itachi went to him and sat down. He briefly considered furthering the lie, but no. Rasta-Sasuke (who _would _be dealt with) had said too much. He'd been right, this version of his little brother was dangerous. Very. Easily led by any who cared to feed him lies. Here, but for the grace of Naruto, could be his very own brother.

He began by explaining, as Kei had done, about different realities.

* * *

Naruto went back to Fukasaku and Shima's little dwelling. Fukasaku had opted to remain with Ojiji-sama and speak of something else.

His mind was on all that Ojiji-sama had said, on controlling Kyuubi's will and on finding the octopus. He'd completely forgotten about the girl, so when he saw her, he pulled up short.

She was clean, apparently sleeping. Naruto crept over to her and sat by her side. Shima spoke from the girl's other side. "She is resting. I cannot heal her completely. She needs a medic. We will send you and this girl back to Konoha. Who is she, Naruto-kun?"

His blue eyes ran over her face. There was something familiar about it, as if he'd seen it a thousand times. "I don't know."

"Where does she come from?"

"I don't know…she just appeared from nowhere, like a summons." He touched her small, pudgy hand. "I think she's looking for her parents."

Shima croaked feelingly. "So sad."

Naruto nodded. "I'm going to help her find her family."

Fukasaku came back, panting from having hopped so swiftly. "Quickly! Ojiji-sama wants to see the girl! He says we must bring her at once, awake or not!"

Naruto and Shima recovered from their surprise. Shima hopped onto the girl's stomach while Naruto scooped her up and ran with her back the way he'd come. Fukasaku rode on his shoulder.

***

In the fading light of the day, Ogama-Sennin looked down at the girl laid at the base of his throne. Her future shined bright enough around her to have his perpetually squinted eyes opened wide. He was as alert, as aware, as he'd never been in his life.

He was terrified.

Never had he seen so much centered around one being. Worlds clashing, gods fighting, realities enmeshed…

Power was the root of it all, and this girl was half of the greatest power the cosmos had ever seen. Power to destroy creation.

Fukasaku, Shima, and most of the toads in current residence, grouped behind Naruto, who knelt by the girl. They gazed up fearfully at Ojiji-sama, at how the girl was effecting him. This girl was Important. That much they could all see.

"I will…tell her future," Ogama-sennin said formally. His voice was strong, vibrating with whatever he saw in the girl.

Everyone waited. After a time, in the voice he used when foretelling:

_"She is broken."_

Ogama-sennin did not say more than this at first, and Naruto thought the ancient toad was referring to the fact that the girl was injured. But then he spoke again.

_"Balance in all things. She is half of a great Power. What her other half lacks, she has and vice versa. Apart, they are safe. United…unstoppable. United, too dangerous; their power is coveted by Great Ones. They have started a war that will end in darkness. Darkness for all."_

The Great Toad Sage fell silent, staring down at the girl. They waited.

Fukasau hopped deferentially forward. "Ojiji-sama…do you speak of the war Naruto-kun has mentioned-?"

_"No,"_ came the answer. _"Their existence has started a war greater than what this world has ever seen."_ He raised his eyes to Naruto's serious face. _"She has come for you. You are need here, but needed elsewhere even more. When the times comes, go with her."_

Naruto swallowed. "But…what am I supposed to do? What about the octopus and Sasuke and everything here?"

Ogama-sennin was settling back into his throne, eyes drifting back to their customary squint. It seemed the telling of the girl's future was over. "All will be made manifest. You will see. Help her. Survive and she will bring you back…to this time." He was falling asleep.

"To this time?" Naruto asked. "What does that mean?"

The only thing the ancient sage toad said was a misty, "Go back to Konoha. And tell no one there of her destiny."

"What?" Naruto yelped. "But…wai-"

_Poof!_

_***  
_

Naruto looked around. He was outside Ichiraku Ramen, the old man hurrying toward him, the girl in front of him and still asleep, as she had been at the mountain. "Damnit!"

* * *

"Do you understand?" Itachi asked.

Psycho-Sasuke's face had lost much of its former peace and happiness. He stared at Itachi with dark eyes hooded with the new information he'd received. Though by no means rude, he'd become less verbal as well. "Yes."

"Are you sure?"

To demonstrate, Sasuke repeated the salient points. "There are other realities, versions of the same world with the same key people in them. A girl named Aimi, your niece, has the ability to travel between these realities and pick version of myself and Naruto for the purpose of building an army of Bijuu. Akatsuki has been made Jinchuuriki by the goddess Izanami, for the purpose of bringing Raiden, Aimi's brother and your nephew, to her. I am here to assist in this upcoming battle."

Itachi nodded slowly, not liking the stoic expression behind those lifeless eyes. What was the kid thinking?

He soon found out.

"I don't care if you're not the brother I killed," Psycho-Sasuke said in a low, intense voice. "You're still my brother. I'm being given a second chance with you. I will help you, nii-san, but I won't be leaving afterward. I'm staying. I'm staying here with you and the clan, with my family."

And he got up and went into the house. Itachi watched with troubled eyes.

Sasuke and Naruto, sitting some distance away, had heard and now came to Itachi. "Well," Naruto said bracingly. "That doesn't sound as crazy as the earlier shit he said, right?"

Sasuke studied the teen's back as he entered the house. "No. It's worse." Itachi nodded, agreeing with his brother.

Naruto glanced at them, at their identical frowns. "How so?"

"I think," Sasuke said in a dangerously quiet voice, "that he means to eliminate any possibility of him going back to his world."

"Meaning…" the blonde drawled, making rolling gestures with his hands.

"Meaning Raiden and Aimi," Itachi hissed. "I think he means to make sure no one can send him away against his will."

Naruto stared at them. "Kill Raiden and Aimi? Now who's crazy? You can't think he'd want to kill two kids he's never met? In cold blood?" Naruto snorted.

Identical dark heads turned to the blonde, Sharingan blazing in two sets of eyes. "You didn't listen to what he said," Sasuke admonished.

"I heard what the creep said-"

"But you didn't _listen_," Sasuke insisted. "He is ruthless. Nothing, and I mean _nothing_, Naruto, drives that kid except his brother. Nothing ever has. Not ever. Not once. Before the massacre, he was driven to equal his brother. After, he was driven to avenge him. And once he had, he was driven to avenge him again. And now that he's here, in Itachi's presence? There is no force under the stars that will pull him away, Naruto. Nor will he stand by and allow someone to send him away, if such a force existed, which it does, in the form of our two kids. The second Raiden and Aimi get back here, I bet he plans on dealing with them."

Naruto closed his open mouth. "But…how do you _know _that?"

Sasuke turned away, staring at the closed door of the house with his arms folded. "I feel it. How he is, how dark. I've known that darkness a time or two. Rasta-Sasuke recognized it as well. I think any Sasuke would be able to. Any Uchiha."

Naruto shivered. He was used to Sasuke's darker side, but it rarely ever showed. Sure, he got moody, was a bit colder, but he was also warm and giving and loving with his family. "Well," he said when he could speak. "All Itachi has to do is tell him to stay away from our kids. He'll listen to Itachi, right? 'Cuz if not…well, I don't want to have to kill the little shit-"

"You can't kill him," Itachi said quietly. "He has Eternal Mangekyo and has perfected Susanoo. Even with Kyuubi released, I don't know that you could take him. Every one of my children, including myself, could throw our combined strength against him and perhaps one or two of us would survive. He is trained by Orochimaru, and possibly by Madara, to some extent. He has no moral compass or anything that stays his hand. He is ruled by hatred, nothing more."

"But he loves you," Naruto said, bewildered. "That has to mean something, doesn't it?"

"That love has been corrupted," Itachi said. "It can't stand against his hate."

"But his love for you is what's making him want to stay," Naruto persisted. "That has to mean there's some good in him, right? That he can be helped?"

The Uchiha brothers didn't answer.

***

Rasta-Sasuke sat in the shadow of his cabin. He'd heard everything Psycho-Sasuke said and been told. He heard the three men talking after the freak had entered the house.

_Maybe y'all can't take him, _he thought now. _But let's see him go up against yours truly. _

He sat for a long time after the three men had gone their separate ways, thinking of how he'd killed his brother.

* * *

Naruto was just drawing the hospital sheet up over the girl when Tsunade came barreling into the room in a wheelchair, Shizune running behind and pushing the thing. Naruto hollered, falling against the wall behind him.

Tsunade spared him a brief glance before rolling right up to the girl's bedside and leaning over her. She frowned. "Shizune. Help her, I don't have enough chakra yet."

Shizune complied, holding Mystical Palm over the poorly tended broken bones and injured organs. She could not heal her completely, only aid the process. The girl remained horribly weak, no chakra whatsoever. "Tsunade-sama, she is very badly hurt. She may need weeks, many, before she begins to recover."

Tsunade recalled the report she'd read. "Somehow I don't think so. We will wait here the night and observe her ourselves. Bring me food." Shizune left while Tsunade turned to where Naruto stood against the wall. "You were summoned to Myoubokuzan?"

He nodded numbly. "Can I just say how happy I am to see you've-"

"Tell me everything that happened there. Leave nothing out." The Hokage's voice brooked no argument, her eyes were alert for lies or any omission of truth.

But Naruto had been told specifically not to divulge the girl's destiny, as told by Ojiji-sama. He told about his future reading, about the seal, but he left out anything to do with the girl.

"Who is she?" Tsunade asked.

"I already told you, I've never seen her before."

He held her gaze without flinching. Tsunade was forced to believe that Naruto really didn't know this child. Fine. However..."While you were with Jiraiya…did you happen to meet any girls?"

"I said I never saw this girl-"

"A woman! Did you meet with a woman, did you sleep with someone and perhaps impregnate her? Come to think of it when, exactly, did you attain puberty?"

Naruto went blind with shock. His mouth hung open, twitching in an unsightly way. "H-h-huuuuuuuuuuuuuh?!?!?!"

Tsunade rolled herself around the end of the bed toward him. "I said have you-"

"NO! ARE YOU CRAZY, OLD LADY?!?! DID THAT COMA MAKE YOU SENILE???"

Tsunade rested her folded fingers on her mouth, watching the enraged blonde breathe deeply back to calmness. "Do you recall anyone taking blood from you while you were away from Konoha?"

A pause. A filthy glare. "No."

Tsunade sat back, thinking. The blood could have been obtained anywhere, at anytime the boy had been away from the village. It could have happened without his knowledge. Damn, she needed answers.

And it looked like she'd only be able to get them from the girl in the bed. She settled back to wait.

* * *

Raiden woke to find himself being kissed. He jerked back in surprise, scrambling to his knees. "What the hell??"

Wyatt sat up sleepily. "You look better," he smiled.

Raiden couldn't care less about how he felt. It seemed like years since he'd last kissed Wyatt. He couldn't even remember what those nights of cuddling and kissing had been like before Akatsuki had come. It seemed like part of another life. Then the punishment, the new world, the dangers, sleeping in one room with his parents _and_ his sister…he'd all but forgotten what kissing even was.

Wyatt was rubbing sleep from his eyes when Raiden launched himself at him, rolling them over and kissing him hungrily. That feeling, the hot, lazy, sleepy, excited feeling he remembered from earlier kisses came now. Raiden sank into it happily, completely, willingly. His dick stiffened halfway at contact with Wyatt's ready length, at the way Wyatt ran eager hands all over him.

Raiden keened as a new feeling crept up on him; a descent from his conscious mind as something else started taking over. The biting feeling, but intensified…he wanted to do more than bite. He wanted…

* * *

Aimi woke with a hiss of indrawn breath, sitting up to stare around. "Daddy?" she quavered. It was the last thing she remembered.

"Indeed," a strong female voice said to her left.

Aimi turned and saw someone she'd only ever seen in school books. She glanced to her right and saw her Daddy, Naruto, sprawled in a chair, snoring with his mouth gaping open. She swallowed, meeting the stern, unblinking gaze of the woman in the wheelchair.

"Who is your Daddy?" Tsunade asked.

Aimi knew better than to answer. She remained silent, though she began trembling. This woman scared her.

Naruto woke, snorted, saw the girl was awake, and rushed to her side. "Haha! Hi!"

Aimi glanced at his squint-eyed grin, but remained focused on the Hokage.

Tsunade ran out of patience, something she'd never had in abundance to begin with. She wanted answers. This girl had them, she could see them in the dark blue eyes.

"You might as well tell me the truth," Tsunade said stonily. "I know you are part Uzumaki, part Uchiha." Naruto screeched behind a hand. Tsunade kept speaking, rolling herself closer to Aimi with each sentence. "I know you have some aspect of the Kyuubi and the curse seal." Aimi hung her head, the words seemingly eroding her ability to maintain the golden brown stare. "I know you fought Madara, possibly Sasuke as well. And," Tsunade said triumphantly, "I know you have a brother named Raiden who came here looking for-"

Aimi snapped her head up, pinning Tsunade with suddenly red eyes. "Raiden?" She turned from the Hokage, sending her mind out and finding the presence of her brother immediately. She was still weakened, but much stronger than she had been only hours before. She grabbed Naruto's hand and folded from there on the spot, Tsunade's scream fading as she did.

* * *

Wyatt had Raiden straddling him, one hand grasping his butt cheek, when Aimi appeared with a taller teen, right beside them. He yelled in fright, even as Raiden lithely turned to face the threat.

Aimi squealed, throwing herself at her brother. Raiden screamed in response, catching her as Naruto watched. "Aimi, oh my god, what happened? Are you all right?"

"I-" Aimi stopped, realizing she was still hurt. She took a few moments now to call up her chakra and heal herself completely. Her chakra wasn't a hundred percent, though, and she was still fatigued. "I killed Madara, but I was so messed up, Raiden. I folded myself to Daddy…and then I don't know what happened. He brought me to the hospital I think." She turned expectantly to Naruto, who'd been listening while turning in a circle, inspecting the enclosure of trees.

Naruto stared upward at the leafy treetops, but pointed a finger unerringly at where Aimi sat in Raiden's arms. "You're the reason the Fifth thinks I've been sleeping around. You keep going around saying I'm your daddy. I'm not, but Ojiji-sama told me to help you, so I'll help you find him."

Aimi sat up straighter. "No, you're not my daddy. I'm sorry. But you look like him. Who's Ojiji-sama?"

Naruto stopped looking around and came to her. He looked from her to the boy who held her loosely, to the other boy, who sat some distance away, watching everything happily. "First I want to know what the Old Lady meant when she said you were part Uzumaki. Are you…" Naruto's voice lowered hopefully. "Are you related to me? Family that I didn't know about?"

Aimi looked to Raiden to guide her. Raiden cleared his throat. "Uh…sort of."

"Yeah?!" Naruto yelled. "Really?"

Raiden and Aimi nodded. Naruto joined the hug, squeezing both of them, laughing.

***

Later, he told them what Ojiji-sama had said. Neither Raiden, Aimi nor Wyatt understood what being 'half of a great power' meant, but they explained about the war coming, Akatsuki, the Bijuu, and lastly the other worlds. When he heard about the other versions of himself and Sasuke, he held up a hand. "How many others like us?"

Aimi shrugged. "However many I can get."

"And…Sasuke? The one from here…he's there already, with your real parents?"

Aimi nodded. "I sent him, before I killed Madara."

Naruto stood, rubbing the back of his head. "Tsunade will kill me when she finds out I'm gone. Yosh! Show me those powers you have!"

Raiden, stronger than his sister in her current condition, called up his chakra cautiously. He didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. His head didn't hurt. He experimented and discovered he could fold.

Wyatt guided Naruto closer to Raiden and Aimi. Raiden concentrated, praying nothing went wrong and that he was really back to normal. Naruto eyed the black chakra curiously-

-And fell to his knees on some rocky place, retching horribly.

Aimi, Raiden and Wyatt watched passively. A shout had them looking up.

Four people were running towards them. The first was the newest Sasuke, eyes red. The second was Itachi, hot on his heels. The last two were Aimi and Raiden's own parents.

It was clear to those watching that Psycho-Sasuke was going to reach them first. The three startled children watched his advance, unaware of the danger they were in.

* * *

A/N: Sorry, for bugging yall after the story is over, but no, canon sasuke and naruto don't know the exact parentage of Raiden and Aimi yet. That's next chapter. The scene is already written... :)


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: My beta has gotten in contact with me. She's agreed to me posting chaps and then when I get beta-ed versions from her, I'll re-post. I don't know...seems like more work for me, but you guys are so bloodthirsty for the chaps, you've guilted me into this arrangement.

Okay. Generally when Rasta-Sasuke and Blondie are alone, I just call them by their names. Ditto for Psycho-Sasuke and Psycho-Naruto. Only when they're around everyone else will I use the full monikers assigned to them. The rest of the Bijuu arrive in this chap so here's who they are and what story they're from:

**Rasta-Sasuke, Blondie**~ _Until You_

**Psycho-Sasuke, Psycho-Naruto**~ _Canon manga_

**Kage-Naruto and his Sasuke counterpart** (I have a name for him, it just hasn't been brought up in the story yet)~ _The Price of Salvation_

**Kit, his Sasuke counterpart** (he has a name too)~ Irresistible

**The last Sasuke and Naruto to arrive** (sorry, their new names haven't been mentioned yet)~ _I'm with Sasuke._

Hope that's not too confusing for everyone? maybe you'll want to write that down, but I have faith my readers can keep up with my zany plot twists. Ok and whoever figures out the last scene of this chap gets a cookie!

Thank you so much for the continued support and sharing your comments and theories! I enjoy talking to you guys on Facebook as well, those of you who've added me.

Beta: hopefully later, so please forgive the typos, if I missed any. This chap is with her, she'll send it back when she gets the chance.

* * *

Chapter 29

Raiden stepped in front of his sister at the same moment that Wyatt threw his shield over all four of them, but a figure appeared in front of the four kids that had Psycho-Sasuke pulling up short.

Naruto and Sasuke caught up and watched, with Itachi, as Rasta-Sasuke glared at his crazy counter part. They edged closer to their children, not rushing now since Wyatt had his shield up.

"What do you want with these kids?" Rasta-Sasuke asked. His voice was frigid, arms crossed.

Psycho-Sasuke assessed the heat coming from the thin dread-wearing boy, frowning when he couldn't place its source. The very atmosphere around Rasta-Sasuke was heavy. "I want to talk to them."

Itachi shouldered his way closer to Rasta-Sasuke, looking up at Psycho-Sasuke as well. "If you plan on hurting them-"

"I wouldn't hurt my family," Psycho-Sasuke said. "I just want to ask them some questions."

***

Raiden jerked at feeling his father's mind in his head. _–Watch yourself, you and your sister, around this guy, Raiden-_

_**-What's going on, Dad?-**_

_-Just promise me you'll always watch your back around him. He's dangerous.-_

_***  
_

Psycho-Sasuke took in the children behind Rasta-Sasuke. He supposed, if they were nii-san's niece and nephew, that Sasuke must have sired them. The way the girl clung to the sandy-haired one indicated that he was Raiden, not the brown-haired boy who the shield had sprung from.

He studied that boy for a moment, noting that his Sharingan couldn't read the shield at all.

The girl looked Uchiha, at least. Her brother not so much, but it warmed him to see the way his hair mimicked his own. He'd been watching from the house when the black chakra sphere had appeared. Rasta-Sasuke didn't move. He leaned around him to try on a small smile for Itachi's niece and nephew. The girl immediately relaxed and smiled back.

"Oh, all right, that's enough," Naruto groused. He shoved his way to the shield. "Wyatt, let me in."

The shield disappeared and Naruto snatched his kids up, one under each arm, and ran with them back to the house. Sasuke followed.

Rasta-Sasuke gave Psycho-Sasuke a sneering up and down glance before sauntering away. Itachi only gave him a careful look. Then, he too, went into the house. Psycho-Sasuke's eyes followed his retreating form.

"So you're really here too," a familiar voice said. Psycho-Sasuke turned around.

The Naruto he knew, a child compared to these others, was straightening up from his crouch, wiping his mouth. He gave a tight little grin.

Psycho-Sasuke walked away without speaking.

Naruto looked at the only other person left. "Wyatt, right?" Wyatt nodded. "Is there any ramen around here?"

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke made it to their room, slammed the door, and proceeded to express their gratitude for the safe return of their children. They did this by pressing the poor kids between their heavy bodies and hugging them fiercely into one screaming, protesting mass of arms and legs.

"Ow, Daddy," Aimi shrieked. "You're pulling my hair!"

"Pop…fu-…" Raiden wheezed. He couldn't breathe.

Naruto hung on, Sasuke mimicking him, as he spoke huskily into his children's necks. "We almost lost you. Tell us everything that happened."

They shuffled awkwardly to a corner and fell to a sitting position. The two children, highly uncomfortable locked in their parents' arms as they were, took turns relaying what had happened. Aimi squealed in anguish when her fathers squeezed tighter at hearing how she'd battled Madara. Raiden was stroked and petted to within an inch of his life at mention of the brain damage Wyatt had healed. Both were compressed nearly hard enough to break bones as Tsunade's questions and speculations were made known. At hearing of the words The Great Toad Sage had said about Aimi, both parents wrapped their arms even tighter around their children, exchanging worried, frightened glances with each other. Raiden and Aimi wailed for help, for release, but Sasuke and Naruto only hung on.

Their children eventually quieted themselves and suffered in silence.

* * *

It was nearing sunset. By now everyone was used to eating deer, but no complaints were made at the evening meal. The newest additions to the plateau sat far apart, on opposite sides of the circle. They did not speak to each other, though the newest Naruto gazed often at Psycho-Sasuke. He, too, had been given a name. At hearing that he planned on dying in an epic battle with his Uchiha rival, Chibi-Gaara had elected to call him Psycho-Naruto. The reedy blonde had protested this, but the name had stuck.

When everyone had eaten, Naruto stood and addressed them all. "Look," he began. "We only have six months, if that. We've been here for days. We have got to get all the structures up and built so we can begin training if we're going to have a chance. Right now, someone give me an estimate of how many buildings we need. You," he pointed at Juro's raised hand.

"Well, I was thinking each new set Aimi brings should stay in their own place, or it'll be too confusing. So that leaves a place each for Ibiki and Akane, Udon and Sumiko, Psycho-Sasuke and Psycho-Naruto, the Shinigami, plus whoever else Aimi brings and assorted other buildings."

"What other buildings?" Naruto asked.

"Me and Yukio's workshop, for one. Kenta and Kenji need a workshop. We need some kind of food storage unit and some kind of bathroom…or are we going to keep shitting over the side of the plateau?"

Naruto chewed his lip. "No bathroom. I'm not wasting time while you two build indoor plumbing and shit. Food storage unit, okay. A smokehouse, maybe. And you and Yukio can share a workshop with Kenta and Kenji. So that's," he counted on his hand, "seven structures."

"Plus whoever Aimi brings," Juro reminded him.

Naruto turned to his daughter. "Which is how many, Aimi?"

"Um…I don't know? How many do you want?"

Naruto looked at the ones already present. He already had four Bijuu, not including himself. If he could get three more, that would equal what Akatsuki had. He said this to Aimi.

"And don't bother with the Sasukes," he added, throwing a look at where Psycho-Sasuke sat staring at Itachi. "If they aren't together, just bring the versions of me."

"What if they are together?" Aimi asked.

"Only bring a Sasuke if he insists on coming along. And no more of you going with just Kei. You take a fully qualified Jounin each time you go. Kei can stay."

Kei breathed a secret sigh of relief.

Aimi cocked her head, her yellow eyes gazing into the distance. "Yosh," she muttered. "I have three picked out. Should I go get them now?"

"No," Naruto answered. "You need to rest. Tomorrow will be devoted to completing the ten structures we'll need. You and your brother will stay here on the plateau, got it?"

Aimi nodded.

Chibi-Gaara raised a hand. "What," Naruto sighed.

"What do we call you?" the Kazekage asked.

"The same thing you've been calling me. My name."

"Nah, it's too confusing. I hear Sasuke calling you demon sometimes. I think we should all call you that. Sasuke can remain as just plain Sasuke."

Naruto, now Demon, grimaced as affirmative mutters sprang up around the campfire. He caught sight of Sasuke's smirk and flipped him the finger before ordering everyone to bed.

* * *

Psycho-Sasuke received his brother's wishes for a pleasant night's sleep in his room and hugged him in turn. He held on, inhaling Itachi's familiar scent, a smell never forgotten even after all these years. Apples and mint. How his brother managed to smell that way, he never knew.

Itachi pulled gently out of his grasp and said goodnight. Psycho-Sasuke was just turning from the door after watching his brother leave when it was shoved open again. Psycho-Naruto entered, shut the door, and turned to give him a grin.

"Boy!" the blonde said loudly. "Us sharing a room. You know, if someone had told me that after seeing you at the summit, and swearing to fight you to the death, that the next time I saw you we'd be in some distant galaxy, sharing a room and training to face Akatsuki I would have told them they were insane. What do you think?" He took a few steps closer to him, his movement causing the candle to gutter for a moment.

Psycho-Sasuke turned away. "Get out."

"No can do. We're sharing a room, I was told."

Sasuke paused at hearing that, then continued undressing for bed. He heard Naruto sit down behind him. He chanced a glance over his shoulder, found the blue eyes watching him, and made a sudden decision.

"Naruto…"

Naruto's face brightened at being addressed so civilly by Sasuke. "Yeah?"

"I'm not going back to our world. My vengeance against Konoha, the elders, my association with Madara…all of it, it's done. My brother is here, alive. I'm staying with him." He took a breath. "You can stop trying to bring me back. I'm not fighting you. I want you to leave me alone from now on."

Naruto frowned. "Not going back?"

Sasuke felt that with everything he'd just said, this reaction was anticlimactic, but he responded anyway. "No. And since I won't be going after Konoha you can forget your …whatever you call it, your obsession. With bringing me back." He wanted that clear.

Naruto stood. "But that's where you belong, not here. Konoha is your home. I swore to bring you back, I'm not going back on my promise, Sasuke. Besides. That Itachi isn't your brother."

Sasuke turned away, presenting his back. "Yes it is," he whispered. "It is him. He looks the same, sounds the same, smells the same. It's him and I can't leave, Naruto. I'm not losing him again."

Naruto was silent for a minute, thinking. "What if they won't let you stay?" It dawned on him that he was actually having a conversation with the boy he'd chased for three years. He felt a sharp sense of unreality wash over him, combining with the strange nature of recent events. It made him dizzy. He sat back down.

"I thought of that," Sasuke said turning around again. "That's why I wanted to speak to Raiden and Aimi, my brother's niece and nephew."

Naruto picked his head up. "I think you're wrong there. If those two are Itachi's niece and nephew, and the only sibling he has is that tall Sasuke, then that would make them that Sasuke's kids. But I already know that they're Uzumaki, and Demon was called Daddy by Aimi. They're my relatives, not yours."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "That's impossible."

But Naruto was remembering that Tsunade had said Aimi was part Uzumaki _and_ part Uchiha. He looked at Sasuke's puzzled face.

As one, they leapt for the door, wrenching it open. They got stuck trying to go through at the same time, but Sasuke elbowed Naruto and they squeezed through.

***

Not everyone had gone to bed. In fact, only Konohamaru (Psycho-Naruto had done a double take at seeing him grown and married), Udon, and their brides had retired. Rasta-Sasuke and his crew weren't present either, but everyone else was milling around quietly in the main room of the house, discussing plans for tomorrow. They stopped speaking and glanced over at the two teens expectantly.

Psycho-Sasuke found Raiden standing by Wyatt, and Aimi standing near Sasuke. He pointed at them. "Naruto-"

Demon cleared his throat. Psycho-Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, gritting his teeth. He began again.

"_Psycho_-Naruto and I need something clarified. Those two there. Who's children are they?"

Neither psycho teen understood the meaning behind the rapid exchange of glances. Itachi spoke up. "They are my niece and nephew, as I told you. You both really should get some rest-"

"Who are their parents?" Psycho-Sasuke insisted.

Psycho-Naruto added, "And are they Uzumaki or Uchiha? They said they were Uzumaki."

Demon looked around at all the suddenly blank faces. He decided to answer. "They are Uzumaki. They're my kids."

Psycho-Naruto turned to give Psycho-Sasuke a gloating smile. "In your _face_-"

"And they're my kids," Sasuke supplied.

Both teens turned their heads slowly to look at him. Raiden and Aimi were now standing with their parents. They stared, seeing similarities in all four individuals.

"Who is their mother?" Psycho-Sasuke asked suspiciously.

Demon did the honors this time.

"Wait…so you and Sasuke are…_together_?" Psycho-Sasuke asked. "Together…_romantically_?" His voice held a wealth of expression never previously displayed. Even his face was animated for the first time since learning he wasn't dead. His eyes and mouth were stretched wide, making him look comically like a fish. He suddenly remembered being asked if he and Psycho-Naruto had ever been in love. He felt sweat bead his brow as he raised a hand to his mouth.

Demon and Sasuke nodded. Demon elaborated by saying that Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke were also together. Romantically. Psycho-Sasuke glanced back and forth between them, eyes narrowed, apparently trying to wrap his mind around this concept and failing.

Psycho-Naruto had at first perked up at hearing how his technique was known even in other dimensions…then the rest of the words sank in. Him and Sasuke. Together. Making babies. He blinked. Frowned. Blinked…"_HUH?? NOOO!_"

Everyone was nodding calmly, confirming it. He felt his dinner rumbling in his stomach in preparation of coming back up. He turned to Psycho-Sasuke, sure his outrage would be shared-

But Psycho-Sasuke was now staring at the kids, deciding to ignore how they'd been conceived and just focus on them. The worst part? There was a small, barely-seen-but-all-the-same-_there _smile curving one corner of his mouth. "Genius," he said under his breath. Then, by all that was holy, he looked at Psycho-Naruto. A look of sly, considering cunning. A slanted look that told Psycho-Naruto one thing very clearly: he was the only one disgusted by the use to which his technique had been put.

He snapped.

***

No one got to Psycho-Sasuke in time. Truth be told, no one moved, each secretly wanting to see the little shit get his. Psycho-Naruto flew at him, jutsu erupting all over the place, and just about succeeded in ripping Psycho-Sasuke in half, despite the latter's defensive use of his sword.

Psycho-Sasuke did defend himself, though the suddeness and ferocity of the attack hindered him at first. He seemed to be holding his own, wielding jutsu just as expertly, if not more so, than Psycho-Naruto.

But then three tails sprouted from Psycho-Naruto, clones were prepping _two _Rasenshurikens in his hands, and Psycho-Sasuke, unbelievable as it seemed, looked to be losing. Badly. Psycho-Naruto screamed out "Kuchiose no-" and Demon bellowed about the house just having been built. He wasn't having Gamabunta smash it with his fat ass. People moved to intervene at last, sad to see the end of the show.

It took Itachi summoning Blondie, Demon, and Killerbee to drag Psycho-Naruto off of his target. Itachi held back Psycho-Sasuke. There was blood.

Killerbee eventually calmed the screaming blonde down, holding him to his broad chest firmly. Everyone listened to the half sobbed, half cursed accusations that Psycho-Sasuke was planning on 'breeding' him in his sleep. Psycho-Naruto trembled violently.

Psycho-Sasuke picked himself up, rubbing his dislocated shoulder. He'd purposely held back and had paid for it. "All I did was look at you. How do you get me wanting to breed you in your sleep from that, dobe?"

"It's true," Pyscho-Naruto snarled.

"It's impossible," Psycho-Sasuke smirked. "You'd have to be in the jutsu first."

"Seeeeeeee?!" Psycho-Naruto wailed frightfully, waving in his rival's direction. He stared pitifully up at Killerbee. "See, he's thinking about it!"

Psycho-Sasuke gave him an innocent stare. "No, I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"Am not."

"Are _too_!"

"Shut up!" Demon roared. "Enough! Can't you fuckers be at peace, already?! I'm sick of explaining and sick of people over-reacting every time I do. It happened, now deal with it. Tomorrow you two are repairing the damage to this house. Any more attempts to kill each other better be held outside or I'll kill you both. Get to bed," he growled. The Uchihas, Lee, the Shinigami, 'Bee, and Blondie all shuffled off.

Psycho-Naruto sidled over to Demon. "Do I really have to share a room with-"

"I said get to bed!"

The teen hung his head and walked away.

* * *

In their room, with the door closed and the candle protectively on Psycho-Naruto's side of the room, Psycho-Sasuke looked at Naruto. "Oi, Dobe."

"Le-le-leave me alone."

"I just want to ask something."

The blue eyes were distrustful. "What?"

Sasuke fixed a neutral expression on his face, holding back his grin. It was alarming, how often he'd felt like smiling since being brought to this place. "You're right, it's disgusting what they did. Despicable. But…if we had to, would you agree?"

Naruto backed up until he was against the wall, holding the candle in front of him like a shield. "Why on earth would we 'have' to? Ever? Do you hear what you're saying? You're worse than Ero-Sennin!" The candle wobbled in his grasp.

"I'm just saying…if we had to. Would you?"

The blue eyes were almost tearful with this oppression. "Why? You don't want to…do you?"

Silence. Sasuke stared at Naruto.

Naruto stared back.

Black eyes.

Blue eyes.

Small smirk.

Audible swallow.

Bigger smirk.

Nervous sweat.

Heart beats. _Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-_

"No, of course not," Sasuke said reasonably, turning away. He stretched out on his bare side of the room, presenting the blonde with his back.

Naruto slid down the wall in a crumpled heap, not bothering to right the candle when it tipped from his weak hand._ Why, oh, why did he ever come to this place???_

_***  
_

Unseen by Naruto, Sasuke grinned openly. He tried to recall if he'd ever seen the Sexy no Jutsu actually performed.

He listened to Naruto hyperventilating behind him. Now that he had Itachi back, and he was no longer focused on vengeance, he discovered that there was an actual world around him, with fascinating people to interact with. So many new thoughts and things to do. Now he could _live_. And he would start, he decided, by making the life of the boy behind him a living hell. It was the only way to make sure Psycho-Naruto left this world when the time came and left Sasuke alone with his brother. Otherwise he'd insist on bringing Sasuke back.

* * *

Raiden, Aimi and even Wyatt were enveloped in the crushing embrace of Demon and Sasuke and expected to sleep that way.

"Um, Dad?" Raiden's voice was muffled due to his face being smashed against Aimi's back. "Can we sleep like we used to? Each of us with our own piece of the floor? Please?"

The children were reluctantly let go.

Later, when those three were snoring, Demon turned to Sasuke. "Man, I need to get laid. Wanna take a run to the forest and fuck like mad?"

Sasuke gave him a sidelong look. "You got laid just this morning."

"Yeah, right," Demon snorted. "In my dreams. Come on, I need you." He groped in the dark and found Sasuke's waist, ran his hand down over the bulge between his thighs. "Haven't had any since we got here." He leaned in to sample Sasuke's neck.

"Demon, I'm serious, you fucked me this morning. You were pretty Kyuubi when you did, though. Don't you remember?" He angled his neck to give better access.

Demon pulled up, squinting in the dark. No, he didn't remember anything of the kind. He remembered waking up late today and going out to listen to Psycho-Sasuke's ridiculous life story.

_-Kyuubi.- _He got a low growl in answer. _–Kyuubi, answer me, did you do something?- _After a long silence, there was a sullen response, barely muttered in his head.

_**-Perhaps the sight of these other forms of yourself does not make your fur stand up, but I do not like encountering the other Foxes. It is unnatural, Boy. Send them away quickly. I will give you whatever power you require.-**_

_-Okaaay…but what did you do to Sasuke?-_

_**-Hmmph. I am to suffer with no means of release? You are crueler than I am, Boy.-**_

_-You son of a-_

_**-Leave me to my wretchedness.- **_

Demon blinked in the dark. Kyuubi was sulking? What next? He felt a hand knead his bicep, run down his hip. Glancing at the kids to make sure they were asleep, he bent to find Sasuke's lips ready for him.

* * *

The next day Demon lined everyone up and walked back and forth in front of this line. "Our mission today: Repair the house," he gave the psycho twins (their secret name behind their backs) a glare, "and build the ten other structures. Before sundown," he added to the fervent groans. "Make your clones."

Due to all the extra work, everyone was required to make twenty clones each. The Narutos supplied two hundred each. Demon led everyone off to the forest.

Sasuke hung back, asking to speak to Rasta-Sasuke, who couldn't make clones, for a moment.

"What," the dread-locked boy sniffed. "If you're here to rag on me about not knowing how to-"

"I wanted to thank you," Sasuke said. "For protecting my kids yesterday. I'm sure it had to do with the gold, but thanks."

Rasta-Sasuke stared up at the taller man. He folded his arms and looked away. His eyes found where Psycho-Sasuke was disappearing with the rest of the group and remained on him as he answered. "I wasn't protecting your kids. I was preventing that fuck from getting what he wanted."

Sasuke glanced at Psycho-Sasuke's dwindling form as well. "Yeah…I kind of noticed that you hate him more than the rest of us. Why?"

Rasta-Sasuke was a long time answering, apparently thinking. "Because. He's…almost like me. How his life was, I mean. You had a good life compared to us, Sasuke. But even so, even…as bad as my life was, as bad as my clan and my brother were…I could never do the things he's done. Kill, yes. Betray, yes. But it's more than that. He's deliberately shitting on everyone that tries to help him. Not saying I wouldn't, but I know I wouldn't hurt Blondie or even Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee. I have my limits. Ugh, I can't explain it, okay? He's just worse than I am and it's like he's giving all Sasukes everywhere a bad name. So, yeah. I'm going to be in his face, thwarting him every chance I get. Fucking hate that prick, don't you?"

Sasuke only looked at Rasta-Sasuke's animated face. After a moment, he said. "I'm leaving you on the plateau with my kids. Protect them, okay?"

Rasta-Sasuke waved a dismissive hand. Sasuke turned and left to catch up to the group.

***

Bypassing the clearing full of tree stumps, Demon led the sizable group to a fresh copse of trees in the forest. These were the really big ones, the ones the saws had no hope of cutting through. "Narutos, originals only," he barked.

Blondie and Psycho-Naruto stepped up, leaving their clones behind. Demon joined them, forming a line, twenty feet between each of them.

"Sage mode," Demon ordered in a loud voice.

The three Narutos closed their eyes and became perfectly still. Everyone else hung back and watched. Psycho-Sasuke frowned, activating his Sharingan to see this thing he'd never heard of.

When several silent minutes had passed, the Narutos, now in Sage mode, opened their eyes. "Rasenshuriken!" Demon commanded.

Clones ran forward to aid Demon and Psycho-Naruto. Blondie formed his with his own hands.

"Ready!" Demon shouted. "Aim…fire!"

The huge, shrieking spheres were thrown, each expanded and controlled by its owner. The enormous trees they cut through creaked and began toppling in their dozens.

The other members of the group and their clones were ready, as instructed, and ran forward to catch the trees as they fell. The Shinigami rushed to begin slicing the wood into planks and logs.

"Again," Demon commanded. And the process was repeated. More clones were made to carry the excess wood.

* * *

Back at the plateau, the psycho twins were given planks and materials to fix the damage they'd done to the house. They were assigned a clone of Yukio.

The clone lectured about what needed to be done. Psycho-Sasuke listened only long enough to get the gist, before pinning Psycho-Naruto with a look from the corner of his eyes. "What was that Sage mode?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Hence me asking, dobe."

"Heard you had to steal your brother's eyes to try and beat me. You nervous now?" He was still stinging over last night and the _clear _implication behind Psycho-Sasuke's remarks.

"Hardly."

"Bet you wish you could do Rasenshuriken, bastard."

Psycho-Sasuke recalled the way his balls had shriveled at the sight of that jutsu. Already he was cataloguing ways to counteract that. "That paltry jutsu? It was sad."

"I fucking hate you, you know that? The sooner I get you back to Konoha the better."

And that was really sticking in Psycho-Sasuke's craw. He'd been summoned to a distant dimension, a whole other reality, and he _still _couldn't be rid of the jackass. "I'm not going back. Nothing you say or do is going to change that."

"Don't be so sure. There's nothing I wouldn't say or do to get you to go back."

Psycho-Sasuke was opening his mouth to retort, when he had his head smashed violently into Psycho-Naruto's. They reeled apart, moaning.

"Either you two pay attention to what I'm saying," Yukio's clone raged, "Or I'm getting my dad in here to deal with you." He pointed at the Uchiha. "And I'll call Uncle Demon to deal with you," he pointed at the blonde.

Both teens listened grudgingly and began the repairs, following the clone's careful instructions. When they were both kneeling, hammering a board in place to cover a hole in the floor, Psycho-Sasuke resumed the conversation in a hissing whisper. "Anything?"

The blonde nodded. "If you swore you'd come back, no vengeance, no destroying Konoha. I would do anything you asked. Except kill someone or betray someone. As long as it didn't involve hurting anyone, Sasuke, I'd do it to bring you back. To save you."

Psycho-Sasuke just missed hammering his hand. He waited until the clone passed before answering. "You swear?"

"Yes," Naruto hissed. "You know I promised."

"I see." But Psycho-Sasuke didn't say anything else. He merely tucked the ammunition the idiot had given him away for later use. He almost laughed, but that would anger his relative, which would cause Itachi to be notified. He didn't want to displease his brother.

Psycho-Naruto glanced sideways at where Sasuke was fitting another board over the hole. He felt a warm feeling in his midsection. Sasuke was no more than a foot away from him and not trying to kill him. "Neh, Sasuke," he whispered. He didn't want the clone overhearing.

"What."

"Isn't it weird how quickly our lives changed? How one minute we were swearing to kill each other and now you're all peaceful and we're working together? I mean, look at you. You've done a complete one-eighty. Feels like old times, like when we used to be on the same team."

Psycho-Sasuke stopped working to look at Naruto honestly. "It is weird. But in a good way." He pursed his lips, as if deciding whether or not to say the next part. "I…haven't been happy for a long time, Naruto. Everything since my clan was killed has been…my life was a nightmare. I can say that now. Now that I realize that it was. I never thought about it, or what I was doing or what it did to me to do those things. I just…focused on what I had to do."

Psycho-Naruto edged closer, transfixed at how much Sasuke was sharing. Sasuke had _never _spoken with him like this before. He ventured to ask something. "And…are you really through with your plan to destroy Konoha? Really, Sasuke?"

"Yes. I'm not going back. Everything I've ever wanted is here."

"But-"

"I'm happy here. Stop trying to take that away from me. If you're really my friend as you said, you'd let me stay here…not that you could ever force me to leave."

Psycho-Naruto smiled. "I am your friend. But this isn't even Itachi's world. How are you going to stay with him when he goes back to his? Nobody there knows about the other realities, I asked. Or…what if Itachi is killed in the upcoming war?"

That was the wrong thing to say. Psycho-Sasuke's eyes flared red and he growled, "I'd never let anything happen to him. Never!"

"Do I hear talking?" the clone asked dangerously.

The teens bent their heads to their work, both frowning with their own thoughts.

* * *

Raiden and Aimi sat with Rasta-Sasuke, alternating between watching him polish his rocks and watching the structures slowly being built. Rasta-Sasuke kept up a running commentary on everyone working, told stories about things he'd done in his own village, and his adventures once he'd left it. Raiden and Aimi, recuperating nicely, listened in quiet fascination.

The cabins for the couples and newcomers went up first, the one for the shinigami being the largest. Some clones were assigned to building a smokehouse and food pantry, while the rest were assigned to building the huge workshop. The work was strenuous and dangerous. Clones routinely disappeared and had to be replaced. Original people received injuries, but as the sun was setting the plateau sported a host of cabins, the two-story workshop and the food buildings, as well as Itachi's repaired house. With the leftover wood, training implements were made: targets, staffs, and similar items. Sumiko was in charge of this. When all was finally done, the clones were allowed to disperse.

Later Blondie led a hunting party consisting of himself, Kenpachi and Killerbee. They located a stream some miles into the forest chock full of some fish that seemed like a cross between salmon and trout. They were as long and thick as Blondie's leg. Several were caught and piled into Kenpachi's Shinigami clothing. The captain, now only wearing his underwear, hauled this heavy mass back toward the plateau. On the way, a small herd of the huge deer were spotted. Blondie attacked, brought down three, and enlisted the aid of two clones in carrying them. 'Bee spotted a thicket of blackberry bushes and filled his shirt with the fruit.

Much of the food was consumed that night, but even more was cut, cleaned and set in the smokehouse for curing. Sumiko bemoaned the fact that there was no flour to make blackberry pies.

When everyone lay stuffed and groaning, Demon belched noisily and addressed his kids. "All right. Whew, I'm about ready to pop. Okay, as I was saying. Raiden, can you sense these other realities?"

Raiden shook his head. "I think I'd need to be able to sense Time. I can't sense all those dimensions and things, sorry Dad."

Demon burped again. "S'all right. Aimi. Uhhh," Demon looked around the circle. "You need someone to go with you on the upcoming recruitments…hm, who to send?"

Kenpachi stood. "I kept silent when she went missing on the last mission. But I will not have my-

He caught the look from Sasuke and Demon and displayed a rare bit of tact.

"-I meant…I am the strongest one here. If you truly wish to protect your daughter, you'd send the best protection possible for her. Nothing less than the strongest would do."

Aimi was standing now, too, jumping up and down. "Oooh, please Daddy? Pleeaase?"

Sasuke's mouth twisted hatefully. The man was right. Aside from sending Demon or Blondie, Kenpachi was the logical choice. He caught his lover's eye and saw the same realization.

By virtue of their silence, Kenpachi assumed they'd agreed. Aimi squealed happily. "But we're waiting till the morning," Demon grouched. "To make sure you're fully recovered, Aimi."

Akane was the first to stand and leave the campfire, dragging Ibiki behind her to their new cabin. Udon left next with Sumiko, then Konohamaru with Hiroko. The shinigami retired to their cabin. Blondie led the way to his cabin with Chibi-Gaara singing some song to deliberately annoy Rasta-Sasuke. The latter aimed a kick at the red-haired runt, but Chibi-Gaara blocked with his gourd and kept right on singing.

The rest of the group got up to retire to the main house. That left Psycho-Sasuke, who was talking with Itachi, and Psycho-Naruto, who was lost in thought, staring at the flames. Finally Itachi got up and left. Psycho-Sasuke went to the new cabin he was sharing with his rival.

***

Psycho-Naruto remained awhile, absently listening to the winged creatures beating the Kido barrier for admittance. He was in a dilemma.

Sasuke _was _happy here. And it did his heart so much good to see Sasuke happy. To see him at all, really. Talking normally with him was…just the best. The best thing in the whole world. Sasuke had alluded to them being friends today. It was everything. Almost everything he wanted. Even now he felt tears misting his eyes. His heart was so full with happiness.

But it would all end once this war was fought. He'd asked Demon today, when they'd been building and Psycho-Sasuke had been off taking a water break with Itachi. Everyone would be sent back to their respective worlds if they survived. At which point it would be safe to assume Psycho-Sasuke would be twice as psycho and twice as determined to resume his previous vengeance; the loss of his brother all over again would be too much. How, then, to keep him from going evil again?

Earlier he'd sworn to do anything to bring him back, but Sasuke hadn't named a price. He suspected one was there, and he would do it, willingly…but it would be moot because he wouldn't be bringing Sasuke back. Sasuke was going to be sent back, whether he liked it or not. As if the way he'd been before coming here hadn't been bad enough. Being kicked back to their world would likely make Sasuke completely unstoppable.

What was he going to do?

* * *

Pyscho-Sasuke heard Naruto come into the cabin and turned over. "Naruto."

"Huh?"

He hesitated, then decided to just get on with it. "I want to know how you do Sage Mode."

The blonde looked over, taking off his jacket. "What? Why?

"Because I'm always going to need more power."

"You have power. You have that new Mangekyo thing and way more jutsu than me-"

"It's not enough." Psycho-Sasuke sat up. "I've been thinking about what you said. About…my brother. And if anything happened to him I don't know what I'd do. I want to be prepared, to be able to protect him. Him and his family are all I have left, Naruto."

Naruto sat down and crossed his legs. "You can't learn. Only those who have a contract with the frogs can learn, from the sages themselves."

Sasuke held the blue eyes. "You must be able to teach me. Something. Give me something, Naruto."

"Wait…are you actually admitting that I'm stronger than you?"

"What the-no. I just think we could…help each other."

"And how would you be helping me?"

How indeed. Psycho-Sasuke recalled how he'd intended to annoy the dobe until he left him alone. Somehow, looking at the earnest face, the curious blue eyes…remembering how often this kid had chased him.…

"Forget it," Psycho-Sasuke said. He turned over to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning saw everyone gathered on a clear spot on the plateau, already sweating buckets. Kenpachi stood off with Aimi, apart from the others.

"Okay, Aimi. How ya feeling?" Sasuke asked.

"Good," she said decisively. "I'm ready."

Sasuke nodded. "Remember, only Narutos unless the Sasukes insist on tagging along. And you," he looked at Kenpachi. "You let her do all the talking. You are only to intervene if she's in danger and she will decide when that is, you got that?"

Kenpachi merely stared.

"Go," Sasuke finally said in exasperation. Aimi held Kenpachi's hand and Boomed away. Psycho-Sasuke watched carefully.

***

An hour later, she reappeared with a Naruto that actually topped Blondie by an inch, wearing Kage robes no less, and a Sasuke who stared around with hooded eyes.

"Whoa," Demon breathed. "Who the-"

But Aimi disappeared again, taking Kenpachi with her. The newest Sasuke stared hard at Itachi as he approached. The new Naruto belched into a ham-sized fist, as if holding down his lunch. Then he glared imperiously at his replicas, eyeing Blondie with particular scrutiny. They were guided to a place to sit, offered food, and asked if the situation had been explained to them. The Kage Naruto nodded that it had been. The new Sasuke remained silent and watchful.

***

Aimi was gone longer this time. Several hours passed when she reappeared with two strange-looking people. One was clearly a Naruto, but the other….

Everyone watched as the chakra cleared to reveal some kind of huge thing that Raiden, Wyatt, Juro and Yukio recognized as a Mack truck. The Naruto, wearing sleek black clothes and oversized shades, held up some kind of square device. This, too, only a few recognized. He spoke in a voice that carried over the silent watchers on the plateau, shaking the device in his hand.

"Okay, I'm not getting any bars here…what the fuck? Hey, you-" He turned to Aimi, holding the device up. "I know you said primitive setting, but this is ridiculous. How the hell am I supposed to stay in touch with my business holdings?"

Aimi only stared.

Yukio stepped forward. "Hi."

The shades looked in his direction. Then the head tipped down, a pair of blue eyes looking at him over the lenses. "Yo. You in charge of this shindig?"

"No…I just wanted to tell you that you aren't likely to get bars here. There are no cell towers."

The shades were slowly removed, a hip cocked, and a hand held in the air. "Uh…no. See, I asked that young lady if there was electricity wherever she was taking us. She said there was, and that I'd be able to conduct business from wherever the hell this is. Now, I don't want to have to call my lawyers, but this is bullshit. I get you guys recruiting me, I know I'm powerful in my circles, but misrepresenting yourselves like this…not cool guys." The shades went back on.

Sasuke pulled Aimi aside. Everyone else crowded around to listen. "What the fuck?" Sasuke asked in a whisper.

Aimi fidgeted nervously. "I tried to explain, Papa, really. But he kept asking me things that I didn't understand and finally I just kept saying yes to get him to agree. He didn't believe me when I said another world and he was already kind of freaking out from seeing me Boom. I had to put him in a Genjutsu to make him think I arrived at his office by appointment and that we had an arrangement for his company to give us weapons. He thinks he's on a trip to inspect who he's supplying the weapons to. Also…he thinks we've been on a plane for the last several hours."

"Jesus," Demon said. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. He and that Sasuke see me as an adult and they can't see all the Narutos or Sasukes at all. I still have them in the Genjutsu. They think Kenpachi is my bodyguard."

"God," Sasuke groaned.

"Perhaps we should send them back?" Itachi hissed.

Aimi shook her head. "I can't explain it but when I scout for possibles, I end up knowing what they can and can't do. I think this Naruto is good at stuff that we'll need to know."

"Maybe," Demon said grudgingly. "Though what, I can't imagine. But what about…"

All eyes swung to the individual who'd come with the newest Naruto. If he was a version of Sasuke, it was the worst version anyone had ever seen. The…man…was thin, girly and wearing black nail polish. He flipped his feathery hair out of his eyes and stood against the new Naruto in such a way that had every other Sasuke staring with Sharingan, longing to erase the creature from existence.

Demon shuddered, swallowed. "You can't tell me he fights?"

Aimi shrugged. "He refused to be left."

"Yo, dudes," the new Naruto hailed them. "There's a hotel nearby, right? The dust in this place is ruining my Armani suit, it needs to be dry cleaned. And I could do with a facial, this sun is killing me. I'm Kit, by the way."

Sasuke blinked. "Right," he said to his daughter. "Leave them in the Genjutsu for now, I'll think of something. Go get the last one."

Aimi walked over to Kenpachi and blasted away. Kit seemed not to notice though he'd been looking right at her.

***

This time when she came back, two hours later, she was accompanied by a tall, muscular Sasuke who was holding two identical girls by the hands. The Naruto was lithe, slightly shorter, and holding a baby boy. They looked around with interest.

Blondie growled first, eyes changing to red. Rasta-Sasuke glanced at him. "And what's your problem?"

Demon snorted. Sasuke looked at him. The blue eyes flickered between blue and red, as if Demon were fighting with his Bijuu…then the eyes stayed red. His fangs lengthened and his whiskers grew. "Demon, what-"

Psycho-Naruto issued a strange giggle, then stopped abruptly. He too began changing.

The Naruto wearing Kage robes growled in a low rumble, slowly dropping to all fours, eyes red and glaring.

Chibi-Gaara hopped on a cloud of sand, scared and getting himself out of the way. "What the hell is going on??"

The newest Naruto stared at his replicas….and then his eyes changed too. He began panting, dropping the baby as he arched and whined. The baby was caught by one of the twin girls.

The entire plateau shook as Demon, Blondie, Pyscho-Naruto and Kage-Naruto roared as one and leapt after the newest Naruto, tearing up the ground as they went.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: **Stellar-TheFanGirl** was the first to guess the situation with the new Naruto. She got her cookie. The others who guessed also received theirs.

Something important I should let you know. A reviewer pointed out that Psycho-Sasuke doesn't have his seal anymore. I'd completely forgotten about that. I went back and changed chapters 28 and 29 the same day I submitted ch 29, but the changes have yet to take effect on the site. FF is really acting up and pissing me off. I just want you guys to know that I _am_ aware and that I _have _changed it. Sorry for that slip.

My beta hasn't gotten back to me with ch 29. Not sure, but I'm guessing I'll just be going without a beta from now on. I'll do my best to catch all the typos.

Thanks for all the great reviews and feedback! You guys are so funny X'D

Onward, I guess?

P.S. Today makes exactly one year since I put up the first chapter of Bonded. *blushes*

* * *

Chapter 30

Itachi quite unashamedly landed himself near his youngest and most defenseless children, the triplets, and ushered them into the house. He didn't know what was going on, but he would not risk going up against four released Kyuubi, or leave his children unprotected. On second thought, he put himself in the house as well and watched from a window.

Seeing this, his children ran into the house behind their father, husbands sticking near their wives. It seemed everyone had the same idea; whatever in hell was happening with the Narutos, it would be prudent not to try and interfere.

Killerbee was allowed entrance. Gaara was on his sand cloud watching the action. Psycho-Sasuke hastened to enter the house with the rest of the Uchiha and was barred from doing so.

"Itachi," Sasuke said. His voice couldn't be described as nervous, but it wasn't quite steady either. If his brother was seeking shelter, he didn't see why he shouldn't seek it too. "Itachi tell them to let me in!"

Itachi looked at Psycho-Sasuke with neutral eyes. "Your place is out there, doing what the other Sasukes are doing."

"What?" Psycho-Sasuke said in alarm. He twisted to look behind him.

***

It could only be described as a free-for-all. All the Narutos had fallen on the newest blonde arrival and looked to be in the process of tearing him and each other apart. The snarls and roars were deafening.

The Sasukes were trying, unsuccessfully, to separate them. It was hopeless. The blondes were too strong and too crazed to respond to shouts or simple restraining attempts. Then it seemed like the Sasukes all agreed to get serious. The blondes were slowly detached from the newest Naruto.

Rasta-Sasuke was shrieking through clenched teeth at the effort, but he was managing to hold Blondie back. Barely.

Kage-Naruto kept feinting left and right, trying to circle around the Sasuke he'd come with, but that one blocked him at every turn, sword drawn. Kage-Naruto roared in rage, making the ground shake.

Sasuke had Demon in a choke hold that was slipping even as everyone watched.

Only Psycho-Naruto remained unchecked. The newest Sasuke, bloody and panting, said something to the twin girls and they sped away with the baby boy clutched between them. He drew his sword and moved to yank Psycho-Naruto off his lover.

***

"See?" Kenji said beadily. "Get out there and hold back your man."

"What-! He's not my man!" Psycho-Sasuke stated roughly. "What the-"

"Get out there!" Itachi shouted. "Now!"

Psycho-Sasuke obeyed immediately. He landed by Pyscho-Naruto a second before the idiot would have been run through with the sword. He aimed a kick that sent the blonde teen flying, only to have Psycho-Naruto racing right back. The impact of blocking him dug Psycho-Sasuke's heels several inches into the dirt. Tails whipped the air, and the chakra surrounding his former team mate stung and burned, peeling the skin from his hands. He accessed Mangekyo automatically and threw a heavy Genjutsu over Psycho-Naruto, entering his mind to snare Kyuubi as well.

Psycho-Naruto fell quiet, crouching on the ground and growling low. He remained in Kyuubi form.

Sasuke, seeing this, twisted around until he could grab Demon's head and did the same. When Demon was down, he turned to Psycho-Sasuke. "Good idea." He saw that Kage-Naruto had been treated the same. Only Blondie had yet to be neutralized.

"What are you waiting for," Sasuke asked Rasta-Sasuke. "Put him in a Genjutsu already!"

Rasta-Sasuke shoved Blondie away again. "I can't do Genjutsu." Blondie came rushing back, howling, fangs bared.

Rasta-Sasuke stood his ground. Those watching noticed the area around his feet crack and depress as the air around him shimmered with heat waves. Blondie growled, swerving to avoid this.

Sasuke edged toward Rasta-Sasuke, holding a hand up to shield his face from that scorching heat. "May I?" Rasta-Sasuke nodded, never taking his eyes from the malevolent red ones of his lover. Sasuke performed the same Genjutsu on Blondie as he had on Demon.

A mewling, barking whine caught their ears and they turned to see the newest Naruto trying to get around his Sasuke, pushing his ass toward the cowed and growling Narutos. His Sasuke took his cue from the others and put him in a quick Genjutsu.

All the Narutos now lay quiescent. For the moment. Their red eyes, currently sporting Sharingan while in control of an Uchiha, glared with repressed violence.

Psycho-Sasuke spoke, keeping one eye on Psycho-Naruto. "What just happened?"

The newest Sasuke stepped forward, keeping his sword trained on his mate. "This is just a guess, but…are their Bijuu male?" he asked, gesturing to the crouching Narutos.

"Of course, what else?" Sasuke snorted.

"Ah. Well," the newest Sasuke said. "His isn't. It's female."

That news took all of five seconds to sink in. When it did, Rasta-Sasuke turned from Blondie with a look of disbelief on his face. "So…you're saying what. That these Narutos wanted to fuck your Naruto?"

Newest Sasuke nodded. "And vice versa. The Foxes anyway."

That earned every Naruto except Psycho-Naruto and the newest one a kick in the head from their respective Sasukes. The Narutos reared and growled, Genjutsu slipping in the heat of their anger.

"Well that's just great, isn't it?" Rasta-Sasuke snarled. "Seriously. As if this place didn't suck enough, as if being here wasn't worse than hell, now you show up with a female Bijuu-bitch in heat and we're supposed to do what, exactly? Keep our men in Genjutsu? How the _fuck-_"

"Speaking of," Sasuke said rounding on him. "What the hell kind of Uchiha are you that you can't do Genjutsu?"

Every Sasuke seemed intent on hearing this answer, but they were all interrupted by someone they'd forgotten completely about.

"As interesting as all this drama is," Kit drawled, "I'd like to get to a hotel, check in, and see about a meal. Will there be a car service or something taking us there?" He chewed placidly from a small bag of nuts he'd withdrawn from his pocket. The 'thing' that had come with him clung to his arm, looking toward the other Sasukes and Narutos with an expression of bored calm.

* * *

Aimi had stood to one side with Raiden and Wyatt, watching the entire thing. She knew that all Kit saw was a bunch of different men in business suits who'd gotten into an argument. Likewise, he didn't see the plateau, but an airstrip. He thought the truck they'd arrived in was a plane. She'd boomed them all in the truck, once the weapons had been stowed. She considered taking the Genjutsu away now, but her Papa had said to wait. She continued to watch what was going on.

***

Raiden thought the fight was cool, but his attention had really been on the twin girls and that baby they'd held. When the newest Naruto had been attacked the girls had bared fangs and their eyes had changed to Sharingan. The baby, seeing his father draw his sword, had also undergone a change. Then the girls had been told to take themselves and the baby to safety and he'd seen them flash away at a frightening speed. He left the scene now to go in search of them. He wanted a closer look at that baby.

He found them about a mile away, near the other end of the plateau. They sat on the ground, the baby held in one girl's lap. Raiden stopped several feet from them, assessing the high little growls the girls were issuing. He showed his fangs, letting them lengthen so they could see that he was more or less like them. This didn't help; one girl came toward him in a definite stalking pattern. The other held back with the baby, watchful.

Raiden held still as the one girl crept up to him and circled him, sniffing busily. She touched his leg with a hand as light as a feather. When he reached out to touch her in turn, he had to snatch his hand back, nearly losing his fingers from her snapping teeth. He waited meekly.

At last he met with her approval and she stood in front of him, hands behind her back, eyes blue again and innocent-looking. "Hi," she said perkily.

"Hi." Raiden knew better than to move. He was still being analyzed, he could tell. "What's your name?"

"Emiko. I'm five."

She certainly looked no bigger than a child of five. She was wispy and delicate in a way Aimi had never been. Her hair was corn silk that fell to her shoulders in straight layers, bright and sunny looking. Her eyes were large and ringed by black lashes. She had a smattering of light freckles across her nose. "I'm Raiden. I'm, uh…twelve. And a half."

Emiko twisted back and forth happily. He waited. After a time the other girl came forward. She set the baby down and he toddled on sturdy legs at her side, holding to her hand with his chubby fist.

"I'm Etsuko," the other girl said. "This is our brother, Yo-chan." She smiled up at Raiden, showing one missing front tooth. Raiden's eyes were on the boy.

He had thick black hair that fell over large black eyes. He was somewhat fat, his t-shirt not quite covering his round stomach. He looked nothing like he did when he'd changed. Now he just looked like a one-year old baby.

Raiden carefully extended his higher senses toward the kid and felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand up. There was a lot of Kyuubi in that kid. A lot. Which was sort of in keeping with what Raiden thought he'd seen; there had been fur. Reddish-orange fur.

The baby grinned, showing four sharp little teeth.

* * *

"You have _got_ to be kidding," Sasuke was saying. "Female? Jesus, what the hell are we supposed to do? We can't keep them in Genjutsu if we're supposed to be training!"

"Hey, I didn't ask to be here," the newest Sasuke said, palms up. "I agreed to come along because my man agreed." He sheathed his sword. "You guys are the one with the problem, not us."

"Well seeing as our men were fine before you showed up, I beg to differ, stud" Rasta-Sasuke said savagely. He crossed his arms.

They all went back and forth, voices climbing in volume, while Psycho-Sasuke watched silently. He turned his head at feeling someone touch his arm. It was Itachi.

"I have a suggestion," Itachi interrupted. "Suppose we-"

That was as far as he got. The newest Sasuke saw Itachi and ran toward him, embracing him in a back-breaking hug and screaming about Itachi, _his brother, _being alive. The Sasuke who'd come with Kage-Naruto had held himself back from such a reaction before, but now he came forward slowly and hugged Itachi as well, seeing how he allowed it. He didn't scream. This particular Sasuke never said much of anything.

Psycho-Sasuke took offense. He felt proprietary outrage for Itachi being treated thusly and moved to try and squeeze in between the three hugging men, attempting to protect Itachi.

Sasuke, who's brother Itachi actually was, snatched at the hair of the two hugging Itachi and yanked backward, yelling about how it was his brother, not theirs. The situation degenerated into another brawl, this one between Sasukes, with Itachi caught in the middle.

Itachi, furious and fearing for his life, called on Mangekyo only to have it mirrored in several of the men mauling him. They were also mauling each other.

Rasta-Sasuke, standing apart, asked Kit if he could have some of his nuts. Kit was happy to share.

Several throats shouted "Amaterasu!" What made it worse was that now the Sasukes were so enraged that the Narutos under their control leapt into the fray, each going after whoever a particular Sasuke was against.

"Susanoo!"

"I think we should do something," Wyatt said to Aimi. "This is getting serious."

Aimi nodded. She focused and telepathically separated each Sasuke with his Naruto and held them apart. They all cursed and growled and made threats. Aimi ignored them, holding out her hand for the nuts Rasta-Sasuke came and dropped in her palm. He shoved the rest into his mouth, chewing while watching Blondie snarl impotently. He couldn't have looked more bored if he tried.

***

Itachi rolled to his feet, eyes still red. He was shaking. _Never_ had he been so attacked. Unthinkable. He held his torn shirt together as he considered assassinating everyone, Narutos and Sasukes alike. He managed to hold back from this action, pressing his lips together to keep from spitting in disgust. He had to turn his head away and stare at the horizon to make sure he didn't launch Amaterasu anyway. He could not remember ever being so livid. Barbarians, all of them. He couldn't even look at them right now.

The Sasukes became quiet when they saw Itachi walk into the house and slam the door behind himself. A few moments later he came back out with a voluptuous blonde. She had Sharingan.

"Hiroko," Itachi said stiffly when he could manage it. "Reach the Narutos mentally and inform them that they'll need to control their Bijuu around their female counterpart. I'm guessing they were taken unaware and that's why the Bijuu were able to overpower them."

"Yes, Daddy." The gorgeous blonde turned to the Narutos and each Sasuke felt control of their Genjutsu taken from them. Easily. They eyed this woman with the knee-length hair with new respect.

"Uncle Itachi, how come I can't do the Genjutsu thing," Aimi whined.

"Because these are adult matters," Itachi said. "Enough that you have those two under your control." He glanced at where Kit was fanning himself.

Truthfully, his niece had more than those two. She also had Rasta-Sasuke and the three who'd come with him in a Genjutsu about the gold, while maintaining her link with Kakashi. He didn't know how the girl did it, but he would not tax her young mind further.

The effort cost them, that was plain to see, but each Naruto eventually surfaced to his surroundings, blue eyes blinking in shame and embarrassment. The Sasukes watched them warily. Psycho-Sasuke didn't, his eyes were on Itachi. When the Narutos were deemed safe, the other Sasukes watched him as well.

Itachi, sweating under the stares, escaped back to the house. Hiroko smiled and bowed merrily, making Kage-Naruto eye her cleavage appreciatively, which made his Sasuke slam a fist into his groin, doubling the hulking blonde over.

* * *

"All right," Demon rasped. "Now that _that's _over, let's just all sit in a circle and get to know each other. We can assign names and go over the plan. Aimi, sweetie, go get your brother and the rest of the Uchiha, have them meet us out here."

At seeing the rest of Itachi's daughters, Kage-Naruto began humming. This was noticed and noted by certain new husbands, a white-haired shinigami with frigid-looking eyes and a bald third-seat, who drew his sword and began stalking toward one soon-to-be dead Hokage.

Violence was narrowly avoided. Angered men and boyfriends were talked down. Kage-Naruto received a stare from his Sasuke and dropped his smug smile.

Demon shook his head, seriously wondering if he shouldn't just let Akatsuki come and kill them all, himself included. This whole thing was proving to be entirely too stressful. Damn Phoebe and her assertion that this was the only way.

The first thing to do was deal with Kit and his Sasuke. Demon had Aimi lead them to one of the empty cabins, letting them believe it was a hotel room for the time being. He'd deal with those two later, he decided. One thing at a time.

Once everyone was seated, back stories for the newcomers were given. Shouta raised his hand afterward and asked if he could pick the names this time. Itachi, still smarting over his earlier treatment, gave the okay with grim pleasure.

"Yosh," Shouta pointed at Kage-Naruto and the Sasuke next to him. "You're Kage-Naruto. And you're Jailbird-Sasuke." There was immediate protesting but Shouta ignored them and moved on, having fun. He got to the newest Sasuke, who was now holding all three of his kids in his lap. Something Rasta-Sasuke had mentioned came back to Shouta as he said, "You're Stud-Sasuke. That Naruto will now be called Fem-Naruto."

Demon tuned out the outraged mutters as he glanced around the circle. He spoke loudly. "Kit already has a name, but what do we call…the one who came with him?"

"An abomination," Sasuke snickered.

"Dickless," Rasta-Sasuke offered.

Wyatt shyly raised his hand. His mom would kill him for even knowing the terminology he was about to use. "We could call him Queen-Sasuke."

There was thoughtful silence as this was considered. Nods all around confirmed it. "All right, lets-" Demon stopped speaking. A gust of wind brought him Fem-Naruto's scent and he had to lower his head as Kyuubi nearly leapt out of him. He swallowed, trying to ignore his raging hard-on. "Let's eat. We'll discuss training strategy afterwards. But first, Raiden, go bring Kit and Queen-Sasuke."

Raiden got up to do this. As soon as Kit and Queenie rejoined the group, Kit began complaining.

***

Kit was at the end of his patience. Something very strange was going on; he had no idea what the hotel looked like, or any memory of traveling to it. He'd simply found himself standing in a carpeted hall of the hotel, the room door in front of him. The young lady he was doing business with had told him to rest here awhile and left.

Sasuke had fallen on the bed immediately. He, however, had elected to inspect his surroundings. Disturbed at his discoveries, he'd tried to locate a phone to call the front desk, but there was no phone. And when he'd tried to leave the room to go down there himself, he'd only wandered in an endless hallway until he'd come back to his door. There wasn't even an elevator. What floor was he on? There was no window in his room to let him know. So when a young man came to tell him he was needed, he welcomed it. A few things needed to be addressed.

He watched carefully, Sasuke's arm twined through his, as he was led out of the hotel and back to the tarmac. Just like that. He blinked and found himself on the tarmac where one second previously he'd been in a hotel.

Twisting to look behind him, he could find no trace of a hotel anywhere. He felt every muscle in himself tighten in fear and dread. _What was going on? _

"Sasuke," he hissed as they followed the young man. "You notice anything strange?"

"Mm, not really. What's wrong, honey? You feel tense."

Kit didn't answer, keeping his eyes on the young man. The kid looked to be eighteen or so, simple dress shirt and pants. He led them to the people he'd witnessed arguing earlier. They were sitting in a wide circle on the bare tarmac, looking at him and Sasuke.

One detached himself from the group, coming to stand in front of them. The young lady who'd come to Kit in Japan stood at his side. Another man, this one taller, stood on his other side.

"I'm Demon," the first man said. "I'm going to explain a few things to you. Please try not to be alarmed."

Demon? Kit refrained from taking a step back. The man looked ordinary: brown hair, brown eyes, modest suit, affordable footwear. "Okay…I'm glad, actually, because there are quite a few things that aren't making sense. Like the fact that I can't see my hotel and the fact that there's no running water in my room. Or a bathroom, even. No TV, no phone, no-"

"That's because there is no hotel room," the man by Demon's side said mildly. "You're in an illusion. These images were created for your mind in order to comfort you. The truth is-"

Kit listened. Sasuke clung tighter and tighter to his arm, issuing soft whimpers. At hearing that the man with Demon was also named Sasuke, that there were in fact several Sasukes present as well as several Narutos, Kit held up a hand. "No," he said calmly.

"I'm sorry?" Demon said. "No, what?"

"To all that you're saying," Kit answered. "I don't believe it. Any of it. And I'm not selling you people so much as a bullet. You're all crazy."

Demon studied this slightly shorter version of himself. There was a softness, a lack of the danger he'd become used to seeing in all versions of himself, that left him feeling as if they really had made a mistake with this pair. Queen-Sasuke didn't even bear consideration. He'd been all but crying throughout the entire explanation. "Aimi," he said now. "Lift the Genjutsu."

She did. Kit's eyes widened. Queen-Sasuke took one look at where Itachi sat and fainted dead away. Kit did not catch him.

* * *

Some hours later they were sitting around the fire pit, gorging themselves on fish and deer. Talking was minimal; the effort of the Narutos resisting Fem-Naruto was a strain, and most of the Sasukes discreetly tried to sit near Itachi, which had hostilities running close beneath the surface. For awhile as they ate, everyone tried to ignore everyone else. They ended up studying each other anyway.

***

Demon, though well used to it by now, still couldn't quite get over how odd it was to see himself in so many ways.

First there was Blondie. The big kid was so achingly sincere in his awkward devotion to Rasta-Sasuke, so single-minded in his focus on the swearing teen, that it was almost frightening. He shuddered to think what Blondie would do if anything ever happened to Rasta-Sasuke. It was unnerving to see that devotion, to know that it was exactly what he felt for Sasuke. Did he get that intense blue stare when he looked at his lover?

Kage-Naruto was disturbing. The eyes held no mercy, no love, held nothing actually, unless looking at Jailbird-Sasuke. There was a ruthless, remorseless air to Kage-Naruto that made Demon's blood run cold. _He's capable of things I could never even consider, _he thought. _Jailbird-Sasuke is the savior in that pair, not the other way around._

Fem-Naruto. Even now, just looking at the man lick his fingers clean of deer fat had Demon gritting his teeth. Kyuubi howled and roared wildly to be free…and at the proximity of so many alpha Foxes. It was a constant struggle that Demon knew every Naruto was suffering with. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to look at Fem-Naruto carefully.

The man was lean, svelte almost. His muscles weren't bulky, but graceful, like a dancer Demon had once seen when he and his mom had visited a village. His eyes were slightly larger, the lashes a bit longer than the other Narutos. He was almost, but not quite, bishie. His hair didn't stand up in a bushy blonde cloud, but was rather sleeker and seemed shinier than the other Narutos. And he was graceful.

Demon could honestly say it turned his stomach to feel attraction to his own image. The only saving grace was that it wasn't his attraction, but Kyuubi's. That fact, and that fact alone, allowed sanity to remain.

Pyscho-Naruto. The kid was such a dumb sweetheart, mindlessly focused on Psycho-Sasuke as he was. Demon could well imagine growing up to be such an idiot if his mother hadn't taken him in hand. The kid was a bit of a goof, a definite prankster…Demon actually saw a lot of himself in the youth. And he saw the way Psycho-Sasuke snuck looks at him when he thought the kid wasn't looking. Raiden especially seemed to get along famously with Psycho-Naruto. It was hard to tell who was louder or more energetic.

* * *

Blondie could not take his eyes off the three children nodding off near Stud-Sasuke's side. They were beautiful. The existence of them was a miracle, as were Raiden and Aimi. He wondered what the baby boy, Yo-chan, felt like. He had never held a baby. He looked soft. He saw the way one of the girls lay her head on Fem-Narutos lap and felt an odd lump in his throat. A constriction in his chest had him clearing his throat.

Rasta-Sasuke, unseen by Blondie, glared from the brats to his man and back.

* * *

Sasuke, too, was analyzing the other versions of himself.

It had given everyone a profound shock to learn that Stud-Sasuke was topping Fem-Naruto. They were all used to seeing Naruto as the dominant one. He was taller than any Sasuke present, broader, and stronger as well. His hair was also the longest, reaching past his shoulders in a thick ponytail. He carried himself as proudly as any Uchiha. Sasuke secretly envied him his topping privileges. Bastard.

Jailbird-Sasuke was quiet, even for an Uchiha. He barely ever said a word to anyone, Kage-Naruto or otherwise. He seemed content to watch his surroundings and let Kage-Naruto fondle him whenever the big blonde wished. Jailbird-Sasuke's eyes half-closed whenever this petting and stroking occurred, as if he were a dog being shown love by his owner. Sasuke recognized that Kage-Naruto was probably the only one allowed this honor of touching him and that it was the Blonde who was owned. Sasuke judged that his jailbird counterpart was very near him in build and height, if not matching it exactly. Jailbird-Sasuke's hair was worn in a straight bob that swung around his neck. That was strange to look at, but somehow suited his quiet personality.

Psycho-Sasuke was a disgrace. He needed a swift kick in his ass. Sasuke could only assume that the kid was in some kind of constant search for stability or he wouldn't latch onto one scheme for vengeance after another. Now he'd attached himself to Itachi and he didn't like to think what the kid might do when told he would have to go back to his world. Sasuke thought the boy would benefit from a few sessions with Gaara before he left. Asshole kid.

***

Queen-Sasuke.

All the Sasukes eyed where he sat, their skin crawling in revulsion and outrage.

When he'd regained consciousness, Queenie begun screaming. Actually screaming. Kit had knelt by his side and shushed him with soothing words and soft pats on his neck and shoulders. There had been some kissing to which the psycho twins had both gagged. Kit was having trouble adjusting himself, but he'd kept it together much better than Queenie had. The creature hadn't stopped crying or sniveling since he'd woken up, demanding to be sent back to Earth, with Kit, immediately.

Kit had straightened from is crouched position and agreed with Queenie. He wanted to be sent home. He'd been given a demonstration of both Aimi and Raiden's powers (once he'd gotten over the trauma of learning whose children they were) and had said Demon could even keep the weapons for free, so long as he and his wife (raised eyebrows at that) were sent home.

They'd been denied. Sasuke had wondered aloud if Kit even had Kyuubi since he wasn't attracted to Fem-Naruto. That had started a loud debate amongst all the Narutos and Sasukes. Chibi-Gaara had stepped in.

"Do you have a Bijuu?" he asked Kit. "Because if you don't, we really will have to send you back."

Kit, still reeling from all that he was processing, had uttered a nervous laugh. "What's that, like a birth mark or something? I saw all of you showing your stomachs at each other…"

Demon had stepped forward and solved the puzzle decisively: He threw Kit over the side of the plateau to fall to his death a thousand feet below.

"KIT!" Queenie shrieked. He plastered his hands to his face, running to gaze over the side of the plateau. Everyone joined him.

Kit tumbled out of sight. It was noted that he didn't scream.

Some minutes later a low growling could be heard. Kit came crawling slowly up the sheer face of the plateau. His eyes were red. His fingers, clawless, were bloody from climbing the rocky surface. He reached the plateau and stared malevolently around. He did not respond when Queenie called his name. When Kit launched himself at Demon's throat, the latter cuffed him a single blow to the head. Kit fell to the ground unconscious.

"He'll do," Demon said flatly. He'd turned and walked away. Queenie spat at his back.

***

But now both Kit and Queenie were sitting in the circle. Kit had been normal when he wakened. Though his hands were shaking, he was eating his piece of juicy deer meat with obvious relish.

Queenie sat in a frightened huddle. He did not touch the food, announcing that he didn't eat meat. He stared around at everyone, the Sasukes and Itachi in particular, as if he expected to be murdered at any moment. The bitch of it was, he wasn't far wrong.

The shame and disgust the sight of him engendered in the Sasukes was palpable. There was nothing, repeat _nothing_, remotely male about the guy. His voice, his walk, his mannerisms…it turned the stomach. It hurt the eyes and made hands itch to reach for swords. He cried incessantly, whining and nuzzling in Kit's shoulder, seeking comfort. Sasuke couldn't even stand to breathe the same air as him.

No back story was gotten from him. Kit told both their histories, and when the relationship with his brother became known, his _sexual _relationship, there wasn't a Sasuke present who didn't turn his head away and swallow partially digested fish and deer. Rasta-Sasuke had to get up and leave the circle. It called up images of his own brother and what he'd done to him.

* * *

Psycho-Sasuke and Psycho-Naruto were left alone to contemplate the dying fire as each group later went to their cabin. Itachi and the majority of his kids went into the house, along with Demon, Sasuke and their kids.

Psycho-Naruto stared at the deer and fish bones blackening in the fire, where they'd been thrown.

So many amazing things he'd seen today. The sight of himself as Hokage had sent a jolt of gladness through him, but the idea of a female Kyuubi, having kids…it brought on the horror of Raiden and Aimi's parentage all over again.

And then there was Kyuubi himself. Resisting his efforts to be free to chase Fem-Naruto was good practice at controlling his will, but god it was so hard! He couldn't relax or forget for a minute, not even a second. The stress it put on his mind was nearly unbearable, but he managed. It helped to adopt the stillness and focus he used when attempting Sage mode.

***

Psycho-Sasuke absently stared at his hands. Wyatt had healed them earlier. The jutsu these people had were amazing. He'd tried copying the healing technique only to find that he couldn't. And what was that chakra Rasta-Sasuke had released? Blondie had been unable to penetrate it.

A sound came to him that had him temporarily forgetting about everything he'd seen and heard this day.

Grunts, curses. A steady, relentless banging from the cabins of the three newest Sasukes and Narutos. Psycho-Sasuke frowned. Psycho-Naruto blinked, coming out of his reverie to stare behind him at the cabins.

"Uh, yeah, harder! Right there!"

"Suck me…"

"Kit, baby, just like that!"

"Don't stop! Fuck me, Bastard, fuck me!"

Psycho-Sasuke hunched his shoulders, turning around to face the fire quickly. His face was scarlet. Psycho-Naruto mimicked his action, face just as red. "Seriously," the blonde choked out.

"I know," Pyscho-Sasuke muttered. He squeezed his eyes shut against a high keening that started up behind him. It sounded like Queenie.

Psycho-Naruto put a hand over his mouth, his face now turning a bit green.

Psycho-Sasuke looked across the fire pit at his former team mate. "Why aren't you going to sleep? What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Could ask you the same question." The banging sounds increased, accompanied by screaming now. Psych-Naruto began sweating.

"I asked first." When Naruto didn't answer, Psycho-Sasuke added quietly, "It's Kyuubi, isn't it? You're afraid of losing control of him while you sleep?"

Psycho-Naruto assessed the way the Fox was even now growling in response to the sounds. He listened to Kyuubi grunt about the 'bitch being mounted' and shuddered. He glanced at Sasuke and nodded reluctantly, picking up a small pointed pebble to draw in the dust with.

"Oh. Well, I wouldn't let that happen."

Psycho-Naruto picked his head up quickly, pinning the other boy with a stare.

"Because my brother thinks I'm supposed to keep you in line," Psycho-Sasuke finished hurriedly.

Psycho-Naruto dropped his head, nodding faintly. Minutes stretched to an hour with no end to the sounds in sight. He maintained his steely control over the Fox, despite how difficult it was. To distract himself he asked absently, "So…you know… you've never? With anyone?"

Psycho-Sasuke flicked his eyes at the blonde, moistening his lips nervously. "No. Never. You? Maybe you and Sakura…?"

"Ha. No. She'd kill me for even thinking of it. She did mention recently that she likes me now and has forgotten all about you but…it was a lie. It's always going to be you for her."

Psycho-Sasuke repressed a shudder of his own. He didn't know what women saw that had them pawing him all the time, but it was damned irritating. That would have been reason enough to kill Karin, even if she hadn't stupidly gotten herself caught. She'd always been all over him. And Sakura had tried to kill him. If he ever went back to his world he'd pay her back with interest for that. "I'd never have her," he said now.

Psycho-Naruto looked at him. "So there hasn't been anyone? Not even a kiss?" He was suddenly intensely curious about what the Uchiha may or may not have been up to while away from Konoha.

"What, you mean besides the one I shared with you?" Psycho-Sasuke cursed inwardly. Why had he said that just now??

Psycho-Naruto seemed to want to know the same thing. "Why the hell would you bring that up? It was an accident."

"I know," Pyscho-Sasuke snapped. "I just meant…no. No one." After a few minutes, when the blue eyes stopped glaring, he ventured to ask, "You?"

"Hmph. No lip action. Sakura kissed me on the cheek after Pein hit the village."

Psycho-Sasuke stared at the blonde while remembering seeing Kit kiss Queenie. He blamed the noises behind him, the bizarre situation and the late hour for his next question. "You ever wonder what it's like?"

Psycho-Naruto shrugged, feeling uncomfortable, and yet at the same time as if Sasuke was the only one in the world who he could have this conversation with. "Sometimes. If I have dreams or when I used to see Ero-Sennin doing it. You?"

"No. I mean I never used to think about anything but avenging Itachi."

"And now?"

A one-shouldered shrug. "I don't know. It looks…wrong. When I see a Naruto kissing one of the Sasukes."

"I know."

"But…"

"But?"

"Well, they're all together. Having children. Even Kage-Naruto has children, him and Jailbird-Sasuke."

The blue eyes bored dangerously into the black ones. "What's your point?"

"Nothing. Just…I don't understand why every version of us is in love and having kids. However, if there's ever a time when I can rebuild my clan, I hope my children are as strong as Raiden and Aimi. Even those twins and the little boy are strong."

Psycho-Naruto continued to stare hard at the bastard. "What are you saying?"

"Nothing."

"Better be nothing, asshole." He got up, throwing down his pebble. "I'm going to bed."

Psycho-Sasuke watched as their cabin door slammed behind the blonde.

* * *

The next day was rough. There were no structures to build, so everyone slept in a bit late…until they were woken by awful, heart-rending screams. Everyone rushed outside.

It was hard to tell what was happening at first. Eventually the mass of black-haired men proved to be all the Sasukes attacking Queenie. They had him on the ground, his clothes in shreds. It was Queenie who was shrieking so pitifully, begging for help as his arms and legs were forcefully pried apart.

Kit, obviously just woken from sleep, ran to tried to save his man. He was no match for the Sasukes though, and had several swords leveled in his face. He responded by pulling out what Yukio, Juro, Kenta and Kenji recognized as a very long gun. He fired at the Sasukes' feet. They didn't back off, but stopped curiously at the loud sound long enough for Kit to drag Queenie to safety by an arm. He kept the gun pointed at the Sasukes.

Demon and the rest of the Narutos rushed forward, confronting their lovers. Demon did the talking. "What the _fuck _is going on here?"

Rasta-Sasuke shouldered his way to the forefront and shook his dreads out of his eyes. Eyes that were wearing Sharingan, just like all the other Sasukes. "We just wanted to see if he had a dick," he said aggressively.

Demon looked at Sasuke in shock. "Are you serious? Sasuke, how could you be part of such a thing?? Counter-productive much?"

Sasuke sheathed his sword with a snap. "You don't know what it's like, having something like that prance around with your name."

"I had no idea you could be so juvenile," Demon said in disgust. He went to Kit and Queenie to try and apologize for the treatment, but Kit pointed the gun at him.

"You threw me over a cliff," Kit said. "All of you just keep your fucking distance. If you won't send us back home, that's one thing, but now my man can't even come out and do Yoga? You are all so full of shit. Watch your backs." He went into his cabin, carrying the hysterical Queenie in his arms.

Things went from bad to worse when Kage-Naruto assumed he'd be leading things. There was a heated argument between him and Demon that eventually dragged everyone else into it. When the Narutos and Sasukes finally settled down to train it was a disaster. Itachi's children didn't fare much better, each having their own distinct style of fighting.

* * *

The kids watched. Aimi and Raiden put their heads together with Wyatt and the triplets. Emiko and Etsuko had taken to hanging with them, their baby brother tagging along, and listened to the ensuing conversation with interest.

"This looks ugly," Raiden whispered. "Wasn't something mentioned about other help? In another time?"

Aimi nodded. "But I haven't mastered traveling through time. I haven't even been practicing."

"Well, you need to get on that," Raiden hissed.

"I've been practicing the magic," Ryota said proudly. "While everyone else was off doing their thing. I can do every spell in that book Mom gave me."

"Great!" the others chorused. "Now what?"

"Not great," Ryota said. "I need more books, harder spells. And I need a few more supplies." He looked at Wyatt.

"I'm not going back to my world," Wyatt said quickly. "Aunt Paige will be on the constant lookout for me now. She can sense me with her Whitelighter powers. The second I enter my world she'll grab me."

Raiden snorted. "Dude, I can so take her."

But Wyatt didn't want to risk it. Aimi said she'd take Ryota to Willow again to get the things he needed. "We could go now while they're all busy fighting," she suggested. Ryota nodded.

"Didn't Pop and Dad say you couldn't go anywhere without a fully qualified Jounin?" Raiden asked. Then he added with a grin, "I'm Jounin."

They all ended up going. Emiko, Etsuko and little Yo-chan went along too. Lee, who'd been on his way to begin training with Aimi and the rest of his team, frowned at seeing the ball of chakra disappear.


	31. Interlude: Akatsuki

A/N: Next chap will also be an Interlude and short, though maybe not as short as this one. This chap doesn't contain too much, more like just an overview of what's going on with them, not much detail. There will be more next chap, I guess. There are obvious and intentional parallels between this world and the one our heroes are on.

I want to thank all those who wished me a happy anniversary, that was so kind of you guys!

And thanks heaps for the reviews! I'm just so happy you guys can make do without the smut I usually write! ^^

No Beta. Forgive the typos, please.

* * *

Chapter 31

Interlude: Akatsuki

Kakuzu, Nagato, Orochimaru and Kisame were in a serious fight to the death. The prize? A single haunch of one of the small hopping rodent-like animals that inhabited this planet. Their opponent? One of the indigenous creatures, things that were clearly alien and unbelievably strong.

Kisame was knocked fifty feet to crash into a tree, his yell cut off short at impact. Deidara rushed in to take his place, filthy ponytail swinging.

The rest of Akatsuki circled the dueling men and alien, facing outward in case other aliens came upon them seeking to cash in on the prize. They held crudely made spears, the only weapons some of them could find.

***

For the hundredth time Madara tried to find a weakness in the aliens. They were tall, eight or nine feet, with a black, chitinous exoskeleton covering their bodies. They had six segmented arm-like appendages sprouting from their torsos, three on each side, like insects, though they walked upright. At the end of each appendage were three pairs of pincers, giving each arm six hard 'fingers'. Their faces were long and horse-like. Their speed was such that it was difficult to follow with human sight. If they had eyes, they were too tiny to be seen, though it was clear that the creatures _could _see. They did not speak or make any vocal sound that Madara had ever heard. They appeared to be active both during the day and at night.

Nights were the worst. Due to their black bodies they were next to impossible to see and made no sound when moving in the rain forest. They attacked silently, with deadly accuracy. It took nothing less than four of them to defeat one of the things, if you could call it defeat. So far they'd never come upon more than one at a time, not since their first day here. The aliens attacked singly, almost constantly. Only the fact that Akatsuki had no souls explained why they were still standing. Each of them had received mortal blows several times over. They fought as hard as they did to live only because the absence of limbs did not appeal to any of them. The thought of losing both arms and legs, possibly even one's head, while still living for eternity was not to be borne. Immortal though they each were, they fought desperately whenever they encountered the aliens.

Nothing worked against them but hand-to-hand combat. They always managed to escape being put in one of Madara's dimensions with their speed; while he performed the jutsu, the alien would attack, seemingly aware of the fact that he could not phase his body while performing the teleportation on another. This display of intelligence disturbed everyone. It meant the attacks weren't random or mindless and only added to their unvoiced fear of the bastards. They were impervious to Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, had no chakra to speak of and so were immune to normal ninja attacks. They could jump higher, hit harder and outrun any of the Akatsuki.

And they were cannibals.

Konan in particular seemed to be a favored target. This was believed to be because she was the softest among the group. Her eyes had taken on a restless, shifty expression, always on the lookout for one of the creatures.

As if the aliens weren't bad enough, the flora on this planet was deadly. Unless Zetsu was with them, they might be trapped, eaten or mated with at any time. Zetsu seemed able to communicate with the plant life and so kept them safe on that front. If he was in the mood. He was usually on edge because he couldn't perform his Narikawari no Jutsu on the alien creatures' bodies successfully. The Hoshi no Jutsu was completely impossible; the aliens' bodies devoured the spores, rendering them useless. Zetsu felt vulnerable. Especially since there were dinosaurs on this planet, herbivores, that also considered him food. He was twice as jumpy as Konan was.

Their first day here, a group of the aliens had descended on them during the night. They'd almost been slaughtered despite unleashing their strongest jutsu. The only thing that had kept the aliens at bay had been the Bijuu. The released states had caused the aliens to pause before disappearing into the night. Their happiness over their victory had been short-lived. The Bijuu had run amok again, vanishing to the four corners of the planet. Madara had spent no small amount of time and energy tracking them down and bringing them back together. The Bijuu seemed to retreat back to their hosts of their own accord, as if being released in this world had been taxing.

***

Kisame and the rest won the haunch from the alien they were fighting now and crowed in the agreed-on signal. Nagato had managed to disorient the creature somehow, but it was far from beaten. Now, before it could recover, Madara quickly closed ranks around Kisame with the others and teleported them to their lair.

As lairs went it was pitiful. A single, hastily dug chamber underground and hidden with the aid of plants Zetsu had befriended. It was hardly big enough for all of them. They could not stand upright in it and the walls and ceiling crawled with things best left unmentioned. At Zetsu's order, roots kept the things from eating their eyes when they slept. Luminous fungi lit the small space as they all crouched around the miserable piece of meat. it was a feast; frequently they were forced to eat those crawling things from the walls. They spent most of their time in the lair.

"I don't see why we feel hunger or pain or why we bleed and sustain wounds if we don't have souls," Hidan complained to his silent companions. His language had lost much of its colorful flavor. Like everyone else, his spirit was mostly crushed. He watched as Madara roasted the meat with a katon and handed out tiny portions to everyone.

No one answered his question. They were too tired and dejected to bother analyzing the dynamics of their existence again. Back when they'd first arrived on this planet, and they'd been fresh and vigorous with righteous anger at their situation, they'd gone back and forth over it several times. Constant danger, little to no sleep, and even less food had done away with all that. The situation was what it was and they accepted it.

Akatsuki had been reduced to little better than savages.

They drank some of the stagnant water they'd found in a tree stump yesterday before curling protectively around each other and falling asleep. They kept their spears close. Samehada was by Kisame's side, and Hidan's scythe was gripped in his fist.

* * *

Madara had watch tonight. He had watch almost every night. He fared the best against the aliens' attacks. The others would sleep only lightly; to relax completely was absurd.

He looked down at his hands, his spear held on his lap. The skin was cut and cracked in dozens of places, some of the wounds festering. He squeezed pus from one cut, sucking it slowly. His body welcomed this paltry nourishment, crying out for more.

When he could think clearly- which wasn't always the case, focused on survival as he was- he thought on their situation. Now, with a modicum of food in his belly, was one of his lucid moments.

Tilting his head back, he studied the heavens, confirming what he'd already figured out. A few of the planets were visible. By their position, and that of the constellations, he was able to tell that he was still in his home solar system. He even had a reasonable idea of which planet he was on. Calculating orbiting patterns, he wondered if, when this planet passed his own, he'd be able to get them all back where they belonged. The thought wouldn't go away.

He'd never traveled to another planet before. He didn't know if he could. Certainly while he was so physically weakened it was impossible. But if Izanami, for whatever reason, decided to keep them here, he would have to try. He would see Raiden, his sister and that other boy dead, if it was the last thing he did. It was the only thing keeping him going and he was the only thing keeping Akatsuki going.

His thoughts turned to his comrades, once the most feared ninja in the land. If anyone could see them now…

Their clothes hadn't lasted a day. They went around naked now for the most part. Makeshift loincloths had been fashioned from hides for them all. Konan wore something over her chest made of roughly woven leaves. Their hair, all of them, was matted and filthy. They were all thinner than they had been. Their feet were starting to scab over, developing hard calluses on the soles from going without shoes.

He would never have believed any ninja worthy of the name could be brought so low within a few days of harsh living, let alone S-class shinobi. But there was literally nothing on this world that wasn't deadly. The very dirt contained tiny carnivorous things that would eat the flesh from one's body if they sat too long. Zetsu had showed them the extract of a plant that repelled these dirt mites, if you could stand the way it stung the flesh and caused rashes. Before, when they'd found a sparkling stream to drink from, they'd nearly had their faces bitten off by sleek fish that leapt from the water. The water itself had been acidic, scalding their hands where they'd dipped them to scoop the liquid up. Insects were poisonous, frequently fatally so. They'd been bitten so often now that their bodies were developing immunities, but it still added to their fatigue. They were attacked on every front, constantly, without rest or respite.

Madara took a deep breath. The oxygen was slightly different here, heavier, richer. It added to their lethargy, but he thought his body was getting used to it now. He wished he had something to drink. He wished he could find a weakness in those aliens. He wished he knew why they were able to walk through every jutsu without a scratch. And he wished he had the power to rip Izanami's lungs through her nose for giving them this mission.

By his calculations it would be months before this world passed his. He didn't think they'd survive another week with their bodies intact, much less that long. Kakuzu's Jiongu jutsu, Kisame's Suirō Sameodori no Jutsu, Nagato's Gedo Mazo…these were some of the strongest techniques in their world, yet essentially powerless against these aliens. Even Nagato, an invincible ninja, could not kill one; the aliens were soulless. Madara sighed soundlessly. Hidden as he was by foliage a prudent distance from the lair, his mind turned yet again to finding a way to survive here. And yet again, he was convinced that if the aliens could be beaten, their chances of making it would go up.

The aliens. The most any of them had seen of these creatures at one time was their first day. There had been a few dozen. Madara didn't think they existed in great numbers, or they would attack in force and not one at a time. That hardly mattered, though, since they were impossible to kill. They were insectile, and like insects, seemed capable of surviving anything. Fire did not penetrate their exoskeletons. They seemed able to live under water for extended periods of time. There wasn't an earth jutsu they couldn't dig out of within seconds. They were even capable of sprouting wings from folds in their backs and flying, as seen when Konan had tried to fly away from one on paper wings. Though Madara didn't think all the aliens had this ability.

One thing was for certain: the aliens were the dominant life form on this planet, likely made impervious by the hostile environment all around them. They were even worse than the largest meat-eating dinosaurs.

Madara watched a worm open its mouth wide to devour some black thing he hadn't even seen crawling near his foot. His Sharingan told him the same thing that Nagato's Rinnegan told him: Nothing on this world possessed chakra. How that was even possible was beyond his ability to discern.

He'd once been the leader of a powerful clan. He'd co-founded a prosperous village and had later led the most elite organization in unmatched acts of terrorism and brutality. Yet here he sat flinching at every little sound.

He wished he had his hands around Raiden's throat. Curse the day he'd ever heard of that child. Curse the day he himself had ever been born.

***

After sunrise he crept carefully into the lair. He enjoyed an hour of light, fitful sleep before a hand over his mouth brought him violently awake.

It was Zetsu. He had a finger from his other hand to his lips, both eyes wide and alert. Madara glanced around and saw that everyone else was awake, too. He saw that Zetsu was sweating and perfectly still, as if listening.

"What is it," Madara mouthed when Zetsu had removed his hand.

"Danger," Zetsu whispered just as quietly. "The plants said-"

The entire ground above their lair was ripped away to reveal bright sunlight and hundreds of the aliens. Their pincers made a clacking sound that was almost gleeful.


	32. Interlude: The Kids

A/N: I see that I successfully elicited pity from some of you for Akatsuki. My work is done, then.

Thanks so much for the reviews. I was beyond shocked that some of you found last chapter funny. I thought it was some of my most sober work. How do I keep putting humor in place of other things??? 0.o Next chap will be narusasu...in all it's forms/versions. Be a long chap, too...

Ryota's statement of "Awesomeness within the coolness" is courtesy of Swallowing Dante :D She thought up that piece of amazingness, not me.

Onward! And sorry for the delay.

* * *

Chapter 32

Interlude: The Kids

Once the chakra cleared, Ryota looked around his mother's room and smiled. He inhaled, the smell of Willow the same as he remembered from his last visit. He rounded on the others with a gleam in his eyes, grinning. "Looks like Mom's out."

Raiden noticed the twin girls moving to a corner with their brother. They sat primly with the boy between them, watching everything and everyone. He got the distinct impression that they were hesitant in these strange surroundings. _Wary as animals, _he thought.

Ryota went directly to a tall bookcase containing nothing but books on magic. Magical theory, spells, incantations, known practitioners of magic and their origins…the list went on and on. He grabbed everything he could lay a hand on, passing the books to Aimi to stack in a neat pile. She gave him a hand up to reach the top shelves, lifting his weight easily.

Meanwhile, Kei was searching an identical bookcase. It held literature on demons and other non-humans mostly, but there were several books dealing with occult topics. He read the titles, hoping to find something that dealt with Time. It would be a big help in the next phase of their plans, and possibly assist Aimi.

Raiden, bored, turned to Wyatt and Masaru. "Wanna explore?"

"Cool," the other two chorused. The three of them slipped out of the room, noticed only by the twins.

Kei found a book he thought would do. He sat down and Aimi joined him in turning the pages slowly, taking in the information.

***

Ryota had by now moved to a large locked trunk. He picked the lock easily with a hairpin he found on the dresser. The trunk contained a wealth of supplies, some he was able to recognize as exceedingly rare and expensive. He took all these and placed them near the pile of books. Returning to the trunk, he found that the bottom was false, containing a secret compartment. Inside were a notebook, a sheaf of college-rule loose-leaf and a big black book that looked to be ancient. Ryota sat down with the sheaf of loose-leaf. The title at the top of the first paper said 'Ritual of Restoration.'

***

"And didn't Mom tell you something about going to different locations in time?" Kei was asking Aimi.

"Yeah. And she said people have their own individual timelines. But I tried, it's so hard, Kei! Time is always shifting and moving, I can't get a fix on any one point long enough to try getting to it."

"Maybe it's not like Booming, where you get a fix on a location," Kei muttered thoughtfully. He ran his finger along a line of text. "Says here one has to fix the time, and events that occurred in that time, in their mind and move to that place." He looked back up at her.

Aimi blinked in confusion. "Which means…?"

"Probably by events, they mean a specific occurrence? I'm not sure. Want to try now?"

"Okay…but I'm really not sure about this. What if I get stuck somewhere and I can't get back?" She transformed in preparation to locating the higher dimensions. "There's no one who could help me."

"Maybe Raiden could?"

Aimi didn't look too sure of this idea.

"Guys, look at this," Ryota said excitedly.

Kei crawled to him and looked at the papers. "What's that?"

"A spell. It puts people's souls back in their bodies. You know what that means?!?"

Kei gasped in understanding at the same moment that one of the forgotten twin girls spoke. "The boys are on their way back. They did something bad."

They all turned to the girls. Yo-chan was sleeping in one's lap, thumb plugged into his mouth. Aimi, Kei and Ryota listened but could hear nothing.

Minutes later they heard thundering footsteps a moment before the door crashed open and the three missing boys tumbled in. They looked very guilty. "Time to go," Raiden said with forced calm. He was covered in some smelly yellow liquid.

"What did-" Aimi began, but Ryota cut her off.

"Don't take us back yet, I think I figured out a way to kill Akatsuki!"

A brief silence. Yelling and screeching from downstairs. Raiden beckoned them frantically into a huddle. Ryota scribbled a hasty note to his mom about borrowing her things on the lid of the trunk with a tube of lipstick. They Boomed, with all the books and supplies, a second before Willow, Buffy, Spike and Connor crashed into the room.

* * *

Raiden took them to a world he last visited when he'd been a baby with Wyatt. It was the world he'd learned to walk in, in fact. He looked around, memories sweeping over him. Catching Wyatt's eye, he saw that is friend remembered too. Had they really known each other that long?

The Booming and yelling had woken Yo-chan up. He cried big fat tears, wailing for his bottle. Emiko shushed him gently, rocking him back and forth until he consoled himself with his thumb again. He whimpered around the digit, his large eyes teary at this prolonged absence from his parents. Etsuko stroked his hair.

Seeing this, Raiden was struck by another memory, this one of caring for his sister when he'd been little more than a baby himself. Seriously, where did time _go_? Shaking his head, he addressed Ryota. "What's this about killing Akatsuki?"

Ryota waved the papers in his fist. "This spell. It restores people's souls. Mom did it a few times to put an angel's soul back in him. If it worked on an angel it would definitely work on Akatsuki, right? I would just need to change a bit of the wording…" He frowned down at the papers.

"That doesn't make sense," Wyatt said. "Angels don't have souls. They sort of _are _souls." Ryota only shrugged. Wyatt took the papers and read them. "See? Idiot. Says she restored some _guy_ named Angel's soul, not an angel."

"Same diff." Ryota snatched the papers back.

"Soooo, we're thinking what, exactly?" Masaru queried.

"Re-ensoul Akatsuki so we can kill them," Raiden said in a surprised voice. Wasn't it obvious?

"Yeah, but that sounds like we'd have to actually be near Akatsuki," Masaru said slowly.

Everyone looked at each other with wide eyes. Emiko said, "Who are Akatsuki?" She was ignored.

"Go to Akatsuki?" Aimi whispered. "No. It's too risky. Ryota, you just found that spell, you can't even do it."

Ryota scanned the spell and the items needed. "Mom wrote here that she was a novice when she did this spell. And she was in the hospital with some kind of head injury. I'm more advanced than she was when she did it. I can totally do this spell."

Raiden gave him a hard look, one that everyone who knew him recognized as the Uzumaki Stubborn Look Of Determination. "You sure, man? 'Cuz if you are, we are doing this."

"What if we fail," Aimi said worriedly. "They'll kill us and Papa and Daddy won't even know where we are! I'm going back."

Raiden snatched her shoulder. "No you're not. You're staying with me so you can help my ass if I need it. We're the two strongest, you're not bailing on me, sis." Though he did lower his hand cautiously when she turned yellow eyes on him and began growling.

Ryota rummaged in the supplies they'd taken from Willow's room. "Let's take a vote," he said as he laid the items he'd need aside. "All for doing this?"

Raiden and Ryota raised their hands. Wyatt was used to his mother and aunts devising a plan and taking the fight to the enemy. This was familiar battle strategy to him. He raised his hand. Emiko and Etsuko were never allowed to do anything dangerous by their protective parents, so they raised their hands. Yo-chan had no idea what was going on, was hungry, wet and miserable, but he copied his sisters and raised a grubby fist.

Aimi and Kei kept their hands down. Masaru remembered his namesake, reasoned that his father would never give him the opportunity for revenge, and that this would be his one and only shot. _For the original Masaru_, he thought grimly. He slowly raised a hand.

"It's settled then," Raiden said briskly.

"Emiko and Etsuko don't count and neither does Yo-chan.," Aimi said.

"That still leaves four to two," Ryota shot back.

"I think we should send the twins and Yo-chan back," Wyatt said. "It's too dangerous for them."

Raiden considered it. But he didn't feel like going back to risk his parents seeing him and preventing him from coming here again. They'd all be found out then. Besides, the girls were looking daggers at Wyatt, which clearly said they didn't want to be sent back and miss out on the fun.

Wait. Hadn't he almost died the last time he'd met up with Akatsuki? And hadn't he sworn when he'd gone to get Aimi from Psycho-Naruto's world never to disobey his parents again? When had the idea of taking on Akatsuki again become 'fun'?

Aimi saw her brother wavering and inched closer to him. "Raiden, please. I'm really scared. I don't think we should do this."

Raiden stared at her. He stared at all the faces around him, thinking. "We have the spell. Ryota says he can do it. It'll be different this time. There are more of us now-"

"More, who?" Kei screeched. "_I'm_ not going! Those girls aren't going, and that baby isn't going. The only thing that'll be different is you'll have Masaru and Ryota, and that spell could blow up in his stupid face!" He was panting, fright at the upcoming confrontation making his voice high.

"I'm not leaving you guys here," Raiden said. Though it did make sense. He frowned. He felt like he was missing something important. "On second thought, stay. You can watch the twins and the baby."

Kei smiled in relief. Emiko and Etsuko said nothing, though had anyone chanced to look at them they would have seen their Sharingan. Yo-chan was falling asleep again.

When the black chakra sphere swelled into place, the twins dragged their brother and launched themselves at it. Kei tried to stop them and was sucked along for the ride.

* * *

Teleport. It was the only thing to do. Madara knew it and so, apparently, did everyone else; they threw themselves on him a fraction of a second before he left the lair and those reaching pincers.

He came out in a grassy plain. The others moved away from him, scanning the horizon with relief and interest. They'd never seen anything but the rain forest. Madara looked down and saw that the grass, several inches high, had serrated blades and that many of those blades were actually long, thin insects that looked like grass. Their tiny, yet bulbous green eyes stared at them. So far they did not try to bite, but in the back of Madara's mind he remembered that nothing on this planet was harmless.

"We're safe," Konan breathed. She went into Nagato's arms briefly, accepting his comfort.

They soon became aware of a slight trembling in the ground. The tremor grew, making them look around for one of those huge dinosaurs, until Sasori pointed silently. His face held the calm expectancy of death ninjas adopted when they knew their time had come. He actually sat down in the grass to wait. For a wonder, the grass bugs moved away from him.

Everyone looked where he'd pointed.

Coming over a distant hill was a host of aliens thousands strong. A soft curse from Hidan had them looking in the opposite direction to see another wave of aliens cresting another hill. And when they turned, seeking escape, it was to find the aliens closing ranks on all sides, covering ground quickly.

Madara realized a few things in the clarity that descends before certain death. One, the aliens had bided their time. They'd let him and his companions think they were few, but they weren't. Two, the aliens must have felt they'd learned enough about them to stop toying with them. And three, no matter where on this world Madara teleported to, more would find him and deal with him; there was communication between the aliens or they would not have found them again so quickly. If the aliens numbered so many and they all knew of Akatsuki's presence on their world, then there was no hope to be had. None. Except…

"Bijuu!" Madara roared. "Release them now!"

Nagato joined Madara in the center as the Bijuu erupted all around them, their chakra momentarily obscuring the alien horde. They stood back to back, sweating, as the Demons charged.

* * *

Raiden was careful. He knew he shouldn't be doing this while at the same time realizing that they had to take this golden opportunity. The adults would never let them go up against Akatsuki if they went back and said they had a spell to kill them. Just like they hadn't believed the kids knew where the help was. So he was careful.

He closed his eyes and located Akatsuki's presence on the world Aimi had sent them to. He could detect no chakra signatures nearby. He sensed they were agitated over something and that was fine. The more distracted they were, the better. He had no intention of actually facing them. They would land themselves at a distance so that Ryota could perform the spell. Once it was complete, he and Aimi would step up and handle their business. Death Spheres and lavender chakra all the way. Oh yeah.

It's funny how the best-laid plans always get shot to shit. And really? It wasn't funny at all.

It wasn't funny how the second he Boomed, he felt those two weird girls slam into him, knocking them all helter skelter when they landed on the Akatsuki world. It wasn't funny how they didn't end up in some quiet uninhabited place, but in the middle of some kind of war. And it really wasn't funny when he felt a white-hot pain lance his mid-section, only to glance down and find himself disemboweled.

***

Had Ryota read the notebook he'd taken from his mother's trunk, he would have found several of her own thoughts on magical theory. The one that would have interested him was that "the more magic one practices, the more they use it unconsciously. Especially beings who are inherently, or naturally, magical. They often find themselves responding magically to situations around them without conscious thought."

Just then, though, he wasn't thinking about anything but the fact that he'd just seen Raiden go down and two of the big black things take the baby and one of the girls. He grabbed Masaru and Kei's hands as magic leapt out of him, and then they were gone.

***

Wyatt saw Raiden's look of surprise, saw the a creature draw back a bloody claw from his stomach and threw his shield over them just as a blow landed from behind on his head. He fell forward, stunned.

***

"Yo-Chan!" Etsuko screamed. One of the big uglies had taken her brother from where she'd dropped him. It carried him by the meat on his back in its jaws and was racing away. She was already losing sight of them in the swarming, clicking mass of uglies. She started after them.

"Etsuko, look!" Aimi pointed, halting her mad dash. Another ugly had Emiko. It looked like her sis had tried to fight. There was blood and her sister seemed to be hanging limply in the ugly's grasp, like she was sleeping. Etsuko turned her head this way and that, looking between where her brother and sister were disappearing in opposite directions.

"Get him," Aimi said. She changed, her black hair turning white and curly, her skin dark. "I'll get your sister."

Etsuko nodded and turned to race off.

***

Wyatt used every particle of his mind to remain conscious long enough to give Raiden a chance to heal. The aliens were so strong, the blows they landed on his shield shook through his entire being, his magic quivering inside him at the strain of maintaining it. Either he would pass out within the next three minutes, or his shield would be penetrated by brute force, one or the other. He looked at the way Raiden's intestines glistened in the bright sunlight, bloody and tangled. His vision was dimming.

***

Raiden's sight returned first. He knew his eyes hadn't closed, but he hadn't been able to see after he'd seen his innards spilling into his hands. It was like his mind went away, too scared to process what was going on around him. Now he could see, and the first thing he saw was Wyatt's shield. It shimmered and grew fainter by the second.

A wave of pain so huge it canceled out the scream in his throat hit him then, and he became aware of a horribly _open _feeling in his midsection. He was lying face down, which seemed to make the pain worse.

He didn't look down. Instead, he concentrated on his filthy thumbnail where it lay by his face as he pumped out his chakra as strongly as he could to heal himself.

He nearly blacked out again when his intestines dragged across the abrasive grass, inching their way into his body. He sensed his chakra cleaning the coils of dirt and foreign particles as they were tucked neatly back in place. The pain was sharp, but lessening. He felt his chakra sweep through his body, making sure everything was in perfect working order. The pain was gone now and so was the shield.

***

The aliens that had been closing in on the two boys sprang back as a black explosion of chakra revealed a winged creature with gray hair cascading down his back. Red eyes, with angry elliptical pupils, glared at them. Lightning and fire crackled around him as he lifted the other boy telepathically and held him in the air, out of their reach.

The male aliens sprouted wings, rising into the air to claim their dinner.

* * *

"Ryota," Masaru whispered. "You okay?" They were in a tree. The only tree visible for as far as the eye could see. It sat on a hill overlooking the shallow valley they'd materialized in. The black monsters were converged in the valley. A roiling sea of the creatures. There had to be several hundred thousand of the things. "Ryota," he said urgently. Kei was supporting his dazed brother.

"Un-hn," Ryota said thickly. "Just a bit dizzy. Never teleported before. Didn't know I could. We good?"

By that the other two understood Ryota to mean were they okay, unhurt. "We're good," Kei answered softly. "You saved our lives."

That brought Ryota to a sitting position, his fuzzy mind clearing. "The others?"

Masaru shook his head. "I saw Raiden go down. I didn't see the rest." Kei shook his head as well, when Ryota turned to him.

Ryota stared into the valley. He could see no trace of lavender chakra. He couldn't see anything, really, but the swarming, shiny black bodies. He remembered seeing Yo-chan and one of the twins carried off. Probably to be eaten. He was suddenly very scared.

Raised predominantly by Uncle Naruto and Uncle Sasuke, Ryota was weaned on the dogma of not giving up. Besides, his father believed in him about the magic. And he was Uchiha. Uchiha didn't give up when shit got tough; they shat back.

Climbing out of the tree, he had Masaru and Kei arrange the four candles, runic stones and the Orb of Thesulah as the ritual required. He paused at seeing the orb, wondering if it could hold ten souls. He assumed that it could, or rather hoped that it could, and sat down cross-legged, facing the valley. He took the papers out of his pocket and cleared his throat.

"Wait," Kei said. "Where's Akatsuki?"

* * *

Raiden didn't use Death Spheres, but rather an application of the jutsu. He mixed his chakra the way he did for the Death Sphere with lightning and fire and sent it from his hands in thick bars at the monsters flying toward him. It halted them, but didn't immediately eat through them as planned. Frowning, Raiden put more force behind the chakra, opening the floodgates wide to give it everything he had.

The exoskeletons cracked, fissured…and finally exploded, spraying the monsters below with writhing, crawling white maggot creatures.

The aliens paused at seeing this. As one they grew still. It had been many ages since any of their number had been hurt. Memory did not exist in them of a time when one of them had been killed. They filed this information away, their collective mind now bent on destroying that boy.

* * *

Madara sat in a huddle with the rest of Akatsuki as the aliens streamed to either side of them, rushing toward a new enemy.

A miracle had happened. But before the miracle…

The Bijuu, made flesh by the aid of their hosts' bodies, attacked the advancing horde of aliens. Even this did not stop them; they were much smaller and faster than the Bijuu. Madara and Nagato had watched in horror as each Bijuu was attacked in turn, covered with a second skin consisting of the aliens. Thousands on each Bijuu, suffocating them, ripping at flesh, at eyes, the demonic chakra washing over their black bodies harmlessly. The Bijuu had retreated back into their hosts before the disbelieving eyes of Madara and Nagato. Madara teleported his comrades back to him, but it was no use. The aliens had conquered their initial fear of the Bijuu and were swarming around them again. There was nothing they could do. They were helpless as babes against this foe.

The ten of them had stood back to back in an outward-facing circle, chins lowered for the onslaught. It wouldn't truly be death, but something worse. Still, it was the end. They held hands. As the aliens drew closer, confessions were made.

"I'll be glad when this is over," Deidara said. "I hope they eat me."

"I wanted to make a puppet of one of them," Sasori admitted.

"One of the plants impregnated me on our second day here," Konan said quietly. "Zetsu aborted the fetus for me. I was…ashamed to tell you all."

"Kakuzu," Hidan mumbled around a gulp. "I've been in love with you for a long time. I think your tentacles are hot."

"I had one night with Hashirama I'll never forget," Madara declared dramatically. "Best night of my life."

That actually earned a few stares, but the aliens were nearly upon them by then. They tightened their hands on each other. Some of them closed their eyes. Madara didn't. He wanted to go out aware of his murderers and cursing the ones responsible for this whole state of affairs. His Mangekyo blazed with fury.

Consequently, he saw the faint flash of black chakra, almost invisible in the sea of black bodies, several hundred yards to his left. Almost immediately he saw a familiar blue shimmer form a dome around where the chakra had appeared. The aliens turned from Akatsuki and faced this new threat.

And when, some minutes later, a figure rose into the air with an unconscious boy behind him, Madara smiled.

Justice. There would be justice after all, by the gods. He fell to the ground in relief with the others.

* * *

Etsuko ran on the heads of the uglies, racing on all fours so nimbly and swiftly that the uglies barely registered her footfalls on them before she was gone. She was in hot pursuit of her screaming baby brother.

Yo-chan was transformed but it did him no good. He was too young and weak to fight these creatures, though far stronger than any normal child his age. His chakra was as yet formless and undefined. He cried pitifully, beating his fat paws against the black chest of his captor as it, too, ran on all eight limbs.

Etsuko was focused. Sharingan fed her advanced little mind data on her opponent even as she neatly avoided reaching pincers from the horde she ran on. She could not use chakra or Shunpo as yet, but her beastly attributes served her well. Normally she was a predator among prey in her own world. Now she was prey among predators. Fighting was not an option. Evasion only, once her brother was secured. She would trust the Aimi girl to retrieve her sister, as the girl had trusted Etsuko to rescue Yo-chan. Aimi recognized a kindred spirit in the five-year old and the sentiment was returned. Even now she felt Aimi's mind touch hers, powerful and quietly forceful as the girl was herself. _**– You have him?-**_

_-Not yet- _Etsuko fumbled with this form of communication. She'd only ever done it with The Mother. It was strange doing it with a person. _–Soon. My sister?-_

_**- I'm close.- **_Aimi sent an image of ripping the ugly to ribbons.

Etsuko sent back an emotion that was purely Kyuubi. The meaning could roughly be translated as 'Victory over the weak', something felt when one's alpha status was established in a new territory. Aimi received the emotion and left her mind.

Her thin arms and legs pumped faster, giving her a smooth rolling gait as she drew steadily closer to her brother. The valley of uglies was now far behind her as she sped across the plain.

* * *

"There," Masaru pointed. "See them over there?"

Kei and Ryota looked. The aliens had moved away from Akatsuki enough so that they were finally visible. They sat in a group, watching-

"That's Raiden!" Ryota said with loud gladness. "He's okay! Awesomeness within the coolness!" He did a three-way high five with his brothers.

Masaru grinned at the phrase. Ryota only said those incomprehensible things on the very best of occasions.

"Kei, I need you to say these parts here," Ryota instructed, pointing to the papers. "And I'll say these parts. Got it?"

Kei said that he did. Masaru performed a tiny katon to light the candles. They knelt before the runes and the orb.

* * *

Raiden felt primal satisfaction at being tested like this. He threw every caution and restraint he lived with to the winds as he unleashed Judgment Day, Raiden Style. He found that fire didn't work, so he heated the fire until it was white and brighter than the sunlight, the way he had when he'd killed Twilight on Buffy's world. The monsters were reduced to ashes, not even their maggoty innards surviving.

The monsters just kept on coming, leaping into the air to match his altitude. His wings were tiring, but he flapped and hovered as he formed Rasenshuriken. He was strictly not allowed to do this. He hadn't done it since he was a baby. That time, he'd obliterated ten miles of the forest he and his dads were living in. This time he controlled it, confining it to the valley and the inhabitants in it. He couldn't throw it the way his Dad could. He compensated by shoving the humongous jutsu downward.

* * *

Madara's Mangekyo fed him the truth of the destructive power behind whatever jutsu he was seeing and he phased himself and everyone out of there in the nick of time. When he came back, the valley was a huge, deep basin. So deep that water from underground had been accessed and was steadily filling the bottom. The sides of the valley were now high cliffs. Raiden stood alone in this rising water amid the dismembered body parts of aliens. He held the other boy in his arms.

"It's him, the one we're supposed to get," Kakuzu said quietly. "What do we do, Boss?"

Madara watched Raiden, not answering yet.

* * *

"Wyatt?" Raiden shook the big kid in his arms gently.

"Let me down," Wyatt said faintly. Raiden folded monster parts away to lay Wyatt in the gathering water. This water, cool, seemed to revive him further. He sat up and blinked dazedly. After a few minutes, his head stopped swimming and he could speak. "You killed them all?"

Raiden nodded. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Where are the others?"

Raiden raised his head to look, realizing he'd forgotten completely about them, and saw people staring towards him from a couple of hundred yards away. He stood slowly. Wyatt, seeing the people too, held the bloody gash on his head and stood as well.

Madara's red eyes were difficult to read at this distance, but Raiden clearly felt the killing intent. From all of them.

"We should orb or fold out of here," Wyatt whispered. "Before he tries to put you in Genjutsu or a dimension."

Raiden's senses told him the triplets were safe, somewhere to his right. He moved his eyes in that direction and spotted a tree, tiny with distance, high up above the rim of the valley. Even tinier were the three heads of red hair. "No," he said now. "We need to give Ryota a chance to work the spell. If we leave, Akatsuki might notice them."

"Where are Aimi and the other kids?"

Raiden paused, his mouth tightening as he realized his sis was in some kind of jam. He sensed those three kids were also in trouble, their chakra spiking uncontrollably. "They hit a snag," he said to Wyatt.

"Hurry up and pull them here, then!"

"No. I think sis is handling it. And I don't want those girls or that baby near Akatsuki. My ass will already be fried for putting everyone in all this danger."

"But-"

Raiden hadn't taken his eyes off Madara. He saw the older man stiffen, looking at something behind himself and Wyatt, and turned to see what it was.

More of the monsters, more than the last horde, if that was possible. Pouring over the lip of the valley and streaming toward them, their legs churning the slowly rising water. Their silence was eery

* * *

Madara had been sure Raiden would be killed in short order by the aliens. He hadn't been, surviving long enough to kill – Kill! – hundreds and thousands of the hateful things with his amazing jutsu. Madara had not been the only one torn between feeling vicious happiness at the aliens' demise and boiling rage that Raiden would not be killed as hoped.

Now more of the aliens were coming to finish the job. He and his comrades had been spotted and he could tell that this time they wouldn't be ignored. Rather than teleporting to some distant place where they would only be pursued, he opted for the only sane choice left to him: Raiden was the only means of protection to be had. Sticking close to the boy would ensure survival. And, Madara thought cunningly, if Raiden was fending off aliens, he'd be unable to fight anyone else, namely him. The Uchiha even went so far as to wonder if he could manage to be near the child when he went back to his world, thus saving him from this hellish planet.

He and the rest of Akatsuki ran toward the two boys even as the aliens did.

* * *

Aimi had stopped and tried to fold Emiko to her, only to discover that she could not fold a moving object. The monster had gained distance while she'd stopped and she'd had to run twice as fast to make up the lost ground.

To even match the speed of the thing she had to dig deep and use her strength. Running on all fours was surprisingly easier than doing so on two legs, but it taxed her the way normal running didn't because of the speed she needed to maintain. Her hair was blown back from her face as her target drew slightly closer.

* * *

Ryota had altered the spell slightly to accommodate multiple souls, but the rest was the same. "Quod perditum est, invenietur," he intoned.

"Not dead, nor not of the living," Kei recited.

"Spirits of the interregnum, I call."

"Gods, bind them. Cast their hearts from the evil realm."

"Te implor, Doamne; nu ignoră aceasta rugăminte!" Ryota said strongly. "Nici mort, nici al fiinţei. Lăsa orbită să fie vasul care-i vă transportă sufletul la el. Aşa să fie! Aşa să fie! Acum! Acum!"

* * *

Raiden held off killing Akatsuki until he had some kind of signal from the triplets. He kept one eye on them as they ran toward him, and one on the aliens closing in. Wyatt threw up his shield as Raiden launched himself into the air with his friend on his back.

Konan flew as well, latching on to Raiden's foot just before the shield sprang up and dragging him back down. The boys screamed as they crashed into the ground, the shield disappearing. Madara reached them and snatched Raiden up, holding him in front of himself like a shield. "Take us off this world and we will never trouble you again," he hissed into the boy's ear. "Do it now, Raiden, before they descend on us." The rest of Akatsuki was crowded at his back.

Raiden twisted in his grasp, freeing himself. He wasn't doing anything of the kind, but he didn't say so. It was enough that Akatsuki wasn't trying to kill him for the moment. He tamped down his shock and faced the aliens, already heating his fire chakra. He couldn't do Rasenshuriken again so soon after the last one.

Wyatt performed a spell that blasted alien bodies apart wherever he focused, but it was nowhere near as many as Raiden handled at one time. He noticed Akatsuki not bothering to fight and felt contempt override his fear. Then his attention was taken by the ranks of aliens reaching for him and Raiden. He had no time for gloating.

* * *

"Acum! ACUM!" Ryota shouted.

He felt it. The magic was moving through him, doing something, making contact with some greater force. But that was as far as it went. It did nothing else. Ryota focused his mind, forcing the magic, forcing the souls to be located and returned to the bodies in the valley.

Abruptly the magic snapped and spun away from him. The orb, which had begun to glow, grew dark. Ryota slumped against Masaru, in defeat. "It didn't work."

* * *

Etsuko leaped and landed on the ugly's back, reaching for her brother. The ugly twisted around agilely, wrapping its multi-jointed arms around her even as it threw Yo-chan out of her reach. She was briefly obscured by the thing's face coming toward her throat and she caught sight of a tiny, bead-sized eye, black and almost indistinguishable from the rest of the black body.

She sank her fangs into this eye as deeply as she could, tasting the vile ichor of the ugly's blood as it squirted into her mouth.

The ugly dropped her, clawing at its face, but Etsuko was already sprinting for her brother.

Yo-chan had stopped screaming, accepting his fate as a defeated animal accepted that it would be eaten. He lay in the dirt quietly, his body back to normal, his shirt torn and stained with his blood.

Etsuko reached him, snatched him up and kept running, following the faint sense of her twin. Behind her, she could hear the ugly giving chase.

Yo-chan became a little more animated as he clung to his slight sister with his arms and legs and buried his face in the throbbing pulse in her neck.

* * *

Emiko played dead convincingly until she felt her captor stagger and fall, something heavy slamming into it. She sprung up, only to find Aimi trading blows with the creature. She watched as the white-haired girl tore one limb off after another, her chakra pulsing out of her to finish the job. She clapped delightedly as Aimi turned to her and licked her chops of monster blood. "My sister?"

Aimi grabbed Emiko's hand and folded them to Etsuko. Etsuko pulled up short as her twin ran to her and hugged her. Yo-chan was mewled over, but Aimi couldn't care less. She folded them all to her brother who, she could sense, was in a fight that wasn't going well.

* * *

Raiden was weakening. The aliens just kept on coming, with no sign from the triplets that the spell was complete. How long could it possibly take to re-ensoul some people?? _**-Wyatt, go see what's taking them so long.-**_

Wyatt orbed away. Akatsuki muttered at this, but kept as close to Raiden as possible.

* * *

Kei stifled a yell when the blue lights solidified near him to reveal Wyatt. "Any luck?" the older boy asked them.

"No," Ryota said morosely. "I've been trying but it won't work."

Wyatt knelt down beside them. "Let me try my own magic." He closed his eyes, reciting a spell his mom and aunts had used many times.

"Hear these words, hear my cry,  
Spirits from the other side.  
Come to me, I summon thee,  
Cross now the great divide."

Masaru waited, watching Wyatt's frowning face. "Did it work?"

"No," Wyatt answered slowly. "The souls aren't free to be summoned. They're being held."

Kei smacked his forehead. "Izanami! How did we forget that? She's holding those ten souls especially."

"And we forgot that your mom, the most powerful witch I've ever seen, couldn't even pull your uncle from Izanami's realm," Wyatt added. "We should have guessed that if this Ritual of Restoration spell would have worked, she would have used it. She went down to the underworld herself to try to get Mr. Sasuke's soul and still couldn't do it. Raiden was the one who managed that."

"So we have to let Raiden go back down there?" Ryota asked. He was gathering his supplies.

"I don't know. I think we need to get out of here."

"I heard that," Masaru grumbled. "Waste of time."

* * *

Raiden tried to separate himself from Akatsuki as he fought, but they stuck to him no matter where he fled. He heard a familiar growl and turned to see Aimi running toward him, the twins and their brother on her back. She sent a wave of chakra right at him and he folded himself out of the way before it hit, taking the aliens with it. He noted his sister's chakra was more destructive than his Death Spheres.

Akatsuki scattered, using Shunpo to escape that wave. Wyatt orbed to his side just then with the triplets, told him the spell didn't work, and Raiden pulled his sister and her charges to him as he Boomed them the fuck off that world. He heard the faint shriek of Madara's rage as he did.

* * *

Back on the serene world where they'd left the books, they assessed their injuries. Wyatt healed the twins and Yo-chan. Ryota found a spell that healed Wyatt's head.

They sat and contemplated their monumental failure in silence, Yo-chan whimpering for his bottle yet again.

"Dudes, how bad do we suck?" Raiden moaned in shame. "At least if my Dad is going to kill me, I wanted to be able to tell him we offed Akatsuki. Now I'll be slaughtered for nothing."

"It was a chance we had to take. We took it," Wyatt said. "You can't win every battle. I'm just glad we got out of there alive and in one piece. I thought you were a goner when they gutted you, Raiden."

"We had fun," the twins chorused. "Can we go back there again?"

Raiden shook his head as he stared at them. Aimi stood up. "We may as well go back home. They're probably looking for us. But first…" She drew back her fist and punched Raiden in the face as hard as she could.

Raiden flew a hundred feet, more, as he felt his jaw reattach itself. He twisted midair to land on his feet.

"That's for almost getting us killed," she said when he'd walked back to them. "If you'd listened to me instead of going anyway, that wouldn't have happened. You're such a jerk, Raiden. What would Stud-Sasuke and Fem-Naruto have said if we had to tell them their kids were dead?"

No one had thought of that. Aimi turned her back on Raiden's guilty face with a huff and Boomed them back to the plateau.

* * *

The argument was still going on. It was clear that blows had been traded. A few swords were drawn. Kit and Queenie sat apart from it all, lounging in the doorway of their cabin. Blondie sat to one side, watching the sun set in a blaze of color.

Etsuko and Emiko took Yo-chan into their cabin and located the baby bag. There were diapers in there and powdered formula. One girl changed and cleaned Yo-chan while the other fetched water to mix a bottle. This was plugged into the baby's waiting mouth as all three lay down on their Papa's cloak, the girls bracketing their brother. They were soon asleep.

***

Raiden, Aimi and Wyatt went to the house, the triplets behind them. They were met in the main room by Lee.

"Ah, my students! So good of you to return from your illicit trip off planet. Tell me. What will you do to keep me from telling your parents?" The expression on Lee's face did not match the pleasant tone of his voice.

God, couldn't they catch a break just _once_???


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: Alrighty, then, here's the break down of who's who and from which story. Y'all might want to put this on a post-it and stick it to the side of your comp or wherever. I guess I can put it in each A/N, though, if y'all need me to. Incidentally, I'll be taking a break after next chap to knock some gift fics I got pending out of the way. The people waiting for them have been very patient and I can't make them wait anymore.

Also, during a particular scene, i will use the pet names for the different version, just so you know who I''m talking about, but after a few sentences, I'll just say Sasuke and Naruto. You all know which ones I'm talking about. When I switch to different versions, you'll know that too.

Lastly, scene breaks have been disabled by this dumb site, so I've had to use page breaks instead. it makes the reading more confusing, but there's nothing I can do. All scene breaks are gone from my other stories too. *sobs*

And I'm so sorry for the heinous wait on this chap. if anyone's read my profile lately they'd know that all my fics are temporarily on hold...or they should be. Anyways...

**Rasta-Sasuke, Blondie** ~ _Until You/Always You_

**Kage-Naruto, Jailbird-Sasuke** ~ _The Price of Salvation, Hunter/Hunted_

**Stud-Sasuke, Fem-Naruto** ~ _I'm With Sasuke/I'm With Naruto_

**Psycho-Sasuke, Psycho-Naruto** ~ _Canon/Manga_

**Kit, Queen-Sasuke (Queenie)** ~ _Irresistible_

**Demon, Sasuke** ~ _Bonded/New Bonds_

_*_Please forgive any typos I've missed

* * *

Chapter 33

Raiden snorted. "You can't do anything to m- argghhhhmmmfff!"

Lee was standing with his hands on his hips, regarding them with serious eyes one moment, and clamping a hard hand over Raiden's mouth the next. No one even saw him move. Lee hugged Raiden with one arm, pressing his protesting face into the side of his rock-hard chest. Raiden twisted and squirmed futilely, issuing outraged, frantic, and muffled yells, while Lee addressed the rest of them as if nothing had occurred.

"Yes, you are _all _my students as of today! I'm even to take over supervision of those precious twin girls and their scrumptious little brother! Imagine my chagrin when I came to inform my shining new pupils of this _wonderful _development, only to find them flashing away to another world! I was _crushed, _I tell you. But now you're back. I'm so relieved! And unless you want me to tell your parents why the _entire_ day went by without so much as a _kata _performed, you will make me a _very_ good offer _indeed_."

Lee gave Raiden a hard, vicious squeeze with each word he emphasized so that by the time his speech was done, Raiden was moaning in pain and still. Lee stared at his students with a glitter in his eyes that could conservatively be described as bloodthirsty zealotry.

Aimi was afraid. She didn't want her Papa mad at her again, and so hazarded an offer she thought would be acceptable. "Gold? Real gold?"

"A promise not to leave ever again?" Kei suggested timidly. Shikamaru was his sensei, not this crazed person. Shikamaru-sensei would have accepted such an offer, but he could see that Lee-sensei wouldn't.

Masaru was more familiar with his teacher and said, "a hundred push-ups?"

"A hundred push-ups and fifty laps around the plateau?" Ryota asked hesitantly. He hated running.

But it was Wyatt who made the winning offer. He was well acquainted with Lee and his mindset, despite being the newest one there. "We'll be your willing slaves and students for as long as you deem it necessary, doing all that you command and teach us with bright smiles and youthful vigor," Wyatt intoned in a resigned voice.

Raiden screamed against Lee's palm, renewing his frenzied struggles to be free; slavery did not sit well with him. One could almost hear his curses. Lee tightened his arm around the boy, his fingers digging into Raiden's cheeks as he howled happily.

"That is an _excellent _offer, Wyatt-san! I accept most graciously! Now," and here Lee's voice lost its scary cheerfulness to become just scary. "You will all take yourselves to bed. We will be up before the sun." He released Raiden, who fell to the floor with a thud.

Gasping for air, Raiden bounced right back up again and faced Lee angrily. "I'm not doing any of that shit you just-"

"Demon!" Lee said with a smile, looking behind the children. "I see your training is over."

Demon stumped into the house ahead of Sasuke, Itachi, and the rest. "If you can call it that. Sons of bitches don't even-"

"Splendid," Lee interrupted with a look at Raiden's mutinous face. "I believe Raiden here has something important to tell you."

Raiden glared at Lee, who met his look with a neutral expression of his own. Then he turned to face his parents, both of whom were waiting to hear what he had to say. He heard Aimi issue a faint whimper.

The idea of being babysat, of being monitored and answerable to someone after years of freedom, had Raiden's eyes glowing red. He would _not _be that crazy fucker's slave or student or any damn thing. No.

But the only alternative was to fess up to where he'd been. He could lie and say he'd been on any world but the one with Akatsuki, but Pop would get the truth out of that weak bitch of a sister he had. Then the crap about those twin girls and their brother would come out and it would be ten times worse because he'd lied about it first.

_I could just tell them, _Raiden thought with a touch of surprise. _I could man up, grow a pair, and just tell them what we tried to do and why. _

This seemed like a good plan at first. He never owned up to trouble he'd been in. It usually just came out and he couldn't deny it. It was attractive, the notion that he could show his parents how he was trying to be better by confessing his crimes.

But it had been _Akatsuki. _He hadn't just been off on some world or Wyatt's world. He'd gone up against all those Jinchuuriki and Madara. And the fact that he hadn't fought them at all wouldn't matter. That would be all his parents heard. And right now the scowl on his Dad's face, the lingering Sharingan in his Pop's eyes, suggested that they were already pissed off from whatever the argument had been about. He might as well dig his grave and carve his own marker if he was going to tell them while they were so pissed already. He didn't think he could take both his dads ganging up on him when they were mad. Bad enough when they'd been training him.

He kept his eyes on his Dad and Pop as he spoke to Lee behind him, clearing his throat. "Yeah…I just wanted to say I'm glad Lee will be teaching us."

Demon and Sasuke nodded curtly before heading to their room. Raiden, hearing the sighs of Aimi and the triplets at the same time Lee clapped him on the shoulder, grit his teeth in fury.

"A wise choice," Lee said mildly.

Raiden wrenched his shoulder from that hand, giving Lee a look of pure loathing. Lee saw it and smiled broadly. Such fire and spirit!

* * *

Itachi had listened in silence. Now he ushered the triplets to their room, ignoring the many books and supplies they carried. Raiden and Aimi headed for theirs, Wyatt tagging along behind.

"You should have told them," Aimi whimpered. "I hate keeping stuff from them."

Raiden whirled on her. "What? You fucking liar, I didn't see you having a problem keeping shit about Kenpachi from them!"

"That was different."

Quite beyond sense in his maelstrom of frustration and wrath, Raiden slapped his sister good and hard, sending her sprawling to the floor. "That's for your two-faced bitchery," he snarled down at her. He kicked her equally hard. "And that's for the punch you gave me."

Lee watched from across the room as Aimi and Raiden engaged in a furious battle. Wyatt stood to the side, out of reach of some of the jutsu Raiden was slinging until Demon snatched open his room door. Aimi ran to him, wailing. Raiden was so disgusted that he ran at her even then, intent on God knew what. Demon broke it up, shaking them both by the collar. Aimi made as if to enter the room. So did Wyatt, but Demon informed all three children that they'd be sleeping outside. He needed time with Sasuke. He then slammed the door in their faces. Lee smirked and went to the room he was sharing with Shouta.

* * *

Itachi slept alone. He had countless aches and bruises from breaking up so many fights today. Working slowly, wincing, he peeled his garments off of himself as he contemplated the situation between the Narutos and Sasukes. It was hopeless, he could see that. Too much was going on with each one. Too many dominant personalities, too many of the _same _personalities. The clashing was horrendous. And the way Jailbird-Sasuke, Psycho-Sasuke and Stud-Sasuke fought over him was not to be borne. Even now Itachi's flesh crawled unpleasantly when he remembered the feverish, devoted light they got in their eyes whenever he was around. And Sasuke was near murder each time he saw it as well. There had been a particularly nasty bit between Psycho-Sasuke and Sasuke today.

Queenie and Rasta-Sasuke were the exceptions. Queenie had responded timidly, fearfully, when Itachi had approached him and attempted a conversation. Rasta-Sasuke only eyed him with hooded eyes, arms folded. He'd had a blade of grass clamped between his pursed lips as restrained violence and killing intent baked off him. Itachi had watched him in turn a moment before silently walking away.

Admittedly, what Rasta-Sasuke's brother had done had been unforgivable, understandably traumatic, but Rasta-Sasuke felt all Itachis everywhere were the same. Itachi, after hearing how every Sasuke had been forced to kill every other Itachi, was starting to agree. Though, in some cases, most even, he'd been a double agent with Konoha and Akatsuki. Itachi could not imagine killing his clan or doing the psychological damage that had been done to many of the Sasukes in order to make him stronger. Never. He could never do those things. To know so many versions of him were such monsters…

Itachi sat cross-egged in a corner of his room and put his head in a hand. He cried silent, blistering tears.

* * *

The last time they'd been intimate, Stud-Sasuke and Fem-Naruto had looked over to find all three of their children awake and staring at their copulation with interest. This time they woke the children up first.

"Did you guys have fun playing with the other kids?" Stud-Sasuke asked.

"Mhm," Etsuko said happily. "We like them. Especially Aimi."

Fem-Naruto changed Yoichi before handing him his Uchiha fan plushie and a bottle. "Right, well you three go sit outside tonight. You can sleep later."

The three children went to sit out by the fire.

* * *

Chibi-Gaara and Killerbee had also been kicked out of their cabin for the night. It seemed the hostilities running so high had the newcomers horny. Raiden, Aimi and Wyatt sat on one side of the fire while Chibi-Gaara, 'Bee, and the twins sat on the other. When, after a few moments, the unmistakable sounds of rough lovemaking could be heard from the cabins, conversation broke out.

"I fucking hate you," Raiden said to Aimi with a glare. "Such a fucking hypocrite."

"You're just mad because someone's in charge of you and you didn't kill Akatsuki like you wanted," Aimi shot back. She hid the fact that her brother, whom she'd always adored, hurt her feelings with his words.

Psycho-Sasuke stormed out of his cabin then with Psycho-Naruto on his heels. "I said its not up for discussion, Naruto. Leave me alone."

The Psycho-twins sat at the fire as well, on opposite sides, far away from each other.

"Sasuke," Psycho-Naruto raged. "You can't resume your mission to destroy Konoha. I'll stop you. You know that."

Psycho-Sasuke glared red hate. "And I will kill you. You can't take me and you know it."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," the blonde said seriously. "If I have to die while taking you down then so be it, but I'm not letting you hurt anyone else."

"And hence the reason for their names," Chibi-Gaara drawled with a roll of his eyes to the watching people.

"What happened?" Wyatt asked. "What brought all this on?" It seemed they'd missed much while they'd been gone.

But Chibi-Gaara didn't answer. His eye had been caught by the fat plushie Yo-chan was squeezing while he drank his bottle. The Kazekage scooted closer to the boy, licking his lips.

'Bee answered, keeping an eye on Chibi-Gaara's movements toward the three small children. "Sasuke got angry at Psycho-Sasuke today when he declared himself Itachi's protector. Sasuke informed him that he'd be going back to his world as soon as the battle was over. Sooner, if he didn't stay away from Itachi. It was sort of a shock to him," 'Bee said in a low voice. The psycho twins were arguing, standing up to shout at each other across the fire pit. He didn't want to be overheard by either of them. "He thought he'd get to stay with Itachi, begged to be allowed to stay. Itachi reluctantly told him that it was impossible. Psycho-Sasuke took it badly, saying he would resume his actions on his home world if he was sent back. Itachi feels guilty, horrible, but what can he do?"

Emiko turned her head at seeing Chibi-Gaara come to kneel in front of her brother. Yo-chan watched him with sleepy eyes, sucking steadily on his nearly empty bottle. "Hey, there," Chibi-Gaara breathed. His eyes, darkened to a color that was almost emerald, were fixated on the plushie Yo-chan held. "That's a nice plushie you have. Can I hold it?"

Yo-chan only continued to drink. The twins watched alertly as Chibi-Gaara carefully placed a hand on the plushie, stroking it. When he suddenly snatched it from Yo-chan's grasp, making the baby scream, the girls jumped at the thieving redhead only to be repelled by a sudden wall of sand. Not even their strong limbs and clawed hands could get through it. 'Bee stood to snatch the plushie back, but Chibi-Gaara leapt into the air, quickly surrounding himself with his sphere of sand. The lightning 'Bee sent at it did not penetrate it and he didn't want to get serious and hurt the little shit. He sighed, looking down at the three distraught children. The psycho twins briefly halted their argument, watching this altercation along with everyone else.

"I'm afraid that plushie is as good as gone," 'Bee told the angry twins. "_If _you get it back it won't be in any condition for children to touch. I'm sorry."

No one understood this explanation and the tall man did not elaborate further. He left the fire to go sit on a corner of the plateau near the Kido barrier. He turned his back to the people sitting by the fire.

Psycho-Sasuke, briefly distracted, turned back to Naruto and said in a low voice, "Fine. You said you'd do anything to stop me, right? Well then I think you know what you have to do if you want to spare Konoha." With that cryptic remark he stalked off to his cabin. Psycho-Naruto stared at the slammed door for a few seconds. He sat back down slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.

* * *

Itachi came out some time later and approached the fire. "Aimi," he said, addressing his niece. She turned to look at him with her big eyes. Just then the gesture of her turning to look at him reminded Itachi strongly of Sasuke as a child. It was the same curious/serious look his brother had always gotten when he was small. "Come. I need you for a moment."

Aimi got up and went to him. "Yes, Uncle?"

Itachi drew her aside. "I will accept full responsibility should your parents object, but I require a service from you. Do you mind?"

At hearing what her uncle wanted, Aimi said that she didn't. She took the hand he offered her.

* * *

At the fire, Psycho-Naruto looked at Raiden. The kid was almost sitting in Wyatt's lap, nuzzling the older boy's neck while Wyatt let a hand play in Raiden's hair. "Oi, Raiden," he said now. Raiden spared him a single glance before returning to Wyatt's soft neck. "What's it like having two men for parents?"

Just then Blondie came out of his cabin, zipping up his pants. He heard the question and came to sit by the fire, silently staring at Raiden as well.

Raiden answered while kissing Wyatt's jaw. "Like? Like nothing, I guess. Normal."

"Don't you miss not having a mom?" Psycho-Naruto asked, puzzled.

Raiden left Wyatt alone to turn to the smaller of the two blondes. "No. I've never had a mom and after being around Wyatt's, no offense Wyatt, I'm glad I never had one. They seem like annoying things to have around."

Blondie joined the conversation. "And you feel no lack with your fathers? They care for you properly?"

Raiden considered this. "How do you mean? What kind of lack?"

Blondie couldn't really explain. From what he understood, though, mothers were necessary creatures when babies were around. They were nurturing. He tried to say these things. Psycho-Naruto nodded, waiting for Raiden to answer this.

Pulling on his lip, Raiden shrugged, staring at the fire. "Uh…no. My Pop does the cooking and cleaning usually, but he's always been like that, my dad said. But from what you're saying…I guess my dad is the more affectionate one? He hugs and kisses us more. I remember him saying he changed our diapers most of the time and fed us when we were babies and stuff."

"And you do not feel cheated of anything with two men as parents?" Blondie asked carefully.

"Nope. I like it this way. I love both my dads," Raiden said promptly.

"What about your sis," Psycho-Naruto asked. "Don't they mess up raising a girl?"

Raiden, still mad at Aimi, was nonetheless forced to correct him. " No. They comb her hair and make sure she has dresses to wear if she wants them. She doesn't wear them often…"

"No," Psycho-Naruto blushed. "I mean about girl things."

"What girl things?" Raiden asked innocently.

Psycho-Naruto couldn't elaborate, though. He settled for etching his name in the dirt with a stray twig. Blondie stood and addressed Psycho-Naruto.

"Yosh," the beefy blonde said. "Show me the jutsu."

"What jutsu?" Psycho-Naruto glanced up curiously.

"Sexy no Jutsu."

Raiden and Wyatt sat up straighter, never having actually seen the infamous technique performed. Raiden had only seen the aftermath, when his Dad had been female and preggers with Aimi. Even 'Bee turned to regard the proceedings over one shoulder. Psycho-Naruto snorted. Then he laughed. "Wait…you're serious? You don't know it? I thought every Naruto knew that- hey!" He stood suddenly, eyes wide as why Blondie could possibly want to know that jutsu dawned on him. "You're not planning to…you know…use it?"

Blondie regarded his smaller clone with his customary serious expression. "Why would one learn a jutsu they didn't plan on using?"

"Yeah, but are you planning on using it to make babies?"

"Does it matter?

'Bee came back to the fire as Psycho-Naruto could be heard mumbling about aiding people's perversions. He didn't refuse; Blondie was way too big and strong to risk pissing him off. Psycho-Naruto gave a gusty sigh and placed his hands in the proper formation. "Oiroke no Jutsu!"

A loud _poof _revealed a slim, pretty female with long pig-tails that could have been Psycho-Naruto's twin. She winked and blew a kiss at the spectators. The twins and Yo-chan 'ahhh-ed' in awe.

Blondie studied the woman a moment before placing his hands in the position he'd witnessed. He said the required words.

Well, there was a _poof _of smoke, but that was the only thing that went right. Blondie's version of the jutsu had everyone's eyeballs shriveling in horror. Only the twins and their small brother seemed to take nothing amiss.

Where Blondie had been now stood an individual who was the same six and a half feet, the same 250 pounds of raw muscle, and who wore the same bland expression. The only difference was that now there was a tiny inch-long ponytail at the crown of the blonde head. The rest of the hair spiked up as it always did. Blondie waited to be graded on his efforts.

Psycho-Naruto returned to his original form with a shudder of disgust. When he was able to speak, he said, "Yeah…dude, I don't think it worked."

Blondie grasped the front of his pants and looked down into his crotch. "It worked."

Psycho-Naruto went to stand near Blondie, looking at him from a profile view. "You sure? I can't see any breasts."

Blondie felt his chest while everyone looked on. "They are there."

Psycho-Naruto leaned forward, squinting at the broad, muscled chest. After awhile he could make out to grape-like protrusions on the heavy pectorals. He straightened, still squinting his eyes, and scratched the back of his head. "Mmmeeeh. You know it's called _Sexy _no Jutsu for a reason, right?"

Blondie looked down at him. "This isn't sexy?"

"Uh, no it's not. Lose the muscles and bulk up the boobs, man."

Blondie tried again, with the same results. He tried a dozen times and not the slightest thing changed. Psycho-Naruto even peeked into Blondie's pants himself. He had the right equipment, just not presented in the right way. "I give up," Psycho-Naruto sighed. "You are the ugliest female I've ever seen, no offense."

Blondie merely nodded and thanked him for the lesson. He changed back to his original form before walking placidly back to his cabin.

* * *

The Boom of lavender chakra was done far enough away from the village entrance so that no notice was taken by any gate sentries posted. Holding her uncle's hand, Aimi let herself be led the rest of the way across the desert to Sunagakure. Itachi had said he would mind her at all times while he had her away from her parents to ensure her safety. She liked the way he held her hand. And she liked his quiet personality. She didn't often spend time with her uncle alone. Come to think of it, she couldn't ever remember spending time alone with him. She edged closer to him, feeling content with his silence and his steady pace. She peeked up at him through her hair and saw that he really did look a lot like her Papa. That comforted her further. She smiled, holding the book she'd Pulled to herself before they'd left close to her chest with her other arm.

* * *

Gaara's manservant was apologetic. The Kazekage rubbed sleep from his eyes, sitting up straighter in the bed as he tried to focus in the dark. "_Who?_"

"Itachi-dono, Kazekage-sama. And his niece."

Gaara felt adrenaline spike through him. He threw the covers aside, reaching for his robe. "Where?"

"Your office. Shall I have them brought to the palace?"

"Of course, you idiot! You know what Itachi is to me, how dare you treat him like some mere visitor? Did he not live with me in this very room for ten years? Ass!"

"Of course, sir. My apologies. I thought that with the added security in the village-"

"I don't pay you to think! Do my bidding and be quick!" Gaara was incensed. His manservant bowed low and scurried to obey.

Gaara hastily washed and made sure he was presentable. He met Itachi in his sitting room just as he was being shown in with Aimi at his side. Dismissing his manservant, Gaara carefully took in the sight of his man.

Itachi's hair had a few light brown streaks in it now, as if the strands were kissed by the sun. His skin was tanned. His eyes never left Gaara. Dropping his own eyes to Aimi, Gaara asked, "Is there some emergency, Itachi? Has something changed?"

"Nothing life-threatening, but an emergency, yes," Itachi replied quietly.

Gaara's eyes rose to Itachi's and an understanding passed between them. "Aimi, love, find my manservant –he should be down the hall- and have him show you to Yanagi's room. She will be glad of your company." Gaara moved to hold the door open for his niece. Aimi left without a word, clutching her book. Gaara shut the door and turned as he locked it.

Itachi was on him before his hand even left the knob, dragging his head in for a devouring kiss. Gaara met him, matched him in intensity, feeling his tongue sucked into a hot mouth. A moan, a gasp, as Itachi grabbed him under his ass and lifted him against the door, anchoring him there with his own hard body. Gaara's legs were guided around the lean waist and his arms pinned by his robe being dragged half off his shoulders. And still the kiss went on, their heads slanting urgently, hungrily.

Gaara was pulled away from the door only to be slammed back into it, the wood creaking in protest. Itachi's hands were brutal in his red hair, his teeth sharp on his lips. His heart hammered furiously against Gaara's chest and the Kazekage began to feel a prickle of alarm. Itachi was a forceful lover, but never this forceful. Never this unrefined. What had happened?

He had to consciously keep himself from calling his sand with his chakra when Itachi threw him across the room to the bed. He only managed to keep from rolling off the thing by grabbing at the sheets. Itachi descended a moment later, and his eyes were red, his breathing harsh as he ripped the robe away completely. Gaara held his breath as the red eyes roamed his nude body, stopping briefly at his cock, now erect. Itachi leaned up, taking his clothes off with a deliberation that tightened Gaara's skin with anticipation.

Itachi lowered himself to Gaara's body and at first only held himself there, letting their skin warm each other, breathing slowly. Gaara's tension drained somewhat as he realized just how disturbed his lover was. Something was really bothering him. He raised a hand to the long dark hair and turned to whisper in Itachi's ear. "What is it, love?"

There was no answer. Only Itachi lifting his head to kiss Gaara's eyes, his cheeks, his ears and mouth. He lavished his throat with the same attention, his hands moving lower to grasp him intimately.

Gaara arched at feeling the moisture leaking from his slit thumbed and rubbed over the head of his cock. "Itachi…"

The warm cavity of Itachi's mouth followed and the Kazekage was left gasping at the suction, at the way the tongue swirled around him. Itachi moved, taking all of Gaara, swallowing several times as the younger man began gushing. Gaara pumped is hips upward, fucking Itachi's face, swept up in the gale of desire now. He felt Itachi's saliva running down his shaft, over his tightening balls, between the halves of his ass to gather at his quivering hole. A rough finger entered him and sought his prostate. It probed and searched…questing…

"There," Gaara shouted as he came jerkily. Itachi rubbed his prostate throughout the devastating orgasm, making the bed shake strongly with Gaara's thrashing. A swipe of Itachi's tongue was all the preparation Gaara received before he was penetrated by more than a finger. The intrusion stretched him deliciously, stinging in an exciting way. His legs were held up and spread as Itachi proceeded to fuck him savagely, his eyes glittering in the dark.

Gaara could only hold to Itachi's hands where they grabbed his hips, could only breathe fitfully as his body was pounded unmercifully. He welcomed this as he welcomed any emotional display from Itachi. That the man had sought him out during whatever crisis was going on with him aroused the Kazekage further. He yelled sharply through another mind-blowing climax, shooting all over Itachi's face and chest. Itachi came a few strokes later, silently, sternly glaring at Gaara's panting face the entire time.

After, as they lay side by side, hands clasped, Gaara decided to wait for Itachi to tell him what was wrong in his own time. That time came nearly an hour later. Itachi spoke in a subdued voice to the dark.

"I think we made a mistake. I foresee nothing but disaster."

"What happened?" Gaara asked just as quietly.

"We found the Bijuu army," Itachi began. He let go Gaara's hand to draw the red head to his chest, wrapping his arm around his lover securely. He continued when they were settled comfortably.

Itachi told of the children solving the mystery of the Bijuu army, of bringing them to the training world, and finally of how horribly things were going. He spent time going over the many Sasukes' obsession with him. Last, he told of how every other Itachi had been killed by their own brother. Gaara detected a very faint tremor in the older man's voice when this last was stated.

Opting to leave that matter for later, Gaara said, "Tell me of them. The Narutos and Sasukes. The Narutos first."

Itachi complied. "Blondie was the one we brought first. Of all the Narutos he is the one whom I feel sorry for. I cannot explain it. Something about him calls up sympathy and pity. He is quiet to the point of being mute. He is never shocked or angry or happy or sad. He displays nothing but blind worship for Rasta-Sasuke and machine-like focus when engaged in violence of any kind. He has suffered. Worse than any of the Narutos, I think. Whatever his life was like-and it was not much different from what some of the other Narutos have described- it affected him the most. He is completely devoid of morals or anything that could be described as intellectual thoughts. The only thing that matters to him is Rasta-Sasuke. I have never seen anyone so detached from life, Gaara. Not even I was that bad."

"He sounds as if he suffers from some sort of personality disorder. Almost schizoid, but you said he interacts with people?"

"If initiated by others, yes."

"I see. And the next one?"

"That would be Psycho-Naruto. There is something very wrong with that boy, Gaara. I have never seen such mindless obsession. It must be unhealthy. So loud and dense and ridiculous, yet so determined to save what obviously cannot be saved. I don't understand it. Or him. He is sincere and almost blindingly good of character, but disturbed nonetheless. He is the youngest."

Itachi was silent for a time, as if thinking of the two he'd described. Gaara tilted his head to look at him. Itachi caught the look and resumed.

"Kage-Naruto. He disgusts me to no end. He is an accomplished lecher, from what I see. His eyes follow my daughters, the other Sasukes. Worse, he is forceful in a way that tells me no act is beneath him if it will give him something he wants. I wouldn't say he's bad, necessarily. Morally gray. I can't stand him."

"He really lusts after everyone?" Gaara asked in disbelief.

Itachi turned to regard the luminous green eyes. "That's another thing. There are so many attractions flying around. It only adds to the hostilities. Does he really lust after the others? I'm forced to say no. But his will to dominate is inflamed by at least two Sasukes, Fem-Naruto and my daughters."

"Explain."

"It is difficult. I don't have your gift of analyzing characters, but Queen-Sasuke attracts him by dint of his very helplessness. I saw him trying to speak to Queenie, as we call him, and nearly terrifying the man into another faint. And I think Stud–Sasuke attracts him because he presents a challenge. He's the strongest, most indomitable Sasuke present. He calls up an answering aggression in Kage-Naruto. As for my daughters…I suspect the man is interested in any female."

"What of Kage-Naruto's partner Sasuke? Jailbird-Sasuke has no objections to this pathological behavior?"

Itachi shifted in the bed, placing his cold feet near Gaara's warm ones. "He does object, but at the same time I haven't seen Kage-Naruto do more than talk to the people I mentioned. I suspect the man can't help himself. The situation being what it is, it affects everyone negatively, but in different ways. For him, I think it exacerbates his natural need to dominate."

"Madness," Gaara murmured against Itachi's shoulder. "And you do quite well analyzing them."

"Fem-Naruto is the real madness. Nothing like the incident that occurred when he first arrived has repeated itself, but…"

"But?"

"But I can tell his presence is still hard for the other Narutos to bear. He himself isn't actually feminine. He's loud and talkative and laughs entirely too much. But there is an air to him, a vibe of allure he gives off that even I can see. Just having him there makes an already impossible situation ten times worse."

"You said he has children. Is he good to them?"

"Yes. He and Stud-Sasuke are both devoted parents as far as I can see. The children themselves are abnormal to some degree, I think."

"And the last Naruto?"

"There isn't much I can say about him. He is so strange as to be incomprehensible. His Bijuu does not manifest like the others. He is smaller even than you or I. He uses the gun weapon I told you about from Wyatt's world, and even now a huge transportation…I think one of my sons called it a…a truck. Yes, even now a huge truck sits on the plateau full of those things."

"How will he be able to help if his Bijuu powers don't manifest?"

"I don't know. Demon says we are keeping him."

"I see." Gaara tightened his hold on Itachi before quietly asking the next question. "And the Sasukes?"

"It's as I told you. Stud-Sasuke, Jailbird-Sasuke and Psycho-Sasuke seem obsessed with me. Queenie is frightened of me but he seemed to respond when I approached him. Rasta-Sasuke…"

"Yes?"

"I have never been so hated, Gaara. He watches me and waits for me to demonstrate some kind of betrayal or treachery. After hearing how I was on his world I cannot blame him. Gods, Gaara, the things I did-"

"Shhhh," Gaara held Itachi tightly. "It wasn't you."

"Wasn't it? There is a connection between all these versions of Sasuke and Naruto, similarities that don't change no matter what world they come from. It must be the same for the Itachis. And on every world it seems Sasuke killed me and I was a murdering bastard."

"I don't believe that," Gaara hissed fiercely.

"I killed my clan or helped Madara kill the clan in each tale the Sasukes told. I forced him to hate me, to kill me. And on Rasta-Sasuke's world, I did worse. Far worse."

Gaara twisted so he could lean up on an elbow and look his lover in the eyes. He was unsurprised to see that the eyes were wet. "It wasn't you. And even if there was some connection between you all, you haven't done any of those things, Itachi. And you never could. You could never hurt Sasuke. Or your family."

Itachi gazed up at the shadowed green eyes and felt comfort and peace edge his hurt self-disgust out of his heart. This was what he'd wanted, why he'd come. "I need you, Gaara."

Gaara stroked the beautiful face beneath him. "I'm here, love."

"No. I need you there. To come back with me."

There was silence as Gaara considered his duties and who was available to take his place. "I can have the council step in for me temporarily. I wouldn't be able to stay the entire six months, but possibly a few weeks."

Itachi swallowed, too grateful to speak for the moment. Gaara understood and lowered his mouth to Itachi's, tasting the salt of his tears where they gathered at the corners of his lips.

* * *

Aimi sat quietly in Yanagi's room. The other girl was sleeping soundly in her fluffy bed, her copper hair fanned across her pillow. The book made a faint creaking sound as Aimi opened it. It was the book on Time that she and Kei had been reading in Willow's room.

She'd been trying unsuccessfully to enter into Time itself at a certain point. Even transformed, she couldn't manage it. She turned the pages slowly now, her yellow eyes scanning for additional help, some passage she might have missed. Nothing. She closed the book with a quiet snap and regarded the room.

They needed the teacher to train them. Someone from another time and place and only she could get that person. Who the teacher should be was actually a matter of debate between her, Raiden and Kei. Who should be brought wouldn't matter, though, if she couldn't master this jutsu.

She closed her eyes and tried again, calling up the dimension of Time. The way it flexed and undulated was nauseating to see, even seeing it with her mind the way she was. Nevertheless, she tried to take hold of a single moment, holding the event in her mental grasp as the book had instructed.

Nothing. Aimi opened her eyes.

Still holding to the dimension of Time as she was, Aimi saw something she hadn't seen before. A tail, as if from a comet, rippled behind Yanagi where she lay. The tail seemed to be made of deep yellow light or energy and simply floated on the faint currents of air in the room, rising and falling softly. The tail was the length and shape of Yanagi's body, stretching to the end of the room where it disappeared. Aimi uttered a soft 'ah' of wonder. Crawling forward soundlessly, she reached out a hand and touched the tail of light.

There was a sucking sound that woke Yanagi. She sat up, looked around, and found herself alone in the room. She fell back to her pillow and was soon sleeping again.

* * *

Psycho-Sasuke had watched the lesson and its conclusion from the cabin door he had cracked. He saw when Raiden and Wyatt eventually stretched out next to the fire pit and fell asleep. He saw when the twin girls and their baby brother walked to the two older boys and used their bodies as mattresses, and also went to sleep. Blondie came back out of his cabin and disappeared in the darkness beyond the Kido barrier. He saw when 'Bee got up and deemed it safe to enter his cabin. Time passed. The lewd sounds coming from the other cabins went on and on.

Psycho-Naruto stared up at the slowly revolving sphere of sand for a long while, narrowing his eyes at the faint yelps and high laughter that could be heard. Then he too got up and made his way to his cabin. Psycho-Sasuke hurriedly shut the door and went to his side of the one-room structure. He sat and tried to appear as if he'd been in that position for the past two hours. He closed his eyes.

The door opened. He heard footsteps enter before the thing slammed. The footsteps approached him where he sat, vibrating the floor slightly, and stopped. He could feel the baka staring down at him. He kept his face blank.

The silence stretched until his nerves were tense with it. What was the dummy doing, just standing there staring at him?

"What do you want?" Psycho-Naruto asked abruptly.

Now he did open his eyes, finding the blonde crouched a foot from his face. That was unnerving, but he answered. "What?"

"You said you're going to destroy Konoha. That if I want to stop you, I have to give you something. What do you want?"

"You know what I want."

"I need to be sure."

Psycho-Sasuke stared hard at Naruto's stern expression, wondering if the guy was really this stupid. "I want to rebuild my clan."

"And you expect me to help you." It was a statement.

"I want the kind of children I see here. So yes."

Psycho-Naruto stood, walked to his side of the cabin, and faced the wall. He hung his head and spoke in a low, barely audible voice. "You want me to use the Sexy no Jutsu to let you have sex with me? Do I have that right?"

"To give me children," Sasuke clarified. He sensed a gathering of something in the blonde, perhaps violence. He stood as well, his muscles tense.

"And…if I did that, you'd leave the village alone? And give up your vengeance on anyone else? For good?"

A shiver of disbelieving excitement ran through Psycho-Sasuke. He took a step forward towards his nemesis. "Yes. For good."

"You'd live in Konoha?"

"No. I have no ties to the village that did those things to Itachi."

"Where?"

"Anywhere. I don't know or care."

"I'm not leaving Konoha."

"Fine. Give me my children when they are born."

"I'm not leaving my kids either. You'd need to live in Konoha if I agreed to…this."

The young Uchiha cocked his head. "_Are_ you agreeing? And if you are, do you really want the whole village seeing you pregnant? Knowing that you're prostituting yourself to keep me there?"

Psycho-Naruto didn't. He suddenly remembered something else. "Raiden said Tsunade was all over him and his sister because she thought they were our kids. If you and I…well, if I went through with this, the kids would be taken from us."

Psycho-Sasuke gave a mirthless smile that the blonde didn't see, since his back was still to him. "No one's taking my kids from me, Naruto."

The blonde looked over his shoulder. "Doesn't matter anyway, since I'm not doing it."

"Why? The first one I kill will be Sakura. You really want that to happen?"

Psycho-Naruto turned to face his former team mate properly. "After you kill off everyone in Konoha, what will you do? You'd be the object of the biggest manhunt in history, Sasuke. You would be found and killed."

Psycho-Sasuke shrugged.

The blue eyes were thoughtful, devoid of any anger, determination or the usual emotions that enlivened them. They gazed at Psycho-Sasuke steadily. It was the first truly adult look Psycho-Sasuke had ever seen on the features.

_This really is the only way to save him. At least it's not killing people the way Kage-Naruto did to save Jailbird-Sasuke_, the blonde thought_. _There was another reason he was considering this particular solution, but he didn't examine it. He ignored it, the way he always ignored it. It was not something he could ever voice, not to Sasuke or anyone, ever."I guess we'd both have to leave the village. I'm not sure how Granny would feel about that since I'm Konoha's strongest weapon…"

Pyscho-Sasuke kept his voice neutral, hiding his indecent hope. "So…you're agreeing?"

The blue eyes dropped. The Adam's apple bobbed in an audible swallow as the head nodded once, quickly, before turning aside. Psycho-Naruto spoke while staring at the wall. "It's only a business arrangement. We're not…like those others out there, got it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I know you don't care shit about me and I for damn sure am not in love with you. You get your kid and we'll live outside Konoha, that's it. Just one thing."

Psycho-Sasuke was about to address the way he'd only be getting one child. "What?" he said instead.

"I'm not living with someone who treats me like shit. Can we at least be friends again?" His face was still turned towards the wall. Still ignoring what he really wanted to say. So much easier to camouflage it with words he didn't mean.

"I don't have friends. I can't promise friendship, but I won't mistreat you."

They stood there, Psycho-Sasuke staring at Psycho-Naruto, while the latter shifted his feet, already regretting his decision. The former decided to ask a question.

"Should we practice?"

Psycho-Naruto looked at him at last. "Practice what?"

"Sex."

The blonde was a while answering, deciding if he should kill Sasuke now or after his stroke. A stroke that would be brought on by the wild flare of hope in his chest. He stamped on that emotion viciously, prepared to mask the words he really wanted to say with more lies. Snorting to himself, he marveled that if Sasuke meant it as an honest question, he could never kill him. Likely, the asshole was joking, making fun of him like he always did. He finally cleared his throat to rasp, "We're not having sex. Ever. I'll get that Asami chic to artificially inseminate me with your shit."

"_What?_ How do you even know that term?"

"Ero-Sennin."

"No."

"Yes, he told me it was a theme in one of his perverted books-"

"No, we are not doing artificial insemination. Something may go wrong, my kid might come out unnatural."

"And two guys having a kid is natural?"

"I'm just saying if we do this, we do it the way all the others did."

So. It was all about his precious kid. Psycho-Naruto threw his hands in the air. "You know what, forget it. I'm not doing it. Go find somebody else to take advantage of, you selfish asshole." He stormed towards the door and reached for the handle.

Psycho-Sasuke, enraged that his chance to rebuild his clan with unrivaled offspring was being snatched from him, ran after and caught the blonde at the door. He spun him around. "Thought you never went back on your word," he bit out.

"Get your hand off me."

"You're nothing, you know that?" Psycho-Sasuke raged. "Nothing. If it wasn't for that monster inside you I wouldn't even think about asking you to bear my kids, but you have it and you agreed to the deal. You're not backing out now."

He blocked the punch the blonde threw at him, reaching for his sword. He parried Naruto's considerably improved Taijutsu, avoiding casting katon attacks in deference to their cabin. The blond grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the sword, swept it wide, and plowed his other hand into the Uchiha's gut. Psycho-Sasuke led with his elbow in Psycho-Naruto's face, but the blonde ducked.

They grappled like that, grunting, banging off the walls as their fight escalated, each unconsciously holding off from Ninjutsu. Psycho-Sasuke hissed as his head was yanked back by a fistful of his hair then shoved forward into the wall. He pivoted, grabbed at the orange jacket he'd always hated and half tore it off one tan shoulder as Psycho-Naruto let fly another jarring punch. Psycho-Sasuke caught the fist and used it to drag the blonde forward, intending to head butt him.

A few seconds passed as they each registered that their mouths were touching. Fused together and _kissing. _

When they separated, it was slowly. They were both stiff with shock and creeping, crawling incredulity. Psycho-Sasuke's hand was still fisted on the shoulder of the orange jacket. His other hand held Psycho-Naruto's loose fist. The blond had his other hand at Psycho-Sasuke's throat.

The black eyes searched the blue ones. There was a tentative, silent question from those black orbs that had Psycho-Naruto's stomach cramping with sudden realization. Had Sasuke been lying to him all this time, too? Oh God, if only… He wrenched himself from Sasuke, backing away. He didn't take his eyes from the expression on the Uchiha's face. His back hit the wall near the door.

Psycho-Sasuke waited to see if anything would be said, if an exit would be made through the door. When neither event occurred, he began a slow walk towards Psycho-Naruto. He stopped a foot in front of him.

"Why'd you do that?" the blonde asked. His voice wasn't steady. This close, Psycho-Sasuke could see the way the body shook with faint tremors.

"It was an accident."

"An accident."

"Yes. Naruto, I'm not letting you back out of our deal."

The blonde ignored that. "Accidents like kissing don't happen."

"What do you want me to say? That it was deliberate?"

Psycho-Naruto felt an ice-cold sensation of some unnamable emotion settle in his chest. His throat became constricted and his voice came out in a high squeak. "Was it?"

"I already said-"

"_Was_ it, Sasuke?"

Psycho-Sasuke fell silent. Naruto's tremors were more noticeable now, coming harder as he panted in agitation.

The blue eyes were staring, waiting for an answer. He didn't have one. Whether or not it was deliberate, it had been Naruto who pulled away. Remembering it now, the kiss left his skin tight. It had been uncomfortable, so shocking and wrong and just uncomfortable…but it hadn't been the kiss that had left him feeling like that. It had been the baka currently trying to read his face as if he could find answers there. He turned away from that look, presenting his back. The answers might be visible on his face…for instance, that the kiss _had _been deliberate. He wanted the children, yes, but he also wanted what he'd run away from when he'd left the village years before. If it ever became known that he'd been doing more running away than seeking power…that he'd always projected an air of hatred for the blonde because the truth was-

The running footsteps had him turning around in time to catch Psycho-Naruto as he launched himself at him. The mouth was there, descending on his even as the blonde clenched both hands in his hair, holding him close. Sasuke was urgently returning the kiss, his own hands reaching up to hold the shoulders, when Naruto pulled back. "I hate you," he sobbed. "I hate you." Then he was kissing him again.

There was no awkward fumbling. Their mouths accomplished the act as if they'd been doing it for years and each wondered briefly at this, their first kisses. Sasuke was shoved and shunted until his back hit a wall, but he turned so that it was Psycho-Naruto who was pinned and he that had the control. The abrupt punch to his face rocked him on his heels, making him see stars. He shook his head as he staggered, holding his cheek and staring at Naruto.

"I mean it," Psycho-Naruto panted. "I really hate you." His eyes were glassy.

Psycho-Sasuke was shocked at the tears, confused by the punch.

"I hate you," the blonde said again. A lone tear fell.

Sasuke straightened up, a suspicion forming in his mind. He gazed steadily as another tear fell.

"I hate you. I hate you. I f-fucking hate y-you." Sobs, silent ones, were starting to make the words stutter. The chest hitched with each breath and yet another tear fell. The face was crumpling.

Psycho-Sasuke took a step forward. Another. When he'd first arrived in this world, he'd been asked if he and Naruto had ever been in love. The words had made no sense, since he'd spent his life ignoring certain things the blonde always made him feel. Now he thought with dumb wonder that he'd always been in love with Naruto. Since the bell-training and seeing how the outclassed ninja refused to give up. And Naruto loved him.

"I hate you!" Naruto screamed. "I mean it, I hate you, Sasuke. I hate you!"

Sasuke reached him, fended off the wild punches and pinned the flailing arms between them. Psycho-Naruto struggled, screaming the three words over and over. Sasuke squeezed the shaking body in his arms. "No, you don't," he said into the ear by his lips. "If you did you wouldn't have chased me so hard or agreed to the unthinkable just to save me."

"I do," the blonde choked. "I swear to god I hate you. I've given up everything chasing after you and all you do is ask for more, ask for my soul. You d-don't care about me at all. You n-never ha-have."

Sasuke didn't think he'd ever seen Naruto cry. The tears were grudgingly spent, their owner struggling mightily not to shed them. The blonde's voice was gruff with the effort. Sasuke pulled back to look into Psycho-Naruto's face, but the other teen stubbornly kept his head down. He forced the head up with his hands on the wet cheeks but the blue eyes were downcast.

He took a moment to note that he had no idea what he was doing. Was he really about to claim this impossible person for his own? What if Naruto really hated him? None of this would even be happening if it weren't for the catalyst of being on this world with insanity surrounding them on every side. These thoughts ran through Psycho-Sasuke's mind as he continued to hold the blonde. He'd never held anyone. Not anyone besides Itachi at any rate. It embarrassed him but he didn't want to let go.

The miserable blue eyes rose slowly to his. "I hate you, Sasuke. Let go of me."

In that moment, with Psycho-Naruto staring at him in defeat, Sasuke felt outrage. He felt appalled and guilty and outraged that this willful, stupid, stubborn person had been beaten at last. Here, in this room, Sasuke had finally succeeded in crushing his spirit. The repetitions of 'I hate you' were evidence of that; Naruto had given up. He never gave up on anyone or anything.

Sasuke brought his face close to Naruto's tearful one, and hesitantly touched his lips to the salty ones.

A sigh from the blonde as he closed his weeping eyes. "I still hate you."

Another touch of their lips, this one longer. Sasuke didn't pull back entirely this time, his face still close to Naruto's. A hot tear rolled down one whiskered cheek. A third and final touch of their lips.

Naruto sobbed once, through the searching kiss, and Sasuke held him tighter, willing the blonde to take from his strength. He found himself tasting Naruto with his tongue, something that hadn't happened with the previous kisses, and Naruto gave him his with less reservation than Sasuke would have expected.

It was quiet. The kiss broke often as Naruto needed. Sasuke let him have these moments. Sometimes there were fresh tears, sometimes his blue eyes were only downcast. Then they would be kissing again.

The candle went out.

Naruto, his mind in complete turmoil, nonetheless welcomed the rough slide of Sasuke's hands taking off his jacket. Right now he felt like Sasuke was the only thing keeping him from flying into a million jagged pieces. He couldn't think. Didn't want to think. Didn't want to look at himself or the things he was feeling. He just wanted Sasuke to keep touching him. It helped ease the hurt in him. It helped a lot.

The jacket was off. He heard rustling, the sword dropping to the floor, and then Sasuke closed the distance between them again. His shirt was gone. His bare torso was hot to Naruto's questing hands. He pulled the Uchiha close to him. Sasuke came readily, resting his chin on Naruto's shoulder as the blonde did the same with him.

Sasuke listened to the breathing that still hitched with a few scattered sobs. He splayed his hands on the black shirt Naruto wore and rubbed slowly, gently. Every touch he was giving was foreign to him and his nature. In his heart of hearts, beneath his embarrassment and guilt, he was glad he was touching Naruto. Glad this was happening between them. He felt the blonde's large hard hands on his bare back and shivered slightly.

It was Naruto who pulled back and sought the kiss again. His lips were soft, warm, still trembling slightly. His tongue licked shyly at Sasuke's lips and the Uchiha caught it before it could retreat.

The kiss deepened gradually, their hearts thudding in each boy's ears as suction was added to the act. It made their powerful young bodies shake alarmingly, how intimate they were being, how unprecedented this was, how good and frightening it all felt. Naruto felt Sasuke's hand cup the back of his neck, sliding into his hair to anchor his head. Heat flashed through his body. _Sasuke wanted him. _The knowledge was a balm to his affection-starved soul and he crushed the older boy to him as hard as he could, kissing him frantically and moaning.

Sasuke heard the deep sounds coming from Naruto's throat and felt a sudden, devastating pooling of heat and blood in his loins. The way the blonde grabbed at him and squeezed him so tightly added to the sensation. He heard a sighing moan escape his own nose and wondered at the way his face felt aflame. He was losing control of himself, losing awareness of his surroundings, and neither of those things had ever happened to him. He pulled back, breathing heavily. He stepped away from the panting boy in front of him.

Naruto felt bereft. He felt vulnerable and needy, emotions that were completely alien to his personality. He waited as long as he could but he didn't sense or hear Sasuke moving back to him. "Sasuke?" he whispered hoarsely.

"What are we doing?" the Uchiha asked. His voice was low and deep in the dark.

"I don't know."

"Neither do I."

Had there been light, Naruto never would have managed to croak, "Come back. Come back to me. Please."

The raw need in that plea undid Sasuke. He stopped thinking, stopped analyzing, and rushed back to the outstretched arms. They folded him in a tight embrace and he held on desperately. Maybe Itachi didn't want him, but here was someone who did. How he needed that just now, his feelings for the blonde aside.

There were gasps as their pants fell to the floor, as if this brought home to them what was happening. Naruto felt cool hands tug at his boxers and was glad the darkness hid his crimson cheeks. He reached forward and discovered an answering nudity in Sasuke and swallowed hard.

They really didn't know what they were doing. At all. There was self-conscious fumbling, mortified silences, and heated kisses. The kisses landed everywhere. Hands were everywhere. Mouths explored in the dark until Naruto, covering his face with both hands, lying stiffly on his back, felt a mouth gently touch his dick. He shook his head violently from side to side beneath the cover of his hands, holding his breath. The mouth left.

Later, his cheek against the rough wood of the cabin floor, Sasuke stretched out on top of his back, he let out a thin whine at the penetration. It was an irrevocable thing, this act, but it stopped his hurt with its cutting pain. The hurt he lived with all of his days. It left as the penetration deepened, and when Sasuke was completely a part of him, he closed his eyes in surrender. The ignored feelings he had for Sasuke swelled, even as the organ inside him did. A hand grasped his near his face. Another hand cupped the crown of his spiky head and he could feel the heart beat of his rival thumping steadily against his back. He heard a whisper as movement began. "Naruto…"

* * *

"I feel like I've been dropped into an episode of the Twilight Zone," Queenie said. He was lying on the bare floor, his back turned to Kit as he stared at the wall.

Kit was cleaning his Super Shorty. "Never watched it."

"I used to watch re-runs with Itachi when I was a teen. Old show. Kit, how long will we have to be here?"

Kit set his gun aside, staring at the thin back of his spouse. He wished he had an answer. He felt like this entire mess of them being here was his fault. He was the one with the demon inside him, the thing these crazies seemed to need.

God, if anyone had told him he'd be living such a nightmare he'd have laughed himself sick. And there was no getting used to it. Worse, they couldn't get back. There was nothing money couldn't buy in the world Kit lived in. Here, all sorts of unpredictable things like Honor and Duty governed people's actions.

"I don't know," he said now. He got up and went to sit by his man. "I'm sorry."

Queenie turned over to regard him. "I know it's not your fault. We were tricked and kidnapped and…well, it's not your fault."

Kit rubbed Queenie's arm where it draped across his lap. "I know it's hardest on you here…the way those fuckers attacked you."

"That was horrible." Then Queenie's face relaxed from its grimace. "It's not all bad here, though…"

Kit cast a sidelong look at him, remembering. "You seemed to take Kage-Naruto chatting you up extremely well."

"Are you kidding?" Queenie turned shocked eyes to Kit's. "He scares the hell out of me!"

"Oh? Is that why your eyes follow him everywhere? Since when do you get a hard-on when scared?"

"They don't, and I didn't! I had to go to the bathroom, I told you. And you can't deny he's prime beef, Kit."

"Actually I can. See, I don't lust after people that look like me, Sweets, nor do I lust after other men. And have you seen that animal? He drools after everyone here, man or woman. Honestly, am I not enough for you anymore?"

Queenie sat up, facing the hurt blue eyes squarely. "Of course you are. I love only you, you know that."

"There seem to be a lot of 'me' walking around here."

"You're all I want," Queenie assured him. "I promise."

Kit looked aside, his face grim. Queenie reached for him, leaning in to kiss his neck. "Kit?"

"You realize we both may die in this hell hole and you're busy flirting with these assholes?"

Queenie froze. "Don't take your anger at being here out on me, Kit. I wasn't flirting and you know it. The man came on to me. Just because there are bigger, stronger Narutos here doesn't mean you can treat me like dirt. I don't care how jealous you are."

Kit snagged the slight man's neck and dragged him in for a bruising kiss. The little fag was right and he didn't want to hear it. Though he did pull back briefly to say, "Like the sight of all these Sasukes is normal for you?"

"Honey, please," Queenie gasped. Kit's aggression was making him pant with desire. "The day I envy those beasts is the day I start fucking women. Oh, Kit…"

The blonde lifted him and sat him roughly on his lap, holding their groins pressed painfully together as he consumed Queenie's pliant mouth. He tasted blood.

Queenie whimpered at feeling his lip bitten, but then Kit liked the hurt away, sucking softly, making him whimper for another reason. Those strong hands he loved skimmed down his back, pressing him closer to the hard chest and he released Kit's mouth to arch, presenting his neck for ravishment. "I want to suck you off," he murmured.

Kit paused as he considered it, but decided this was going to be one of those times where he did all the fucking. It wasn't just Kage-Naruto that eyed his man. It was almost all the Narutos. He couldn't understand what they saw in his Sasuke when they each had their own. It wasn't like he was checking out their partners. He was hot, pissed that Queenie wasn't rebuffing the glances like he should. So yeah, he'd be doing the fucking tonight.

"Stand up," he said by way of an answer.

When Queenie had complied, straddling Kit's lap, the blonde undid and yanked his thin pants down, dragging Queenie's thong with it. He helped Queenie step out of the garments before making him turn around.

The slight Uchiha's head went back as he felt that hungry mouth on his pucker. "Oh god…"

Kit held the slim hips, digging his fingers into the white flesh until he knew there'd be bruises. He sucked viciously, chewing at the ring of muscles in his mouth until Queenie squealed, trying to go on his toes. Kit was hard as a rock and wasted no more time.

Queenie's legs were knocked from under him by a blow to the back of each knee. He yelled in surprise, then screamed as he was rammed down onto Kit's turgid rod. The cock sank balls deep in one practiced move that made Queenie see stars behind his lids. His hands scrabbled on the hard forearm around his waist as he tried to raise himself and alleviate that killing depth, but Kit hung on tightly. "Ride me," the blonde bit out in his ear. "Fast and hard. You come when I say you can, bitch, hear me?"

Queenie heard very well. It had been awhile since Kit had been this domineering and forceful, but he couldn't deny that he liked the jealousy. It added spice to the already stormy lovemaking. He knew his man was feeling powerless in this situation, and so needed to feel like he was in control of something. Plus, if the truth were known, he _had_ been checking out a few of the larger Narutos. How could he not? His heart hammering away in his chest, he began a leisurely ride, gliding up and down the marble-hard length. The minimal lube of Kit's saliva made for truly delicious friction.

Kit slapped his flank none too gently. "Like I said. Fast and hard." He twisted a hand in Queenie's soft hair, pulling his head backward at a cruel angle. "Or do I need to show you how it's done?"

Queenie gasped, feeling pleasure zing along his nerve endings at the threat. Falling into the role of disobedient wife, he squeezed his ass muscles on the weeping cock inside him. "Yes, baby. Show me."

Kit, always stronger when angry, took hold of Queenie's undulating hips and raised them himself. He slammed them back down, jerking his own hips upward to meet them, causing Queenie to expel a harsh gust of air.

He used the Uchiha, abused him, slapped him…Queenie took it all and begged for more.

This kink for sadomasochism had been discovered during their honeymoon. They never took it too far or indulged it too much, but whenever Kit had a particularly rough day at his company or was otherwise in a bad mood, he turned to Queenie with dominance in mind and Queenie always responded.

Now he bit the pale shoulder as he reached around to grab the Uchiha's bouncing sac. He squeezed, jerking downward on the soft pouch, milking a fat glob of precum from the stiff cock of his mate. Queenie hissed, then sobbed, then shivered as his nuts were enclosed in a rough fist. "_Kit!_" He tried to twist away from the teeth on his shoulder, reaching a hand behind his head to close it in the blonde hair.

Kit got his feet under him and rose off the floor, Queenie still impaled on his dick. He held him beneath his thighs and walked with him to the nearest wall. Dropping his legs, he leaned them at an angle against the hard surface and proceeded to pound a new ass hole into his man. _His _man. He leaned forward to whisper into Queenie's ear, making himself heard above the bastard's keening yells. "Speak to Kage-Naruto again or flirt with _any _of them and I will put a bullet between their eyes."

* * *

Kage-Naruto sat in his cabin, sullenly watching Jailbird-Sasuke undress by the light of the single candle they'd been given. The man hadn't spoken to him all day, ignored the blonde when he spoke to him, and the Eighth Hokage didn't like it. Not one bit.

He stood now and tried to go to him. "Sasuke…"

He found the tip of a sword placed at his neck. "Don't bother speaking to me," Jailbird-Sasuke hissed. "I cannot believe the effrontery of you to try speaking to me after all you've done today. When we get back, _if _we get back, I'm taking Hinata and leaving you. Fucking son of a bitch." The sword was whisked away, leaving a razor thin slice in the thick neck.

"What did I do?" Kage-Naruto asked in a plaintive voice. "All I did was speak to some of the people here. I fail to see-"

"Keep talking. I may defer to you in many things, but that doesn't mean I can't rip your tongue out." Jailbird-Sasuke's voice fairly vibrated with rage. He was shaking with it. He stood against the far wall, arms tightly folded, lids lowered…but not far enough to mask his Mangekyo.

Kage-Naruto supposed, if he was honest with himself, that things had gone beyond talking with Stud-Sasuke, which had then led to a minor mess with Fem-Naruto. He remembered walking up behind the tall, muscular Uchiha with his cock swelling down the leg of his pants and his nipples stiff with need.

_He'd glanced around to make sure no one was near. They were supposed to be training, but so far nothing was getting done. Stud-Sasuke was leaning against a boulder, taking a break. He'd reached out a hand from behind the man and sifted his big fingers through the silky strands of long black hair, watching as they fell back into the ponytail they were gathered in._

_Stud-Sasuke had risen quickly from the boulder, whirling around. "What the hell?"_

_"Mm. Look at you," Kage-Naruto had hummed in appreciation, settling a bold hand on Stud-Sasuke's wide shoulder, kneading the muscle there hard enough to hurt. The man had hissed, hunching his shoulder to get away from that touch. "You think you're so butch because you're the only Sasuke topping around here."_

_"I don't know what you're talking about," Stud-Sasuke had sputtered. "But I'll thank you kindly to stay the fuck away from me. I'm not one of these women here for you to be panting after." He'd started to turn away, gripping his sword angrily._

_Kage-Naruto had snagged him by his big bicep and dragged him back, turning him in the process to pin him against his broad chest. Stud-Sasuke had squawked in outrage, causing several people to look their way._

_Stud-Sasuke's energetic struggles in Kage-Naruto's massive arms had been nothing short of torturous bliss for the blonde. He'd bent his face close to the brunette's to growl seductively, "Around here, as far as ass riders go, I'm king butch." He'd dropped one hand to the rock-hard ass of his prey, licking his chops. "Think you can take me dry…Stud?"_

_At that point Stud-Sasuke had gone berserk, lashing out with his lightning-covered sword…but not before Fem-Naruto had gotten there and thrown himself at Kage-Naruto, hissing and spitting and cursing in fury._

_Kage-Naruto had caught the attacking blonde and twisted him around. He'd sunk his fangs into the screeching man's neck and just that quickly, the hoarse screams of revenge were turned into mewls of sexual need. Fem-Naruto moaned and writhed in Kage-Naruto's arms, causing the larger blonde to go Kyuubi. He'd undid his pants right there in preparation to fucking Fem-Naruto._

_Stud-Sasuke and Jailbird-Sasuke both had taken fierce pleasure in running Kage-Naruto through with their swords._

Kage-Naruto felt the places in his side now, where the swords had passed through him. He was healed of course, but the rift between him and his mate was still a gaping wound. Worse, after that incident with Stud-Sasuke, he'd spoken to Queenie in passing. Kit had leveled a gun at the back of his head, and Jailbird-Sasuke had stormed into their cabin, where he'd remained ever since.

"It meant nothing, me talking to either of them. I was…playing." He took a step toward where his furious man stood, hand held out in supplication. "Nothing worth making idle threats about."

"Playing?" Jailbird-Sasuke jeered. "Whatever you were actually doing with your hands all over those jackasses, my threat wasn't and isn't idle. I meant what I said. I'm done with you."

Kage-Naruto's placating smile vanished, replaced with the hard, calculating look he got whenever he meant to win. "You're crazy if you think I'd allow you to walk out on me. I'd kill you first."

Jailbird-Sasuke was well-matched to this tall, intimidating man. His personality was just as stony when he wanted to be, just as implacable. He had no problem saying, "I'd kill you first. And anyone who means anything to you."

Their eyes met and clashed, each willing the other to back down.

The Uchiha knew he had an animal for a mate, though. He knew precisely what to say to demonstrate that he had the upper hand. "And after I killed you and all your friends, I'd take Hana, Hinata and all the children. And I'd mark Hana as my own. She'd come willingly, too, seeing as I would have displayed my alpha status by killing you."

Kage-Naruto froze, every muscle going still and on alert. What Jailbird-Sasuke had just said was unthinkable. And he was not so arrogant as to believe the man might not succeed. He was a powerful Hokage, Jinchuuriki. But Jailbird-Sasuke had recovered every ounce of strength, cunning and power he'd lost when he'd been in jail…and then some. And he was ruthless enough, dark enough to carry out his threat. The fight would be too close to risk. Though it galled him to the marrow of his bones to do so, Kage-Naruto conceded defeat. He dropped his eyes.

Jailbird-Sasuke felt tension drain out of him. He shifted his shoulders, feeling the adrenaline that had been building in his body recede.

"What am I supposed to do," Kage-Naruto spoke to the floor. "Just let you walk out of my life? I can't."

"Hn. You're supposed to keep your wandering eyes in your head and your damn hands to yourself. Do you see me lusting after anyone here?"

Kage-Naruto swallowed. "No…but, Sasuke I can't hel-" He amended what he'd been about to say at seeing the red eyes narrow. "I can't always control Kyuubi here. He…makes me do things."

He got no answer. Jailbird-Sasuke merely shrugged a shoulder as if saying, _Do what you want. _He knew that if he gave in to Kyuubi's wordless demands to fuck any and everything that moved he would lose Sasuke. They both knew it.

As God was his witness, he'd never had more trouble asserting his own will over the Fox. Never. It was a constant, ceaseless struggle to maintain his own mind. He was at his wit's end, frequently finding himself staring at the Uchiha women or the other Sasukes without a conscious desire to do so. Fem-Naruto's scent permeated the entire plateau, driving both him and the Fox he harbored nearly insane.

No excuse. He was Hokage. He had better find control of himself or he would lose the most important person in his life. To that end, he picked his head up and fixed Jailbird-Sasuke with an apologetic stare, one that the Uchiha turned his back on. He spoke to that stiff bare back, edging closer with each word he spoke.

"I'm sorry. I've behaved atrociously. It won't happen again, I swear to you, Sasuke. I will control Kyuubi and myself no matter how provoked we become. All right?" He was now right behind his love, his chest a scant inch from the rigid back. He brushed his fingers over the dark hair, stirring the strands into swaying gently. "Please, Sasuke. I will suffer anything to keep you by my side. Don't push me away."

Still no response. The sword was still in Jailbird-Sasuke's right hand, now pointed at the floor. Kage-Naruto ran a palm down the sword arm until he gripped the hilt of the blade over Sasuke's fist. His attempt to loosen the fingers from the sword met with no resistance. He took the blade and drove it point first into the cabin floor. He then took his own cloak off and draped it over the hilt, leaving both himself and Sasuke topless.

He studied the way the pale back flexed and released with the Uchiha's slow breaths. When he settled his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, the other man didn't flinch or react in any way. He only continued to hold himself stiffly, neither leaning back against the chest when the tanned hands pulled, nor relaxing when the thumbs on those hands began massaging his tense neck muscles.

Sasuke had never failed to respond to his touch, Kage-Naruto reflected. He shifted his hands lower, running them along the smooth back muscles, up and down the sides, over the ribs. He cupped the rising and falling pecs in his large hands, feeling the nipples stiffen against his palms. Smirking in smug satisfaction, he paused a moment before twisting the nipples suddenly, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from his stoic lover. There. The Uchiha bastard could pretend to be unaffected all he wanted, but his body couldn't lie. Kage-Naruto chuckled richly.

Jailbird-Sasuke spun and punched him swiftly in his grinning mouth, drawing blood and loosening several teeth. Kage-Naruto staggered back a few steps, his own eyes red in unthinking retaliation. He growled, baring his fangs.

The way the black eyes regarded him with contempt put paid to his brief plan to beat the bastard senseless for drawing his blood. He licked the red droplets from his lips, letting the Fox settle down inside him. Apparently his apology hadn't been enough.

Jailbird-Sasuke watched dispassionately as the indomitable Hokage got on his knees and crawled forward, head bowed. His eyebrow twitched in spite of himself. This penitent position almost made up for the way the conceited shit had laughed at him just now. Almost. He waited to see what else the insufferable, but lovable cumwad would do.

The answer to that surprised even Sasuke. Kage-Naruto bent forward and kissed the tops of the Uchiha's muddy shoes, licking the cracked leather, tasting his dirt-crusted toes. Sasuke's ass hole tightened and quivered at the sensation. It made him purse his lips slightly as he watched with hooded eyes, arms folded again. The tongue play continued until the shoes were washed clean, the toes glistening. Then the full pink lips kissed a path up the crossed ankles, over the sparse hairs visible on the swatch of skin visible before the short pants covered the legs. The lips continued over the material, kissing the legs through the cloth until the Uchiha was silently shivering where he stood. He clamped his teeth shut to keep in any moans of enjoyment.

The stiff thighs were nibbled and kissed and attended to through the pants. Each was held in strong hands and nuzzled until Sasuke dug his nails into his skin where his hands were tucked beneath his armpits. When the blonde head reached his crotch, he held his breath.

Kage-Naruto studied the bulge that he could smell even through the pants. This close, he could smell the precum that was as yet hidden from his eyes. The way the material strained told him what he already knew. There was a hard cock in there. Very hard. Glancing up at the slit black eyes that watched him, he undid the zipper with a slow, steady hand. He parted the halves of the fly delicately, as if peeling fruit. He grasped the waistband of the boxers with the very tips of his fingers and eased them down over the round head of the tumescent cock Sasuke sported. The white length was reddening at the tip as blood engorged it further. The same tip glistened with precum and the smell hit the blonde's nose afresh, making him drool.

He pushed the pants and boxers down the legs that were suddenly standing shoulder width apart. The arms were still folded with indignation and upset, but the legs at least were braced for what was coming. Kage-Naruto accepted this as progress on his part in wooing Sasuke from his anger. Without preamble or warning, he sank the entire rod of flesh down his throat. He made of his mouth a tight vacuum of wet heat and pulled back slowly, raising his eyes to stare into the mask of Sasuke's face.

Kage-Naruto had to hand it to the man, he did an admirable job of keeping a poker face. But that would change soon.

Up and down he bobbed, slowly and deliberately. Each time he pulled back and swirled his tongue around the weeping slit, Sasuke's face would contort from its stoic expression as if in pain. Then Naruto would be sinking back down on his cock and his face would struggle to resume its former severe look.

Kage-Naruto changed tactics. When he came up to the head this time, he gave a single, brutal suck, one that had Sasuke's mouth dropping open as his knees suddenly unbuckled, sending him sprawling. Naruto caught him, hooking both knees over his shoulders and leaning the swooning man against the wall at a forty-five degree angle. He was supporting the Uchiha's weight entirely on his chest and stomach. During this complicated maneuvering, he did not let up the suction once. Sasuke continued to gasp soundlessly, teetering on the brink of a blinding orgasm and fighting it with everything he had. Now the lustful Hokage increased the suction again, growling on the swelling cock in his mouth as the eruption came, pulsing down his throat as fast as he could swallow. Sasuke arched till only his head was touching the wall, still refusing to make a sound. Cords stood out in his white throat as he choked back a scream.

Before Sasuke could recover, Kage-Naruto flipped him over, bracing Sasuke's hands against the wall for him. He lived out his earlier fantasy with Stud-Sasuke and entered the kneeling Uchiha dry.

_Now _the scream came. It tore out of the Uchiha as Kage-Naruto held him spread, ramming forward again and again to breach the unprepared ring of muscles. A crackle of lightning appeared around the hands that clawed at the walls. Seeing it, Kage-Naruto coated his own hands with wind chakra and released the struggling hips to grasp those sizzling hands, negating the lightning just as he finally slid into the resisting hole. They both paused in relief.

The thrusts were rough at first, until Sasuke's ass offered up some lubrication. Things smoothed out enough then for the Hokage to slide in and out rapidly. His balls, already tight from the excitement of fucking Sasuke dry, and bending the Uchiha to his will with pain and pleasure, ached as they slapped against the pale ass. Naruto felt his load building in preparation to shoot and held it back fiercely. He gripped Sasuke's wrists tightly, dropping his head to the black hair and inhaling. His mind was leaving him, being replaced by Kyuubi's. Kyuubi, mad for release, breached the lowered defenses of his host's sex-drugged mind and partook of the mating eagerly.

Sasuke heard growling behind him, and felt the cock inside him swell drastically. It lengthened until he thought it would come out of his stomach, and now he really screamed. He saw the hands holding his grow hard white claws as they lowered to his midsection, yanking him back against that impossibly hard chest. The face in his hair let loose more snuffling growls as the body behind him shoved him into the wall hard enough to suffocate him. The thrusts ripping him apart sped up until his ass sang with fiery pain. The thrusts themselves were so hard that they almost drew blood, stabbing into him lethally. The demon behind him leaked profusely, making the copulation wet enough to send small splashes of cum over his ass cheeks. He couldn't have stopped screaming if he'd wanted to. His mind went blank with pleasure, pain, and shock.

The Uchiha suffered the trauma of mating with him well, Kyuubi reflected. He increased his pace and the strength of the thrusts yet again as his seed roared out of him, pumping deep into the squalling man in scalding gusts. He emptied himself for long, long minutes, pounding the tight hole furiously the entire time.

By the time Naruto regained his senses, he and Sasuke were prostrate on the cabin floor. He saw that he was still joined to Sasuke and that the brunette was shaking violently. He tightened his arms around him and drifted into a helpless sleep. No matter what Sasuke said, Naruto wasn't letting him go. Not ever.

* * *

Once the twins and the baby were out of the cabin, Naruto and I dropped the happy family act. Unlike the other couples, we weren't angry at each other. We were angry at the untenable situation we found ourselves in.

Naruto stood a moment, watching the door our children had skipped out of. Then, in connection with nothing that had been said recently, he stated, "We're going to have to kill that piece of shit who calls himself Hokage, Sasuke. You know that, right? I know he's stronger than both of us combined, but Kyuubi said she'd help. She's pissed that he tried to mount her mate." All this was said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

I watched my man pacing idly back and forth. He looked and sounded as if he'd been discussing nothing more important than buying a pair of pants, but I knew the truth. This was the calm before the storm. The smooth pacing hid the way his blue eyes roved restlessly. The hands planted on the hips were placed there to hide their trembling need to rip and maim. That light tone of voice was evidence of phenomenal self-control. My man was looking to get in something big time.

It's one thing for Naruto to be in fight mode and enlist Kyuubi's chakra to aid him. It's quite another to see him and Kyuubi joined against a common enemy. The violence and killing intent baking off Naruto now was damned exciting.

I didn't say anything in response to his statement at first, just watching the way rage emphasized Naruto's natural grace. When he stopped at last and turned to me, I saw that his eyes were surprisingly still blue.

Nevertheless, a wave of desire rolled through me sluggishly. Holding my gaze, still exuding murder, he sauntered over to me. Stalking. There's this thing Naruto does when he stalks me, where he cocks his head sideways, looking at me with one eye. He'll sort of edge toward me sideways as well. The whole thing is creepy as shit, but I know it means he's coming on to me for sex and that Kyuubi is guiding him. He's doing this sideways stalking thing now.

When he stopped directly in front of me, it hit me at that moment that my sunny lover harbored some dark places of his own. Just then I couldn't tell where man ended and demon began. There had always been a clear distinction between the two. Despite the eye color now, I wasn't sure if it was Naruto looking at me. My stomach knotted with the uncertainty of whether or not I'd have my face clawed off. So fucking exciting.

Gradually, the heavy atmosphere of impending slaughter gave way to one of towering lust. It was more than that, though. Naruto's naturally musky smell ripened, thickening around him until the cabin was full of it. The hairs on my arms stood up as my body, conditioned to what this aroma meant, registered what was going to happen. The air seemed to crackle with the colossal need coming from Naruto. It was the mindless, senseless, formless need to fuck. The same need that would call me from a deep sleep when Naruto had been pregnant with Yo-chan and the girls. This close to him, that siren call drugged my senses.

I reached out a hand to gently rub his shoulder.

A low, menacing growl escaped him. He snapped his fangs at me, his nose wrinkling along the bridge as he bared his teeth.

Understood. No meek touches. Kyuubi, ergo Naruto, wanted her man to take care of business properly.

I was used to this fucked up situation bringing out Naruto's more beastly traits, but it looked like the added kick of Kyuubi's fury compounded that fact exponentially. Bracing myself, I tried again. Careful to watch his face and the way his eyes narrowed as my hand approached, I managed to nab him behind the neck and drag him against me. Just as carefully, I lowered my head to his and sucked hard on one whiskered cheek.

Success. Naruto purred, arching in my arms as he put his head back, giving me access to his neck. Ah. So biting was allowed again. I took full advantage.

I love Naruto's body. The way it fits securely against mine, filling the hollows of my own body perfectly. His 6-foot-1 is just right for my 6-foot-4. I have his body crushed in my arms as I bite along the column of his throat. He lifts both legs to straddle my waist, settling his familiar weight on me. I spread my legs a little wider to keep my balance. Naruto isn't idle, grabbing my hair to keep my head still for his greedy kiss.

No one kisses like my Blue Eyes. His tongue swept inside my mouth to tickle my tonsils, slide along my palate and snake across my teeth. He's doing some weird howling growling sound in his throat that told me tonight was going to be a long one. I hoped I could keep up.

Lots of tongue play, sucking, moans and hair pulling. Before long, I was losing it, moaning right along with him as we revolved in a slow circle, kissing like green teens new to sex. He grinded his pelvis against my stomach, either showing me how hard he was or that he was ready to fuck. He pulled back suddenly, bit my lip then jumped off of me. He took a few minutes to bend and nuzzle my crotch before he stripped and got on all fours.

Fucking it was, then.

My clothes followed his as I got down beside him. The hard wood of the cabin floor had already made calluses on my knees from the hours we'd spent fucking on it in this exact position. My dick had fuck burns on it, but what to do? If Naruto needed it, then he needed it. Better than him slutting with the other Narutos. That piece of business when we'd first gotten here had annoyed me to no end. I threatened to leave if Kyuubi tried that shit again so she's kept herself in check.

Naruto's rosy little hole twitched as I held his cheeks spread. I started to bend and suck on it, but was stopped by a backward kick. I sighed, moving forward. Kyuubi was not into foreplay, and since she was guiding tonight's show, I had to comply. She liked it as hard and brutal as possible. By the time this war was over I'd need a splint for my poor dick, I was sure. Naruto was panting, urging me to be quick, but I took a moment to coat myself with saliva. I stroked my dick for a few moments, getting myself ready and in the mood. Not all of us could just fuck on the fly the way-

A flurry of clawed hands and fangs whirled and attacked me, knocking me to the floor. I held an arm to my face, protecting it as Naruto shouted down at me to hurry the fuck up before he ripped my dick off and used it as a dildo. He can be such an impatient asshole, you know that?

Angry now, I kicked him across the room, which of course he liked, influenced by Kyuubi as he was tonight. He crashed into the wall and I landed by him as he quickly turned over and presented his ass. I knelt and entered him all in the same move, shoving home until I was plugged in to the hilt.

Sometimes when Naruto's especially beastlike in our copulation, it makes me a little beastlike too. Now was one of those times. I felt my more human emotions and thoughts leaving me as I became completely focused on the rough friction of my dick battering Naruto's hole. I stared down at where his tight entrance was now stretched wide around my broad shaft. He had his back arched, growling and cursing. Tuning out the pain, I plowed harder and harder with each thrust, apparently trying to kill us both. I don't know. I just know his behavior spawned my own and just then I wanted to make him bleed.

He came. Several times. Instead of it bringing relief, it only fueled his rut or whatever it was that was wrong with him. After the seventh explosive orgasm, I came myself, filling his ass with a hot, sticky load of creamy goodness. I pulled out with a sigh of relief, but Naruto only writhed on the floor, mewling and whining and…going Kyuubi.

Shit.

He rolled to where I lay and lowered a burning mouth over my tired cock, sucking and slurping in an effort to get it hard again.

Double shit. Couldn't I have a break?

The answer was no. When I was semi erect, Naruto lowered his gooey ass onto my dick and attempted to ride me. His red eyes glared down at me. I was beat. He was on his own.

"Oi, Teme," Naruto rumbled at my closing lids. "You better fuck me until I say stop or I'll make ten clones and you'll be fucking all of them."

It's amazing how people get their second wind when they really need it, isn't it? I lunged up and did some attacking of my own. No way could I take on ten Kyuubi clones.

I will definitely help Naruto kill that kage fucker. With pleasure. I'd felt nothing but indignation and disgust for the way he'd pawed me today, but that wasn't the reason my man and I would be assassinating him. The true reason was simple: If my Blue Eyes had to watch him prancing around with his alpha self for much longer (and I know Kyuubi secretly thought of him as more alpha, and thus _wanted _to be taken by him) I, the one suffering for his frustrations, would soon be nothing but a memory. I'd fucked into oblivion. This was life or death, now. Lines had to be drawn.

* * *

Blondie entered his cabin quietly, mindful of the fact that he'd left Rasta-Sasuke sleeping after an intense round of sex. Rasta-Sasuke, already a horny person, had been unstoppable since coming to this world. Luckily, Blondie was more than a match for the increased appetites.

Killerbee and Chibi-Gaara were still outside. Blondie sat silently by his lover's sprawled form and proceeded to watch him sleep.

His heart always, without fail, beat painfully in his breast with the force of his love whenever he was able to watch his Uchiha at rest or at some other unassuming task. Rasta-Sasuke wasn't still often, but when he was, he was a thousand times more beautiful, Blondie thought. Not that he thought of it in those terms.

He stretched out a finger and brushed it along one dreadlock, moving it from where it fell across the sleeping face. The fine dark eyebrows arched over the pale lids. Those long lashes that Blondie privately thought fascinating were lowered, brushing the smooth cheeks. The lips were slightly parted. Lying on his stomach as he was, Rasta-Sasuke had one fist tucked under his chin, one knee raised along the floor. He murmured faintly at feeling Blondie's finger brush his nose.

Blondie decided to go through with his plan. Speaking as quietly as possible, he put his hands in the formation he'd so recently learned. He whispered, "Oiroke no Jutsu." He was careful this time to appear nude, as Psycho-Naruto had done when he'd been instructing him.

The _poof_ was loud enough to wake Rasta-Sasuke. He stretched and yawned, wondering what had woken him. When he turned over lazily, smacking his lips at how wonderfully sore he was, he found someone sitting near his head, gazing down at him. Opening his eyes wider, he got a good look at the person.

Rasta-Sasuke screamed shrilly, scuttling backward on his ass. His eyes bulged as the creature, something he already called Frankenstein in his own panicked mind, moved toward him, speaking.

"Sh, Sasuke. It is me, Blondie. Is the transformation so good that you don't recognize me?"

Good? Rasta-Sasuke was still struggling not to vomit at the sick realization that he _was _looking at Blondie. He didn't think he'd ever seen anything less good in his life.

He had to turn away before he went blind. He covered his mouth for good measure as he felt his dinner bubbling in his stomach. He spoke with his eyes closed. "Blondie? What in fuck _happened, _man? Your dick's…_gone._" Among other things. Rasta-Sasuke had seen two hideous little 'things' on Blondie's chest muscles. They'd looked like over-sized nipples. And that tiny ponytail near the top of his head. That was almost worse than the horror between his legs. That hairless, cleft horror…

"I have performed the technique necessary for conceiving children. You will not have to do anything but impregnate me. I will take care of the child, I promise. Come, do it now while 'Bee and Chibi-Gaara are still outside."

Rasta-Sasuke listened to this in silence. Halfway through, he'd screwed up his courage and opened his eyes. He stared at Blondie's set face as if he'd never seen him before. And if the truth were known, he never had seen this version of him.

Blondie never went against him for anything. Ever. Yet here it was he'd expressly told Blondie that they wouldn't be making any kids, but the man had gone and learned a technique and was _ordering _Sasuke to hurry and get him with child. He supposed, if he thought about it, that the yearning for a baby was greater in his lover than he'd at first surmised. That meant there were depths in Blondie that he didn't know about. What precisely, beyond a need for family, made Blondie want a child so much? Whatever the reason, it would behoove Rasta-Sasuke to approach the situation delicately. Which was why he didn't.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR EVER-FUCkING MIND?" he shrieked. He jumped up and landed a multitude of blows around Blondie's head where he sat, spit flying from his lips as he continued to shout. "Do you honestly think I could stick my dick into someone as ugly as you? Look at you! And I don't fuck women, or did you forget that fact? Along with that you must have forgotten that I specifically said THAT I DON'T. WANT. KIDS! Are you _trying _to make me leave you?"

Rasta-Sasuke finally stopped hitting Blondie to snatch the small elastic ponytail-holder from the blonde hair, deciding that the ornament really was worse than the loss of Blondie's beautiful dick. "Change back," he bit out.

Blondie did, appearing in his dirty clothing. He sat still, staring at the floor. The blows hadn't hurt him, weak as Rasta-Sasuke was compared to him…but at the same time they'd hurt terribly. As had the words. He felt a frightening swelling sensation in his chest and throat and realized with a touch of shock that he was about to cry. He got up, ignoring whatever Rasta-Sasuke was saying, and left the cabin quietly. The door swung shut behind him.

Rasta-Sasuke stopped his furious insults mid-sentence. Blondie had just walked out on him. He always took Rasta-Sasuke's anger, then they had sex. Always. What was_ with _the guy today? Jesus. He looked down at the red ponytail-holder in his hand, wondering why it hadn't vanished with the rest of the technique. He pocketed it and turned to survey the empty cabin. 'Bee entered shortly afterward.

* * *

Demon leaned on the door after slamming it on the three kids and folded his arms. He regarded Sasuke with serious eyes. "I can't take much more of this. I say we send everyone back, give Akatsuki Raiden, and hope they take Aimi and Wyatt as well. Then we live out the rest of our lives in the cabin in Demon Country."

"And I say we have lots of wild ninja sex to relieve this tension," Sasuke countered. He watched his demon just as seriously.

"I like your plan better."

"Seme!"

"Sem- damnit!" Demon swore.

Sasuke smirked. "Ha. I called it first."

Calling seme was a new thing, something Sasuke had come up with as a way to take Demon's mind off the stress of everything else. He dropped his sword now as he began a leisurely stroll in his demon's direction. "And I think tonight I'll pretend to be you."

The blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "What's that supposed to mean? Because if you're planning to use a Henge to make yourself look like me…"

Sasuke reached him, lifted him cursing and struggling over his head, and threw him against the far wall. Demon landed in an upside-down sprawl, slightly dazed. "That's what I mean," Sasuke said with a giggle. "Let's see you get bruised from sex for a change." He leapt and landed with both feet on Demon's stomach, cackling the whole time.

Demon tried to yell, but the air was gone from his lungs. He settled for grabbing Sasuke around the knees and toppling him to the floor. He added a punch to the man's sternum, which did nothing to shut the man's laughter up. "You're awfully happy, all things considered," Demon grumbled resentfully. "Thought you were just as pissed as everyone else at today's fuckery?"

Sasuke turned to his demon with a grin in place, still chuckling. "I am happy. You and I are together, nothing to interrupt that or change it."

"Hmph," Demon huffed. "Could have sworn you were ready to kill a few people earlier. Especially Psycho-Sasuke. Honestly, how can you stand the insanity of all these versions of us?"

That had Sasuke's smirk vanishing, which brought on a happy grin from Demon. Misery loved company, Demon was a firm believer in that. In answer, Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. It's bad, don't get me wrong. Sometimes, most of the time, seeing so many versions of myself makes me feel weird."

"Weird how?" They were lying on the floor, facing each other. Sasuke reached a hand out to trace Demon's abs as he considered his answer.

"Like…I'm not real. Like I'm not the unique individual I always thought I was. The rest of the time it just feels like I have more brothers. Which is kind of nice. Stud-Sasuke and I sort of get along, when he's not trying to rape Itachi."

"Rape-"

"You know what I mean. And Rasta-Sasuke is starting to grow on me. What about you? Do you feel any of those things at seeing yourself?"

"No." Demon was emphatic. "All I feel and see is how many ways I can be screwed up."

"You don't feel a sense of brotherhood with any of them?"

"Not a single one. Maybe because I've never had a blood brother."

"What about with Chibi-Gaara? He-"

"_No!_ Fuck no." Demon shivered slightly. "He's awful. I caught him singing some song to Aimi and the other kids, and the next thing I knew Aimi was singing it."

"Was it a lewd song?" Sasuke frowned.

"No. Some idiot song about a moving mountain or some shit. My point is that kid is abnormal. I could never feel like he's my brother…although Blondie seems to consider him as such."

There were a few minutes of silence.

"Demon, what are we going to do? About this training mess?"

The blonde rolled to his back, letting out a frustrated breath. "I'll just have to make it clear that I'm running things here. Kage-Naruto is a pain in the ass."

"Yes, but we still haven't settled on a training method or drills or anything. We need to get stronger and fast. And…no offense, but I don't think any of the newcomers are going to listen to you. They see you as no different from themselves."

Sasuke was right. Demon took a deep breath and suddenly found himself on the verge of hysterics. He brought a hand to his face, but it was too late. A sob escaped him, bringing Sasuke swiftly to his side. Demon rolled, giving Sasuke his back. Sasuke clutched him fiercely from behind, resting his chin on one meaty shoulder.

"Hey…hey," Sasuke said soothingly. "It'll be all right. We'll get them to fall in line somehow, okay? It's okay, Demon."

The voice was clogged with unshed tears, unsteady with fear and helplessness. "No, it's not. Konoha and every other nation may well be ripped apart because of _our _kids, Sasuke. People will die. Those twin girls out there and their sweet brother may end up orphans and all because of us. This is our mess, we need to fix it. What right do we have to ask others to give up their lives for Raiden? Would you look at this mess? How did we get here, Sasuke? What in the name of all heaven and hell are we going to do?"

Sasuke held his man tightly, trying to come up with a solution. "I don't know, baby. Maybe we should ask the kids?"

Demon turned in Sasuke's arms, groaning at how wonderful being near him felt. He gazed into the dark eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Sasuke spoke slowly, obviously still turning the idea over in his mind. "I freely admit Kei is smarter than all of us. They did come up with one solution, might they not have another?"

"Maybe…you think we should really ask them?"

"Can't hurt, can it? If we're going to get through this, we have to think outside the box."

Demon nodded. "Okay. You're right. First thing in the morning we'll ask them."

Sasuke smiled, rubbing the broad back beneath his palms. Reading his lover correctly he asked, "Rain check on our nighttime activities?"

"Please?"

"Sure thing."

"Just hold me. Hold me and don't let go."

"I'll never let you go."

* * *

In Yanagi's room in Suna, Aimi stepped out of thin air. Out of Yanagi's personal timeline, to be exact. She let out a breath at finding herself back. A quick mental assessment told her she was in the time she'd left from.

Her little trip had been extremely frightening, but very instructive. There had been a bad moment when she'd had no idea how to get back…a bad moment that had lasted five years. But now that she knew how to go backward and forward in Time and could place herself where she wished, she considered those five years a learning experience.

Slightly disoriented from Time traveling, Aimi sat down. She proceeded to perfect and refine this new talent. By the time dawn arrived, and Yanagi squealed at seeing her visitor, Aimi was ready to bring the teacher.

* * *

The land as far as the eye could see was littered with alien corpses. Madara returned his eyes to normal as his comrades reverted to their original bodies.

"Boss…I can't believe it. We won," Hidan said in a voice shaking with fatigue.

Indeed they had. Raiden and the other children had escaped his clutches yet again and Madara had lost his mind. Heeding what he'd seen the boy do, he'd pushed himself to the very limits of his abilities, beyond, and had managed to kill one of the aliens as it attacked him. The rest of Akatsuki saw this and took heart, doubling their efforts as the alien horde converged on them. This time, when the Bijuu erupted from them, their hosts were able to affect some measure of control, working with their beasts to destroy the enemy. It worked.

The night had been one of bloodshed and dark victory. It hadn't been easy. They were nearly dead themselves, but they had won. And they would win again, Madara thought coldly. A turning point had been reached. They would destroy every black alien on this world. And when Izanami finally sent them after those kids, they'd rue the day they'd been born.


	34. Chapter 34

I apologize for the delay. Finals, work, and most importantly, computer trouble have all conspired against me. I need a new laptop in the worst way, but can't buy one till the summer is over. Anyway, I've taken my stories off hold, so updates should come regularly now. I'll contact my beta and let her know to look out for them.

Some news: Someone is translating my fics into Russian! I feel honored. As soon as the link is up I'll post it in my profile. There aren't done translating the first one yet, which is The Price of Salvation.

As to this chap: Dun, dun, dun! The plot thickens.

**Rasta-Sasuke, Blondie** ~ _Until You/Always You_

**Kage-Naruto, Jailbird-Sasuke** ~ _The Price of Salvation, Hunter/Hunted_

**Stud-Sasuke, Fem-Naruto** ~ _I'm With Sasuke/I'm With Naruto_

**Psycho-Sasuke, Psycho-Naruto** ~ _Canon/Manga_

**Kit, Queen-Sasuke (Queenie)** ~ _Irresistible_

**Demon, Sasuke** ~ _Bonded/New Bonds_

_*Note: Please forgive any typos I may have missed.  
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Chapter 34

Blondie exited the Kido barrier and was immediately covered by hundreds of the carnivorous flying creatures. His step did not falter as he surrounded himself with Kyuubi chakra. This perceived light caused the creatures to descend on him in their thousands, where they promptly perished in the demonic energy swirling around the lone man. Blondie crunched their bodies beneath his feet as he calmly left the plateau.

He wandered. He didn't care where, or what was in his path. His tears went unnoticed. A few times he turned to find feline creatures running toward him, eyes glowing in the dark. They were half again as large as he was. He dispatched them with scarcely a thought or shred of effort. Other beasts stalked him in the night as he walked, but saw how their comrades fell to this strange glowing man-beast, and so kept their distance. They followed, hackles raised at Blondie's predatory smell.

Blondie was aware of them yet distanced from his surroundings. His mind had retreated to a place deep within himself. It was the place his mind had occupied nearly every day of his existence, until Sasuke had come into his life.

He remembered eating ramen in the shop he usually visited. He'd surfaced from his detachment at feeling someone staring at him from across the street. He'd been followed, attacked. He'd come face to face with a filthy gamin who'd been shockingly unafraid of him. The gamin hadn't known who Naruto was, but even when he'd found out, he'd been accepting.

There was no one in all Blondie's world like Sasuke. No one spoke like him or thought like him or thought that he, Blondie, was worth anything. He would do anything for Sasuke. Sasuke was all. Everything.

Until now.

Sasuke wasn't less to Blondie now, no. But now he saw areas of his life that had been lacking. He wanted a child. A family. Someone connected to him the way he'd never thought would be achievable. Yes, it had been impossible, and so undreamed of. He had no family. Had not even known where he came from until recently. The idea of blood relatives was as distant as touching the sky. But here he'd discovered that it _was_ possible. He could have what he'd never had in his life.

It wasn't something he ever thought about, but now that he was, he realized he'd always thought that he and Sasuke felt the same way about each other. Had Sasuke come to him and asked for a child, he would have given his consent at once. Sasuke had but to ask and Blondie would cut the beating heart from his own chest and hand it to him. Why, then, wouldn't Sasuke do the same for him? Did Blondie's wants, his needs, not matter? Must he always give and give to Sasuke and receive nothing in return?

He'd been content to do just that, providing whatever his dreadlocked companion needed in the way of love and gay sex without complaint. It was enough for Blondie just to be near him. It was more than he'd ever hoped for in life. And now that he dared wish for something more, it was being denied to him.

It was like his days as a child all over again. When he'd wished for things, had voiced these wishes, and had been rebuffed and denied time and again, until his soul had stopped wanting. Until his wishes and wants had dried up. Until he'd given up all his dreams, and his hopes had died inside him. It hurt him anew, this reminder of who he was.

Blondie suddenly turned, unleashing torrents of the Kyuubi chakra, and let all that had died in him so long ago flare into brief life. Nothing within miles survived, as he displayed a rage unlike anything that world had ever seen.

* * *

Psycho-Naruto lay in the dark, sensing that dawn was less than an hour away. His body ached and throbbed with dull pain. His heart was finally calming down from the gallop it had sustained for most of the night.

Sasuke's arm lay securely curled around his waist from behind. The hard bicep dug into his side. Sasuke's warm breath blew regularly on the back of his neck. The Uchiha was sleeping. Now. Before…

-oOo-

_Movement had begun and he'd heard a whisper. "Naruto…"_

_No more words had followed for a time. The movement of Sasuke's body in his had demanded his undivided attention. Sasuke's length had slid in and out of the most private place on his body in dry, jerky thrusts. It had burned._

_He couldn't interpret what was happening to him as sex. It was Sasuke wanting him. That was what had the hurt inside him fading, not the press and slide of Sasuke's body. There was no enjoyment from the act, only from the way the Uchiha wheezed his name without hate. _

_Even so, the way their bodies became sweaty, enabling Sasuke to increase his movements, grew troubling. The burning in his ass spread up his back. An image of how he must look, spread face-down for Sasuke's use of him, rose in his mind. He was embarrassed. He withstood Sasuke's attentions in silence, hoping it would be over quickly._

_It wasn't. And when the dark-haired youth stiffened above him, crying out his name, Naruto thought his shame would finish him. The way Sasuke's privates swelled, pulsed, and emptied gushing warmth in his rectum had his throat closing with mortification. _

_The kissing had been his limit. This…this was beyond him. Sasuke had collapsed in a heap on his back, pressing his cheek into the blonde hair. Naruto had squirmed, easing himself from under the other boy's drenched limbs, intent on crawling to his side of the cabin and remaining there. Those hopes were dashed when Sasuke allowed him to escape from beneath him, but dragged him back to his side. Naruto began to protest, grimacing at the moisture squelching between his lower cheeks. Sasuke's mouth had suddenly been on his, the Uchiha's tongue sweeping quickly inside._

_It didn't end there. Sasuke's hands roamed everywhere. Now that the act had transpired, the Uchiha was emboldened to touch all the places on the ruddy body he'd neglected the first time around. The first time, he'd been intimidated by uncertainty. Now he was greedy, sure of what he wanted. Naruto's acquiescence the first time had made Sasuke believe the blonde was his for the taking. And take he did._

_Naruto was weakened in that powerful kiss, sucked hollow of his shame, to be left with baffling pleasure. How was it that kissing Sasuke seemed more intimate than the other act? His budding protests were swallowed by Sasuke's hot, wet mouth. His movements to free himself from the Uchiha's questing hands stilled. _

_He'd let himself be kissed until he was fighting for air. He'd turned his head aside, gasping, but Sasuke didn't allow him time to recover as he'd done the first time they'd kissed. He pressed his mouth to Naruto's neck where it was exposed, licking and sucking in exploration. His mouth traveled to Naruto's ear, sucking there, to his cheeks and chin. He turned Naruto's head by the jaw, seeking his mouth again, and the blonde couldn't fight him off; his body felt heavy with this evidence of Sasuke's feelings. Sluggish and languid._

_He'd felt Sasuke roll on top of him in the dark, distantly aware of how the other boy's bush scratched at his dick. He didn't know what to do with his hands as Sasuke deepened the kiss. They landed on Sasuke's back, resting lightly, prepared to push the Uchiha away if things got uncomfortable again, which they did in short order._

_Sasuke, meticulous person that he was, was not content to kiss Naruto and leave it at that. He kissed everywhere, treating the quivering tanned body as if it were a possession of his that he intended learning thoroughly. He ignored the way the blonde protested the oral treatment of his nipples, arms and legs, continuing until he reached the flaccid appendage between them. Naruto covered his crotch with his hands, hissing at Sasuke to stop, but Sasuke only grasped the wrists and yanked the hands away from what he wanted. _

_Naruto had covered his mouth with a hand, yelling in outrage and disgust at how completely he was swallowed. This was wrong. And the way the hot cavern of Sasuke's mouth sucked and pulled and writhed around his shaft brought tears to his eyes. He'd kicked, bit, punched, made clones to aid him. Sasuke being Sasuke, this was all dealt with swiftly and easily. _

_There was no place on his body that Sasuke didn't touch and stare at with his red eyes. No place left untasted, no crevice left unplundered by tongue, hands, and lips. Naruto sobbed at the Uchiha to leave him alone, to just please stop._

_The red eyes had glowed at him in the dark as Sasuke's voice vibrated with disturbing urgency. "Let me have you, Naruto. Let me _have_ you, you're mine. Mine. _Mine_." _

_This one word had been repeated with each touch, each bite of sharp teeth, until Naruto had been sure he was sharing the cabin with a madman. Sasuke's hands had likewise shared the pitiless urgency of his voice, restraining Naruto's hands when they fought, or pulling him back when he tried to roll away. "Mine. I _want_ you, Naruto, don't deny me."_

_That had scared Naruto as nothing previously had done. There was helplessness in that command, vulnerability where Sasuke had never shown weakness. Not once in all their time knowing each other. The panicky edge to that command had sounded desperate._

_Naruto could have fought harder to get free. He didn't. And he didn't continue to fight after hearing that plea. It had begged, that last sentence from Sasuke. It had sounded as if Sasuke would really go insane if Naruto continued to fight him. The idea of Sasuke being so close to the edge of reason scared him shitless. He'd lain quiet and let Sasuke do things to him._

_It had been during another kiss that he'd felt his body warm. Sasuke didn't hold back, insistent moans coming from him as he continued to learn all Naruto's body had to offer. The blonde reflected that no one had ever displayed such need for him and felt something in him respond as it had before…only multiplied greatly. Now he felt his skin prickle where Sasuke's tongue landed. His hands touched roughly in turn instead of fighting. Now when Sasuke mouthed his dick again, he recognized his shame as stemming from the pleasure he felt and shouldn't be feeling. He was glad of the dark when he spread his legs wider. He bit his lips to keep from voicing a yell at the penetration, but it didn't hurt this time. Oh no._

_And he'd rolled and humped and kissed with Sasuke for a long time afterward._

-oOo_-  
_

But now that it was all over, he felt nothing but a staggering, crushing sense of guilt and self-disgust. He couldn't _believe _the things he'd done last night. And when he remembered how Sasuke had sounded, saying 'mine, mine' over and over again, another sharp spike of fear lanced through him, making him throw the Uchiha's arm from around his waist and shoot across the room. He donned his clothes hastily, ignoring the sleepy mumble behind him and ran out of the cabin. The door slammed on his heels.

* * *

Maybe it was being in Willow's world again or the fight with those aliens, but for whatever reason, Raiden dreamed of his time as a small child. Specifically, he dreamed of when he'd gone to his cousins' aid after Aimi had sent them to that hell dimension.

The occurrences and conversations were hazy background noise in the dream. He was focused entirely on the way his body felt, on the jutsu he cast at the demons. Somewhere in the dream, his memory of fighting the aliens became superimposed over his dream self so that two images, one of a twelve-year-old and one of a three-year-old overlapped. A comparison was made.

Raiden woke up when he heard a door slam. Running footsteps dashed by his head and he saw Psycho-Naruto disappearing to the far side of the Kido barrier.

He ignored him for the moment as he became aware of several bodies on top of him. Etsuko and Emiko were laying on his ass and the back of his legs. Wyatt had an arm thrown across his back and Yo-chan was half on his neck, thumb plugged into his mouth. Face down as he was, Raiden decided not to move for the time being.

The dream. It really had been about one thing and one thing only: he'd been stronger when he was younger. He took a moment to analyze how this could be true. Didn't one get stronger as their body matured? Yes. But he distinctly remembered firing off one Rasenshuriken after another when he'd been little and in that hell dimension. But yesterday on the alien world he'd barely been able to get off two. He remembered how he'd fought Madara with his eyes closed when trying to bring his Pop back from the dead. Yet he'd run like a yellow bitch when faced with him in Konoha. Even if Madara was stronger now than he'd been when Raiden had killed him, it was no excuse. What was wrong with him? What had happened to him?

After some consideration, he concluded that he was getting soft. No squad, no missions, no anything. Maybe training with Lee wasn't such a bad idea. Initially he'd thought his dads' idea of coming here to train bogus…he didn't need training, he had awesome techniques. But now he wasn't so sure.

When Lee came to wake them all with a whisper of 'Rise and shine!' Raiden was ready to give his new sensei a shot.

* * *

Demon grunted, feeling something tickle his ass. He swatted at it, snuffling a curse in his asleep.

A hand grabbed his and brought it to a warm mouth. His fingers were sucked leisurely one by one. Another mouth nibbled at the small of his back, around the waistband of his pants.

He came awake slowly. His eyes slit open to find Sasuke naked and grazing his teeth along the pad of his thumb. Demon shivered…before bolting up at feeling that mouth on his ass again.

Two Sasukes regarded him with identical wicked grins. "What-" began Demon, blinking sleep from his eyes.

"Cashing in on the rain check," one Sasuke said. "And since I'm still pretending to be you, I thought I'd use clones." The grin was too pleased by far.

Demon sat on his haunches as one Sasuke came and settled in his lap. The other knelt behind him, sandwiching him between two heated chests. He was embraced from behind as the Sasuke in his lap began kissing him.

He was game. And horny. He grabbed the hips of the man in his lap and ground his stiff cock against his groin. That Sasuke disappeared with a _poof. _The Sasuke behind him swore in annoyance. He released Demon to prepare to make another clone, but Demon turned and snatched him into his arms.

Sasuke didn't even try to prolong his original intention of being Demon. He just let himself be guided to the position the clone had occupied on the blonde's lap, content to let Naruto lead for the moment. He loved it when his demon was hungry for him. Which was all the time.

The kiss was hot. The sun wasn't quite up yet, but the room warmed with the heat they gave off, making their skin clammy. Demon kissed him and kissed him and kissed him until he was shaking like a leaf in a storm. The large bronze hands skimmed down his back possessively, cupped his ass, squeezed, moved to his thighs, squeezed, ended up at the fastening of his pants. This was quickly undone and his achingly hard cock tugged out. He groaned at feeling the rough hand encircle him. "Mm, baby…"

"Fuck my face," Demon grunted. He shoved Sasuke off his lap, still kneeling. Sasuke got to his feet, letting his undone pants drop to his ankles. He came at Demon's waiting mouth, burying one hand in the blonde hair.

Water wasn't plentiful or easy to access. Neither of them had bathed in a couple of days. Sasuke's cock was rank with sweat, the smell rich and heavy with his natural musk. Demon felt desire kick through him so hard at this odor that his eyes closed in a near swoon. Sasuke's dick was salty, filling his mouth deliciously. He began salivating immediately, so hungry for it that he was perilously close to biting the thing off at the root, chewing it up and swallowing it. He settled for sucking with all the power at his command, digging his fingers into Sasuke's hips when the man yelped and tried to pull away.

Sasuke felt his knees giving way at the suction his demon was giving him. His eyes rolled as heat began uncoiling in his belly fast and hard, pooling in his sac in preparation to shooting down the ravenous throat. He had to call on every ounce of Uchiha-ness in him to stiffen his legs and remember that he was the one supposed to be topping this time, not the blonde. He grit his teeth and brought his mind back from the beginnings of a faint with sheer willpower. Panting, he dug both hands into the blonde hair and took over as best he could.

Demon coughed at the way Sasuke shoved savagely down his throat. He tried to push the hips away, but they pumped into his face without remorse, forcing him to keep his mouth open and receptive lest he be choked to death on the ramrod cock in his mouth.

Sasuke stopped breathing as he came suddenly. Demon swallowed rapidly to catch it all, sucking on his now soft organ until his legs really did lose strength. He sank back into Demon's lap, trembling in the aftermath of his orgasm.

Demon allowed him to rest only for as long as it took to free his own tumescence from the tight constraint of his pants. He did this while Sasuke leaned his head heavily on his shoulder. He spat several times into his palm, gathering a mixture of saliva and cum. He reached behind Sasuke and smeared this between his ass cheeks, delving two fingers quickly in and out to prep him. Sasuke murmured.

Then he cursed between his teeth as his hips were lifted and dropped unceremoniously onto that long, hard cock. Pleasure and pain zinged up his spine like a bolt of lightning, causing him to arch on a wordless cry.

Demon watched him with narrowed eyes a moment, gauging Sasuke as he squirmed to find relief. When the Uchiha had regained control of his moaning and cursing, Demon jerked the dark head down to meet his eyes. "You topping or not? 'Cuz if you're not, I'll take over from here. I'm ready to burst."

Sasuke leaned forward and bit the blond directly on one cheek, digging his nails into his heavy shoulders. He gathered his leg muscles and began riding that steely cock. He felt Demon grab his hips again, guiding his movements, jerking his own hips up to meet him. The thrusts were harsh, making his head ache with the way they jerked his entire body roughly. His teeth released the cheek so that his mouth slid to Demon's. He was nearly swallowed whole in the kiss they shared, losing his mind as he felt his testes tightening again.

He hated when Demon topped from the bottom.

But he loved it too, and halfway through he gave up and let the blonde have his way. Aware of his victory, Demon wrapped his arms around Sasuke and fucked him harder and faster, burying his face in the Uchiha's neck. They way Sasuke's strong legs circled his waist, the way those capable hands clutched at him in overwhelming love and lust, the way Sasuke said 'Demon' in his husky voice, all sent him crashing through a mind-blowing orgasm sooner than he would have liked. Ah, but it was sweet, robbing him of strength even as his cock remained hard throughout the release.

He waited a few moments. Then he slid them to a reclining position, with Sasuke on his back beneath him. He leaned on his elbows, still joined to his soul mate, and gazed down into the glassy dark eyes. He kissed the moist mouth. "I love you, Sasuke."

A giggle. Those ever-maddening giggles that sent goose bumps along his skin with their improbability. "I love you too, Demon."

He made love to Sasuke slowly this time. He stared down into those depthless eyes as the sun rose. Sasuke. Sasuke was his man, his anchor, the air in his lungs and the blood in his veins. He was food and drink. He was sanity and life and his reason for living. Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. Always Sasuke. _This_ Sasuke, not any of those freaks out there.

His throat closed up the way it always did when he stared too long into Sasuke's beautiful eyes. His nose clogged and tickled with tears that didn't fall. Whenever he thought of all that Sasuke meant to him, he got this way. His body shook with it, shook as Sasuke saw and understood the expression on his face. The Uchiha finished slaughtering him with a blinding smile that shred his heart to pieces. He came quietly in the heated receptacle of Sasuke's body, too overcome to voice his release. Sasuke gathered him close when it was over, holding him to his heart.

"My demon," Sasuke whispered to the blonde hair. "My strong, beautiful demon. Stop being afraid you'll lose me again."

"I can't help it." The words were muttered into Sasuke's chest. "When I think about how this might end I just can't help it."

Sasuke tilted the chin up so he could look down into blue, blue eyes. "We're together. We're unbeatable together. Or have you forgotten?"

Demon guessed he had. They'd never been beaten as long as they were together, that was a fact. He breathed easier, snuggling down into Sasuke's warm body. "Promise me you won't do anything rash."

Sasuke interpreted this as a repeat of his sacrifice so many years before. "I won't. I promise. If you promise not to do anything stupid."

Such as going off to handle things alone, Demon translated. "Agreed. I promise."

"Now that that's settled, should we go out and brave the horde? Impose our will on them?"

"I suppose," Demon groaned. "Might as well get it over with. Can we have another round first? I feel like I need it in order to strengthen me for dealing with those assholes."

Sasuke took mental stock. He guessed he could survive another round before breakfast. He nodded his assent. "Can I top this time."

"You topped last time," Demon said briskly, already moving down Sasuke's body.

Sasuke refrained from correcting him, giving himself up to that expert mouth.

* * *

Rasta-Sasuke didn't sleep. He sat tensely in his cabin after Blondie had stormed out, not answering 'Bee when he came in a short time later. He didn't notice or care about Chibi-Gaara's absence. His mind circled around and around one thought that wouldn't leave:

Blondie was changing on him.

He didn't know what it meant or why it was happening, only that he didn't like it. Not at all.

Blondie could be counted on for rock-solid behavior day in and day out. He had the same reactions to things, did not waver from his stalwart and worshipful interaction with Rasta-Sasuke. Why all this shit now about babies? How did he dare get up and walk out in the middle of Rasta-Sasuke lecturing him? And that jutsu… Rasta-Sasuke pulled his mind back from that memory quickly.

All these unprecedented things left him feeling edgy. Nervous. Jumpy. He sat biting the nail of one thumb as 'Bee went to sleep in his corner of the room.

How long was Blondie going to stay out there? If he expected Rasta-Sasuke to come out after him and make nice, he had another think coming. He could damn well wait out there till Judgment Day. He was the one who was wrong, not Rasta-Sasuke.

It seemed that would be the case when the sun rose and Blondie hadn't returned. Rasta-Sasuke vowed that he wouldn't speak to the big dumb shit until he'd been apologized to. How dare he stay away the whole night! He would ignore Blondie until the lug was begging for forgiveness. He knew Blondie couldn't take it when he was mad at him. He'd sit around drooping and sagging and making bovine looks of pleading misery at Rasta-Sasuke until the latter relented. Then Rasta-Sasuke would allow himself to be fucked through the nearest horizontal surface, all forgiven.

So why wasn't that happening this time? I mean seriously, where did the fucker get the _nerve_?

Rasta-Sasuke sat watching the first rays of the ungodly sun creep under the cabin door, chewing his nail to the quick.

* * *

Lee had encountered some setbacks to beginning his day with his new students. These came in the form of the twin girls, their brother, and Aimi.

The girls demanded breakfast. Yo-chan needed to be changed, which Lee was shown how to do, and fed. Aimi was not present. "Where is your sister," he inquired of Raiden.

Raiden yawned, blinking around the deserted section of the plateau they were using. "Dunno. She went somewhere with Uncle Itachi last night."

Lee frowned as he fed more cold deer meat to Yo-chan, who'd finished his bottle. Itachi hadn't been in the house this morning. He looked at the triplets. They were puffy-faced at being woken up so early. "Where is your father?"

They gave identical shrugs, followed by identical yawns.

Done with Yo-chan, Lee strapped the full boy to his back in a sling he'd fashioned lovingly for this very purpose. "Yosh! Let us begin by an invigorating run!"

"How far?" groaned Wyatt.

"We are training to go up against the most fearsome opponents known to-"

"_How far_?" all the boys chorused in dread. Emiko and Etsuko only looked at their new sensei with worshipful eyes. They felt very grown, having a sensei. They hadn't even been allowed to attend the academy back home.

"Twenty miles," Lee crowed euphorically.

Ryota fought back his whine. It would have been un-ninja-like. He settled for pointing at the girls. "I don't think they can make it. Let's cut it back to two miles, okay Lee-sensei?"

Lee turned to his students with an unsmiling look. The boys drew back slightly. "I have permission from their own fathers to push them as hard as I want to," Lee said conversationally. His eyes were another story. They were hard, dark beads of suspicion. "You wouldn't be trying to get out of your agreement to be my pupil and slave, now would you Ryota?"

Ryota shook his head frantically, groping behind him for the support of his brothers.

"Good." Lee straightened up. "Onward!"

They began running. Yo-chan bounced happily on Lee's back.

* * *

The boom of chakra went unnoticed. Itachi, Gaara, Yanagi and Aimi stood near the fire pit, glancing around. It was very early, the sun barely clearing the horizon. The cabins were silent, the house was silent, and the children Itachi had last seen by the fire pit where nowhere to be found. Itachi went into to the house to see if anyone was awake. Yanagi followed him, hoping to see her brothers. Aimi followed Yanagi and her uncle, intent on completing her mission.

-oOo-

Gaara, recovered from his bout of nausea at Booming, remained outside. The plateau was serene, quiet in the bright rays of sunlight that made him squint. The heat was comparable to Suna. He felt comfortable.

He was moving to set his bag down when light, unearthly singing came to him. He looked around for the source.

_"First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is…"_

The voice was high, interspersed with mad giggles that led into near-hysterical laughter. Then the laughter would die down and more verses would be sung. Spotting no one, Gaara finally looked up and saw a jutsu too familiar to be believed.

_"The lock upon my garden gate's a snail, that's what it is…"_

No. Just no.

_"The caterpillar sheds his skin to find the butterfly within… FIRST there is a mountain…"_

Itachi had said nothing of there being a version of Gaara here. The man would not have made such an omission unless…

The sand sphere, which had been slowly revolving, parted and poured back into the gourd it came from as a small copy of Gaara landed lightly on his feet. He was naked. He was covered in dried sperm, with small tufts of red and white dotting his flesh here and there. Especially on his genitals. He held what looked like a tattered, dripping ball of the red and white in one hand, his eyes lazily taking in the stunned man before him.

"Mmmmmmmm," this short creature purred. "I'd heard there was a version of me in Itachi's world. Do you sing?" And off he went, skipping and singing around Gaara as he rubbed that smelly tuft in his hand over his face.

* * *

Itachi surmised the children were with Lee as he inspected the triplet's empty room. He murmured comforting words to Yanagi's disappointment, patting her shoulder awkwardly.

Aimi, meanwhile, went to the room she sought and was not seen again for some time.

* * *

At the same moment that Aimi disappeared, Wyatt, who'd been running doggedly at Raiden's heels, also vanished. Since he was last in the line of running kids, this went unnoticed by anyone but Raiden himself, who felt his friend's presence disappear. He glanced behind himself and saw nothing. Still running, he faced forward and opened his senses, trying to locate where Wyatt might have gone. Why hadn't his friend told him he was planning on ditching? Raiden would have been all for it. Unable to locate Wyatt's presence anywhere in the cosmos, Raiden stopped running. He watched absently as the others pulled ahead.

He had a bad feeling in his gut.

* * *

Sasuke heard a sucking sound and woke up to find himself curled around Demon. He stretched. Demon murmured, yawned, and woke up beside him. Sasuke stopped in the process of kissing his demon to full wakefulness when he heard high shrieking outside the house.

"Fuck, they better not have gone after Queenie again," Demon snarled. He was up and out the door as he tugged on his pants, Sasuke right behind him.

-oOo-

All occupants of all the cabins and the house had been brought outside by the noise. As Queenie was one of the spectators, it was quickly deduced that he wasn't the one doing the screaming. All eyes went to the fire pit.

Two red-haired men with flashing green eyes were engaged in a furious fight. The larger of the two fought in silence, but the smaller, shorter one screamed as his sand attacks were bypassed by identical sand jutsu and his face pummeled unmercifully. It was noted with interest that the smaller redhead was naked. He was bleeding.

Gaara got off of the atrocity he'd been killing to walk stiffly to Itachi, who was suddenly staring intently at the ground. Not a sound could be heard besides Chibi-Gaara's sniffling and whined curses. All eyes were on this new Gaara and Itachi. Everyone edged closer so as not to miss a word.

"I do believe you've neglected to mention something," Gaara stated with admirable calm. "Let us think. What could it be? You told me of the many Narutos. You told me of the many Sasukes. What could you have possibly left out, Itachi? Hm?"

Itachi actually shuffled his feet, his face reddening before the avid eyes of the audience. Psycho-Sasuke immediately stalked forward to demand who this newcomer thought he was, interrogating Itachi like that. Stud-Sasuke punched him viciously to silence, keen to hear this drama.

"Itachi?" Gaara said in a dangerously low voice.

Rasta-Sasuke had been watching and listening, but the majority of his attention was on the fact that Blondie wasn't anywhere outside that he could see. He spoke without thinking, wondering where Blondie had gotten off to. "What's to know? Chibi-Gaara's obviously a version of you. Get over it and deal the way the rest of us have."

Gaara turned his head slowly to regard the speaker. The dreads named him as the one who hated Itachi with such a passion. He left the elder Uchiha now to walk the few paces to where Rasta-Sasuke stood. All heads turned to follow his progress, mesmerized by the stately grace of this Kazekage. He positively exuded violence, which quenched the bloodthirst everyone had been feeling quite nicely. A few even licked their lips in anticipation. Not a soul there failed to hope that Rasta-Sasuke would be the next one on the receiving end of this new Gaara's wrath. They edged a little closer still, tightening the circle around Rasta-Sasuke and the new Gaara.

Gaara faced Rasta-Sasuke and stared him down. "Suppose you tell me about this Chibi-Gaara." The very name was an insult of transcendent proportions. He clasped his hands behind his back to mask their trembling. He'd never in all his life been so enraged. He was almost blind with it.

Rasta-Sasuke clocked the way the familiar green eyes held none of the mirth and amusement at life he was used to seeing in Chibi-Gaara. Whoever he was, this Gaara was a different cat entirely. Dangerous. Very. He cut his eyes to where Chibi-Gaara was climbing out of the fire pit.

"Well, for starters," Rasta-Sasuke said, refusing to be intimidated. "I know he has a Bijuu and you don't. You might want to think twice before pounding on my friend there, you stuck up fu-"

Had they not been watching unblinkingly, the crowd would have missed the way the sand lashed out from the gourd with blinding speed and knocked Rasta-Sasuke unconscious with a swift, savage blow to his head. The new Gaara turned calmly from the prostrate man at his feet. The crowd moved with him, giving him room as he turned to find Itachi with his eyes. Everyone glanced eagerly from Itachi to the new Gaara and back as tension mounted. Delicious, hungry tension.

"You and I need to have a serious talk I think." Gaara said to Itachi. Itachi nodded heavily. The two were allowed to go into the house alone. The thought of what this new Gaara would do if anyone tried to interrupt was not pleasant.

-oOo-

Demon broke the silence and tension with a shaky laugh. "Man! That's my bro for you, ever the social butterfly."

Fem-Naruto spotted Chibi-Gaara fondling something in his hands as he sat sniveling by the fire pit. He narrowed his eyes at it, edging closer.

"I like him," Jailbird-Sasuke was saying. "He's badass."

"I confess, I've been waiting to see Chibi-Gaara get his for awhile now," Killerbee chuckled. "Perverted bastard."

Kage-Naruto stepped over Rasta-Sasuke. "Is this new addition going to be helping us in the upcoming war?" He fired this question at Demon as he got right up into his face. "We shouldn't be bringing more people here unless they are. This plateau is crowded enough as it is."

Sasuke took exception to Kage-Naruto's high-handed bitchassedness and told him so. Jailbird-Sasuke berated Sasuke for talking to his man like that, and Demon got on _him. _

For some reason Kenpachi decided that as the strongest one there, he should be the one to train everyone, which pissed Kage-Naruto off to the point where he threw a punch at the scarred captain. Kenpachi nearly sliced off the burly blonde's hand at the wrist, which had Jailbird-Sasuke leaping at him with his own sword, which put Yumichika and Ikkaku into the fray. Akiko and Kenta joined in at seeing their lovers begin battle. Kenji went to help his twin and Asami and Akane rushed to lend assistance to their sister. That brought Hitsugaya and Ibiki into it, but by then Chibi-Gaara had begun screaming again.

Those not engaged in the brawl, saw that Fem-Naruto had him by the throat and was brandishing a fluff of red and white in his hand, screaming something about a destroyed fan. Stud-Sasuke grabbed the piece of fluff, sniffed it, and roared. Chibi-Gaara, quite through with being attacked, released his seal. 'Bee, seeing this, sighed and accessed his own Bijuu partway, which caused Demon to access his, which caused Sasuke to go Level Two. Another brawl was started near the fire pit.

Kaito decided to throw his lot in with Akane. Juro and Yukio went to jump into the fight uncle Naruto was in. Hiroto guarded the smokehouse and their stores of food from flying jutsu with Shouta.

Inside the house, Gaara cocked his ear at the deafening noise. He used his sand to envelope the house completely, protecting it from whatever was going on outside. He wasn't done with Itachi. He resumed their argument in a furious shout.

-oOo-

Psycho-Sasuke sat with Queenie and Kit, watching both fights and eating honeyed cashews that Kit passed to him. While watching, Pyscho-Sasuke learned that Kit was trying to quit smoking, and so always had a supply of nuts on hand. Kit was asked by Psycho-Sasuke if he'd seen Psycho-Naruto. Kit said he hadn't. Queenie observed that Blondie was also missing from the action.

The three sat munching and watching the fight, wagering some of Kit's walnuts on who the winner of each brawl would be. When he woke, Rasta-Sasuke crawled to them and wordlessly held his hand out for some of the nuts. He was given a generous handful.

* * *

Lee stopped them at the ten-mile mark. He turned to his students and assessed them.

Emiko and Etsuko had run with flashing speed, neither tired nor winded in the slightest by the exertion. Masaru had fallen back a bit, but hadn't stopped. Neither had Ryota. That was expected of his students. Kei, on the other hand, was slung across Raiden's shoulders. He was wheezing in broken gasps, barely conscious. Yo-chan was asleep comfortably on Lee's back, drooling down the Jounin's neck.

Lee's sharp eyes noticed Wyatt missing. He scanned the way they'd come, looking for a lagging figure. He saw no one and frowned. Before he could ask what had happened to Wyatt, Raiden came up to him and dropped Kei at his feet. "Lee-sensei, Wyatt's gone. I can't sense him anywhere."

That got everyone's attention. The kids all looked around as if they could spot Wyatt. As if Raiden hadn't just said the boy was nowhere to be found.

Lee scratched his chin thoughtfully, staring down at the scared wide eyes of Raiden. "Was he taken by the enemy?" he asked the boy in a low voice.

"What enemy?"

"Madara, the creatures here, Izanami. The enemies we have, Raiden, don't be dense with me!" Lee's voice was colder and sharper than anyone had ever heard it.

"N-no," Raiden stammered. "I would have sensed or seen any of those. There was no one, nothing. He was behind me one moment, gone the next."

"Perhaps he went to his world?" Lee asked.

"No. He can't Boom or get there without me or Aimi…"

"What is it?" Lee questioned at seeing the slack look settle on Raiden's face.

"After you asked me where she was this morning, I tried sensing her. Aimi. I found her on our home world, with Uncle Itachi and Gaara. She was there…but now I can't sense her either. Like, _at all._"

Lee clapped his hands smartly, raising his eyes to the rest of the now-scared students. "My pupils! We have our first mission! Spread out, we will not rest until Wyatt and Aimi are found! Use whatever sense or ability is natural to you," he added with a look at the twin girls. "Should you run into trouble, retreat immediately and locate me. Go!"

The children disappeared in various directions. All except Raiden. "But Lee-sensei, I just said that they're nowhere on this world! What sense does it make to search for them?"

Lee bent to Raiden and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Would you sense them if they were dead?"

Raiden gasped. Pain twisted through him at the thought of his friend and sister dead. "I d-don't know. They're not dead, I know it!" He was hyperventilating.

"No, you don't," Lee said somberly as he stood to his full height again. He adjusted Yo-chan on his back. "And I will commit seppuku for the shame of getting Wyatt killed while he was in my care if he is in fact dead. But for now, we must search for them, Raiden-san. Dead or alive, we must search."

Raiden nodded miserably. He transformed and flew in one direction as Lee sped off in another.

* * *

Hiroko, Sumiko and their husbands were not involved in either of the brawls. Psycho-Sasuke, Kit, Queenie and Rasta-Sasuke grew bored of watching when they didn't end after a few hours. All of them congregated in Hiroko's little cabin.

There was no kitchen or stove, but there were fruits and other edible roots that Hiroko had gathered. She offered these, for which Queenie nearly kissed her feet. He'd been living off Kit's nuts.

Hiroko smiled at Queenie uncertainly. "I have more," she said pleasantly. "If you ever get hungry."

Queenie smiled back, liking this gorgeous woman. "You're an angel. Bless you, sweetheart."

Sumiko stifled a giggle. "She's called the Angel of Death back home."

The story of how that name came about was told as the small group ate companionably. Psycho-Sasuke interrupted near the end. "I've never heard of Genjutsu being used to such an extent. You surpass even me with Sharingan. You must teach me."

"Oh," Hiroko demurred, her face red. "I'm not a good teacher. Half of what I do, I do instinctively, without thinking about how I do it."

Konohamaru stroked his bride's hair lovingly, looking at Queenie. "You. You're Uchiha, right? You must have Sharingan."

Queenie looked at the large man, at ease since none of these people had ever attacked him. "That bloodshot eye thing? No."

Udon pushed his glasses up on his nose, leaning forward. "Are you sure? Even Kit has some measure of the Bijuu in him, so it's possible you also have Sharingan."

Queenie munched berries, reclining on Kit. "I don't. Nor have I ever seen anyone in my family with what you're describing."

Kit took over the conversation. "What I'd like to know is how you people do those amazing things."

"What things?" Psycho-Sasuke asked.

"Well, like that fire blowing thing. I've seen you guys do that and other stuff. Is it magic?"

There was roaring laughter. Even Psycho-Sasuke snorted. Only Queenie and Kit looked perplexed.

"It's chakra," Konohamaru wheezed, wiping his eyes. "Wyatt's the one who can do magic. But everyone has chakra, even you. And you," he pointed at Queenie.

"So we could learn to do those things?" Kit asked with interest.

"If you learned to access your chakra," Udon said. "Why don't you both try now?"

Queenie waved a hand, reaching for a fruit that looked like a purple banana. "I'm not the fighting type. I prefer peaceful pursuits."

Kit was game, however. As the fights raged on outside, shaking the plateau, he sat and tried to follow the quiet, guiding words of Konohamaru and Udon, Hiroko and Sumiko. Psycho-Sasuke's mind wandered, wondering where Psycho-Naruto could be.

Rasta-Sasuke sat slightly apart. He hadn't participated in the conversation. He listened to the growls and curses outside and thought about Blondie.

* * *

Aimi had learned much in her time in Yanagi's past and future. The first thing she'd learned, with much difficulty, was to keep herself separate from the flow of time she inhabited. If not done, she would age as Time passed, swept along on its currents. That had happened already, during those horrible five years. She'd been fifteen before she figured out a way to create the Corridor.

The Corridor was just that, a hall that was outside Time. It was suffused with the same yellow light as the timeline itself. She suspected the Corridor was strictly in her mind, her brain's way of translating complicated concepts into simpler terms, but it sufficed. She'd been able to look up at the Corridor ceiling and see the currents of Time sweeping by like a suspended river, all images of Yanagi's past and future. She'd selected the moment in time when she'd left Yanagi's room, filling the void her absence had left. But first she'd needed to place herself back in Time's flow, reverse it, and thus reduce her age to what it had been.

That had been next to impossible to do. The effort it had caused had left her so weakened she'd feared she'd die before she could get back. She knew that she would never be able to reverse herself like that again. She wasn't even sure how she'd done it the first time, only that she'd been desperate to get back.

So it was of utmost importance to enter the Corridor immediately upon entering a person's personal timeline, Aimi concluded. She did so now, when she entered the timeline that would take her to whom she wanted.

Not quite outside of her plane of existence, she Pulled Wyatt to her. She would need him. He arrived shocked and out of breath.

"Are you all right," she asked him.

He was looking around at the moving river of pictures on the Corridor ceiling, mouth agape. "Yeah. Was running. Where are we?" He saw a baby being born amid rain and thunder. "Oh my god, is that-"

Aimi interrupted him, keeping an eye on the moving pictures. "Running? Moving? Weird."

"Huh?"

"I thought I couldn't Pull moving objects to myself. Maybe I couldn't Pull Emiko because that alien was running too fast."

Wyatt glanced down at her briefly. "You're not making sense." He looked back up at the pictures. Whole lives were taking place in them, but there was no sound. It was like watching a moving on rewind. "Aimi, what-"

But Aimi had spotted the point in time she wanted approaching fast. She'd grabbed Wyatt and leaped into the flow of Time.

-oOo-

Hours later they were back in the Corridor with the person Aimi had selected to be the teacher they sought. She sat quietly with Wyatt as the teacher gazed up at the images. When the teacher had been educated sufficiently, Aimi ventured a question. Her voice quavered; she was deathly afraid of this person after witnessing what they were capable of.

"Do you…do you understand why we need you?" Aimi asked.

The teacher nodded without speaking, staring at Aimi intently.

"Can you do it?" Aimi added. "There are a lot of them and all they do is fight. We're going up against Akatsuki and there's no time-"

"I can do it," the teacher said in a low voice. "I may need help, depending on the situation, but let me see them first."

Aimi nodded. Wyatt gazed at the teacher in dumbstruck fascination. Aimi was right to be afraid. He was afraid too. This person was more dangerous than anyone he'd encountered on Raiden's world. Even he could sense that.

* * *

They stepped out of the Corridor and into the setting rays of the sun. The plateau rang with noise, bellows, curses, and chakra. Aimi looked at the teacher. "See? We really need you."

The teacher said nothing, only walked toward the distant cluster of cabins. Chakra was visible from this distance of perhaps a mile, shooting into the air as their owners fought and snarled.

Aimi came upon the fracas first. Wyatt was beside her, a breath away from orbing himself to safety. The teacher stood behind them, surveying the scene.

-oOo-

At some point in time, the two brawls had become one. Itachi and Gaara had been dragged into it. The main house was destroyed. Yanagi stood to one side, shielding herself with her sand and shrieking encouragement at her father as he went head to head with a partially released Chibi-Gaara.

Aimi was tired from all she'd done today, but she sucked air into her lungs and screamed at the top of her voice. "**STOP! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!**"

Everyone's ears rang. The fighting stopped immediately as all turned to assess this new threat. At discovering that it was only Aimi, the snarling and growls resumed, swords were drawn back to slice again and hand seals were performed.

The teacher stepped forward.

Demon saw first, Kyuubi chakra dying away as his mouth fell open. Sasuke saw Demon, then turned to look at what he was staring at. He gasped. One by one the others turned to inspect this person. Some knew who it was. Others didn't. Ibiki did. Itachi did. Gaara did. And Demon and Sasuke.

Uzumaki Kushina stared hard at the group of silent men and women, blue eyes blazing with leashed fury.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: As I'm posting this from my flash and not my comp, it's too much trouble for me to locate, copy and paste the different sasu/narus on here. I'll get it next time. Regarding this chap and our newest arrival, chapters 1 and 4 of Bonded deal with her. But since this site has done away with all previous scene breaks, it may be rough reading until I can get to my fics and edit them all again. Bullshit, in my opinion. (still love this site for giving me a platform to share my work, though) -.-

Yeah, so...that's it. I hope I replied to all reviews, since this site isn't showing them all on the review page I have trouble getting to them sometimes. I LOVE your reviews, especially TheBrainlessScare. He/she sent me one that just lit me up inside. Thank you to everyone who keeps reading! Oh, and things will pick up in pace shortly, so sory for this slow chap.

Standard line about typos applies.

* * *

Chapter 35

There was silence after the gasp from her son. Kushina knew which one was hers thanks to that moving river of images her granddaughter had shown her.

Her granddaughter. And if the long tale the girl had told was to be believed, she also had a grandson. At any rate, she had seen the birth of both in those images.

-oOo-

She had been in her room at her house, quietly dying and waiting for Naruto to come home from celebrating. He had made Chuunin the day before. She knew he was out with Sasuke.

The air beside her bed had split apart and out had walked a stout black-haired child who had a familiar look to her features. The tallish boy with her was no one she'd seen before. She had thought them spirits that had come to guide her to the afterlife. She had closed her eyes in acceptance, only regretful that she wouldn't be able to bid her son goodbye.

"Grandmother?" It had been the girl, addressing her in tones of utmost reverance. She'd opened her eyes to ask whose grandmother the girl thought she was but the child was speaking to the boy beside her. "Quickly, Wyatt. Heal her before my dad comes in."

The boy had lain his palms on her, filling her body with heat that erased the pain she'd lived with for so long. Strength returned to her limbs. She felt whole, vital, and healthy again. As she'd sat up, the girl grabbed her hand, closed her eyes and…

She didn't know what had happened, but they'd appeared in a yellow hall of some sort. She was shocked to see that the girl's eyes were now yellow as well, with black corneas, where previously they had been dark blue. The girl had sat down cross-legged, the boy mimicking her, and asked her to please sit with them.

"My name is Uzumaki Aimi," the girl began.

What followed had been a fantastical account of her son's life. She'd listened to the twists and turns Naruto's life had taken after her death. She listened as Wyatt's powers were explained, Aimi's powers, someone called Raiden. This was Aimi's brother, she learned. Sasuke was their father. How that came about widened her eyes, but the girl was speaking too quickly to allow questions.

Sasuke had died. Raiden had gone to retrieve him from the underworld, which angered the goddess Izanami, which brought them to the reason she was now alive when she should be dead. At seeing that Aimi was done speaking at last, she was finally able to speak herself.

"I don't understand anything of what you just said."

Aimi wilted. Then she perked up. "Let me show you then." And she'd pointed to the ceiling. Images and pictures flowed past, moving as if in real life. They streamed from the moment she had died and Naruto sat crying by her bedside. She watched, transfixed at a scene that for her had never taken place.

It was as the girl said, she saw. And yet, "You said you have the power to manipulate Time?" she'd asked.

"Yes," Aimi answered.

"How am I able to see these pictures then?"

Aimi worried her lip, apparently clueless as to how to go about answering. Wyatt had intervened.

"I think," he'd said in a slow voice, "that this place is something Aimi's mind created. As such, she has complete power over it. What she wants to happen here will happen. She can control who sees what. It's actually called Projection. I can do it too."

She'd ignored the two children then, staring at the pictures.

Since this was her son's past, she did not see what happened between Raiden and Izanami. Only the aftermath as Sasuke came and released Naruto from the prison of Kyuubi's mind. Her heart ached in her breast at seeing how her long-dead husband had aided their grieving son. It ached at seeing the pain Naruto had gone through when Sasuke had died. The last she'd seen of the Uchiha, he'd been Naruto's staunch friend and supporter. He'd become much more than that over the years.

She'd watched for hours. She'd been dimly aware of Aimi disappearing to someplace with a sucking sound, but she did not pay it any mind, engrossed as she was in her son's life. It was a miraculous thing to see him grow and live before her very eyes this way. Later, when Aimi returned with the same sucking sound, she heard the girl whisper to Wyatt that she'd been inside Kushina's timeline, scrolling through her past.

Finally, when she was done watching and caught up on current events, she understood everything completely. It stretched the limits of her mind, thinking of these extraordinary abilities, and the manipulations of Time, but she understood what was required. There was much she wanted to say and ask, but she pushed it aside to focus on the problem at hand. When Aimi had asked if she could do it, she'd merely nodded, already forming strategies. That she was required at all for this situation said much.

-oOo-

But now here she stood and they all gaped at her like simpletons. If she had the right of it, most of the blondes present had no idea who she was. Scanning those familiar faces, she noted that two who were supposed to be present were absent. There had been nothing in her son's memories to indicate why this should be the case, nor indeed any knowledge of their whereabouts whatsoever.

Naruto had grown to be broad and strong, like her own father had been. She watched as he stepped forward hesitantly, his eyes already turning glassy. "Mom?" he whispered.

She did not answer. His wet eyes fueled her anger. She'd noticed a disgusting amount of tears from him over the years when she'd been watching his past. So her son had grown soft? She'd fix that.

* * *

Demon stepped forward, the only movement from anyone. He was willing to bet that many of the people present had no clue who they were looking at, but they were silent, feeling the killing intent from this person. He had no idea why his mom was angry –she'd always been angry at something or the other- he only cared whether or not he was looking at a ghost. "Mom?"

Almost every head first whipped to Demon at hearing this word, then turned slowly to regard the woman with wonder. Kit, Kage-Naruto and Fem-Naruto were especially still, cataloguing this woman with disbelief.

-oOo-

Kit stared hard but could not reconcile this person to his vague memories of his own mother. To be fair, his mom had died when he was very small, not even in school yet. He remembered short red hair, a laughing voice, a ready smile. Soft, comforting arms that held him whenever he'd gotten into a scrape. He remembered his mother as always smelling of butterscotch toffees.

This woman that Demon called 'mom' was nothing like that. Her red hair was thick and long, hanging in a tail down her back. She had longish bangs that obscured her eyes when not swept aside. She was compact, athletic, moving with the grace of an assassin. Her eyes held no warmth, only anger. Potent anger. This woman was probably unpleasant, he concluded.

-oOo-

Kage-Naruto, and the Kyuubi within him, was alert. Every atom of his being was focused on the woman. He could sense the violence, but that was negligible next to one fact. This was his mother. His mother, whom he'd never known, had been unable to find information on, even after he'd attained the rank of Hokage. Kakashi had told him her name, but that was all. He hadn't even known what she looked like. He took a shaky step forward.

Fem-Naruto was going through the same emotions, too shocked and numb with awe to do more that stare with his mouth open. He, too, slowly closed in on the silent red-haired woman. Was it really his mother?

-oOo-

Itachi watched. He had never really spoken to The Fourth's wife, but he remembered that she'd been singularly feared. The only other kunoichi who'd come remotely close in respect and status had been Tsunade.

Sasuke well remembered his lover's mother. She seemed just as fierce risen from the dead as she had in his youth. He kept his distance, watching her and the way Demon approached her. His eyes skipped briefly to Aimi and understanding began to come. Sort of. There was much he didn't know about this situation, but he intended to find out.

-oOo-

Ibiki smirked. In her youth, Kushina had done a stint in the Torture and Interrogation unit of ANBU. She'd actually been his superior for a short time. People who thought he was the best that section of ANBU had ever seen obviously had not been around when Kushina had run it. A shiver of pleasant anticipation ran down his spine. Things were about to get very interesting around here.

-oOo-

Demon reached her first. He stretched out a hesitant hand, lightly touching his mother's shoulder. Her top left her shoulders and back bare. Her pants were tight, coming to her knees. She carried no weapons that he could see. Her skin was warm. "Mom? It _is _you," he breathed. The tears fell, coming profusely. "How-"

Kushina backhanded her son with all the force she'd been incapable of for so many years. Infused with chakra as the blow was, he went flying, almost knocking over Kage-Naruto and Fem-Naruto, who caught him. There were gasps. Everyone took several steps backward as she slowly advanced on her son and his look-alikes. She stood over them, hands on her hips. Three pairs of blue eyes looked up at her. She spoke for the first time.

"How am I here? Have you grown dim as well as soft, Naruto? Look behind me to your daughter. The explanation for my presence should have come to you immediately, but I see you're too busy being stupid to put two and two together."

Kage-Naruto re-evaluated his dawning pleasure at meeting his mother at last. He cried out as her foot struck Demon swift and hard in the face, breaking his nose with a loud crack. He surged to his feet. "I don't care whose mother you are, you are not-"

Kushina calmly stared up at this massive version of her son as he shouted down at her.

Kage-Naruto stopped his tirade. He grabbed his chest, suddenly gasping and choking. His face first reddened, then began turning blue. He sank to his knees, where Jailbird-Sasuke rushed to his side.

Kushina raised her eyes to the watching group. "How I am here is unimportant. I will summarize the situation, as I see it."

Kage-Naruto began wheezing. His eyes rolled up in his head.

Sasuke edged toward Demon and helped him to his feet, trying not to draw Kushina's attention. He checked Demon's nose as he listened to what she was saying. He felt Aimi come to stand by his side, holding on to the back of his shirt. She was trembling. Wyatt was right behind her. He didn't look happy either.

"Akatsuki, a group I have been briefed on, has acquired all but my son's Bijuu. The goddess of the underworld has joined them with the demons in the hopes of retrieving Raiden, whom I've yet to meet. They have already made an attempt to capture him, at which time they encountered Aimi and Wyatt. Akatsuki has been sent to another world. You believe you have but six months to train before they come back to repeat the attempt." Kushina paused, her eyes flashing with a level of rage that did not bode well. "And here you sit arguing?" Her voice dropped a register, full of contempt and disgust. "Have you all lost your senses? Nothing, and I mean _nothing_, is more important than averting the coming catastrophe. Explanations and questions can wait. All that matters is that you train, immediately, and become as strong as possible in the time given to you."

"I never signed on for any training," Rasta-Sasuke spat. "Choke who you want, I'm not doing shit-"

Kushina spared him a side-long glance. Rasta-Sasuke's eyes bulged as he began coughing and gasping for air. No one went to his assistance. She resumed speaking.

"I cannot imagine why you feel your petty differences outweigh the threat at hand, but no matter. I have been brought to take charge of your training. All of you are now under my command. You will do as I say, when I say, how I say, for as long as I say to do it."

Chibi-Gaara, thoroughly loving this woman already, piped up a question. "And if we don't?"

Kushina searched the group with her eyes until she located the owner of that cheerful voice. It was a red-haired boy, naked. She recalled from the images that this was a version of the current Kazekage. "There is no reason for me to state threats; you will do as I say regardless to if you want to or not. You do not have free will. If you will not heed me of your own accord, I can make you do so in other ways." But that would take time she didn't feel like wasting, Kushina thought.

Chibi-Gaara shivered deliciously.

Kushina surveyed the group. "Is there anything unclear?"

Akane, already sporting a massive case of hero worship, tentatively raised her hand. Kushina nodded at her to speak. "How long will you be staying?"

"Until I am no longer needed," came the reply.

Hitsugaya studied the woman with unblinking eyes. Her reiatsu was nearly off the charts. It reminded him of Demon's, Bijuu chakra aside. It must be where he got it from. "I and my companions are not here to train," he said carefully to the woman. He watched closely to make sure whatever she'd done to Kage-Naruto and Rasta-Sasuke wasn't also done to him. Whatever it was, it had required little reiatsu on her part, yet those two were now so purple from lack of oxygen that he feared they would soon die. "We are here to assist. I'm not sure we fall under your jurisdiction of command." By which he meant that they would not be following her orders.

Kushina got the message loud and clear. "You will do as I say," was all she said. Period. No 'or else', just that simple statement, as if it was fact. Hitsugaya exchanged a glance with the other Shinigami. He did not like where this was going.

Kushina looked down at where Kage-Naruto and Rasta-Sasuke were in the process of passing out. She released the jutsu, watching as they gasped and gulped for air. When he could speak, Kage-Naruto got to his feet with the assistance of Jailbird-Sasuke. "You b-"

A blue glance, given beneath feathery red bangs.

Kage-Naruto fell silent. His lungs were killing him, but even now Kyuubi was dispelling the pain. He watched the woman warily. Mother or not, he wasn't taking anyone's orders. This bitch would soon learn. Meanwhile, he needed to know what it was she'd done to him. He would bide his time until he found out.

A few minutes of silence went by as Kushina took in the strange constellations. When she lowered her head, it was to regard them with a neutral look.

She wondered if they would accept her with no further protests. She understood how unnatural it was for them to be around other version of themselves, that it was this that had them fighting non-stop, but she didn't care. Neither should they. Their stupidity was almost too much to believe. All she cared about was getting results. There was no time to waste. "Now that all has been made clear to you," she said quietly, "assemble yourselves in this order: Tokubetsu Jounin there. Jounin there. Chuunin there and Genin over here in front."

Aimi, Yanagi and Wyatt were the only ones in front where the Genin had been instructed to stand. The Shinigami did not budge. Kushina left them for the moment. Kage-Naruto also had not moved.

"Is there a problem?" she asked him.

"I am kage, not Jounin or Tokubetsu Jounin. By your own classification, I am the strongest one here." His tone was smug, yet smoldering with anger and injured pride. She walked up to him.

Kage-Naruto held his breath, expecting her to attack his lungs again. The blow to his groin was a surprise, doubling him over. She rested a single fingertip on his head. A second went by. Then Kage-Naruto began screaming. Jailbird-Sasuke drew his sword and ran at her. Kushina didn't even bother to turn her head, but Jailbird-Sasuke was suddenly spluttering as if he couldn't breathe.

She adjusted the flow of her chakra and Kage-Naruto's screams lessened enough for him to here her composed voice. "Do I have your attention?" Kage-Naruto gave a jerky, frantic nod beneath her fingertip. The veins in his neck and forehead bulged with the effort not to scream. "You are nothing here. Not kage or anything, unless I say you are. However. Since you have deemed yourself the strongest, you will be our guard tonight. Whether or not you are indeed stronger than anyone else here remains to be seen. Is that clear?" Another hasty nod. She released him and Jailbird-Sasuke both. They lay in the dirt, shivering.

Demon swallowed hard. Sasuke was close to his side, along with Ibiki, Itachi and the other Sasukes. Jailbird-Sasuke had needed to crawl. Kage-Naruto was with them too, now. Fem-Naruto was with the Jounin group. After a moment, Psycho-Sasuke went to stand with the Genin, face red. Chibi-Gaara came to join Demon with the rest of the Tokubetsu Jounin. It was noted that neither Gaara, both kages, complained about which group they belonged in.

Kushina saw Kit and Queenie standing apart from any group, alone. She walked over to them. "I understand your circumstances," she told them. They regarded her nervously. "For now, you may both go and stand with the Genin group." They did as she instructed. Kushina made her way to the Shinigami. She studied them a moment.

She had information on their world and abilities thanks to the images from the Corridor. She did not want to group them with the rest, yet they were tools she intended to use. After some deliberation, she made a decision. "You," she pointed at Kenpachi. "I can tell you are the strongest of your group. I am putting you temporarily in charge of them. You are under my command. Come."

Before Kenpachi could protest, she'd beckoned him to the center of the circle the others had formed with their groups. "What do you want, woman?" He, like everyone, was focused on the feel of her reiatsu and trying to analyze what she'd done to Kage-Naruto.

_What I want is to demonstrate, emphatically, that resistance to me is futile, _Kushina thought but did not say. Kenpachi would serve to achieve the respect and fear it might otherwise take days to establish. She did not have days to make these imbeciles fall in line. In the center of the circle she stopped and turned to face him. "Draw your sword. Come at me with everything you have. Remove your eye patch, I know it inhibits your chakra."

Kenpachi felt a frisson of pleasure ripple through him. He was being challenged. Still…"Why?"

Kushina did not mince words. "You won't obey me unless I show you I'm stronger. Neither will anyone else. Will you come or shall I come to you?" Her voice was low, hard and husky.

Kenpachi removed his patch. Everyone save himself and his opponent winced or cried out at his reiatsu. It spread out to be felt over the entire plateau.

* * *

Miles away, Lee looked in the direction of their camp and frowned. Even chakra-challenged as he was, he could feel that power. Etsuko and Emiko had just come up to him. The triplets had joined him some time before. Neither Wyatt nor Aimi had been found. Raiden had not returned. "Come," Lee said. "We will go back. I sense trouble."

His students followed his speedy pace, exhausted, but too frightened to voice it. The twins did not complain. Yo-chan gnawed on a hunk of meat Lee had given him.

* * *

Kenpachi drew his sword but did not make the first move. He regretted this three minutes later.

Kushina casually walked up to him and raised her hand as if to strike. Kenpachi nonchalantly raised the arm not holding his sword to block the blow, humoring her, but Kushina grabbed his arm instead. His entire body ignited in pain. His eyes bulged from their sockets. Kushina took his sword easily, but he didn't notice. He was too busy calling up his reiatsu in defense.

The chakra the man put out was deadly in its intensity. Kushina considered escalating her jutsu, but that would kill him. She settled for matching his countering efforts, secretly surprised and pleased that he maintained enough wits to do so. This one showed promise. She held the jutsu a moment more, making her point, before she released him. She stepped away, his sword in her hand.

Kenpachi wasn't beaten. He looked up at her with his small eyes and calculated strategy. The pleasure he felt at finding such an opponent was held strictly in check. This was not someone to grin and make glib remarks to when fighting, he could see. If people such as these kept showing up, he'd have to kiss Soul Society goodbye. Between Kisame and this woman, he didn't care if he ever went back to his duties again.

The fight was brief. Kushina matched him in Shunshin, evaded his devastating blows, and pumped out an amount of chakra that wasn't comparable to Kenpachi's but more than enough to combat it. It was certainly more than most of the shinobi present could claim outside any of the Narutos. The one time she allowed a blow to land on her, it was so she could place Kenpachi's sword at his throat. The blow buckled her knees, but the captain was forced to yield. That serrated blade was in the process of parting his skin and would shortly slice through his windpipe.

It was not outright victory. The fight could have gone on longer. Kenpachi had a lot left in him, but the point had been made; there would be no clear winner. And many suspected that Kushina had held back, including Kenpachi himself. He stood and took the sword she handed him, watching as she turned her back and went to face the groups again. They reformed so that the circle now became several straight lines, each consisting of the different groups.

-oOo-

Kushina was not winded. The fight, if it could be called that, had been invigorating. She saw that all eyes now regarded her with the proper trepidation she would need in order to be effective with them. She looked at Kage-Naruto. She was about to speak to him regarding his guard duty when a small commotion arrived in the camp.

* * *

Lee came running up ahead of a cloud of dust. The twins were by his side, eyes shining. Yo-chan screeched a greeting to his parents at seeing them, reaching his hands toward them. Stud-Sasuke started to go to him, but Kushina gave him a look that kept him in place.

Kushina prevented the girls, who'd been handed the baby, from going to their parents too. "Stop. Your parents are no longer who you report to. Come here."

The girls looked at each other, shrugged, and went to the new woman. Close to, they hesitated, feeling power and danger. They sniffed for the woman's scent. Yo-chan stared up at the woman with large, bright eyes.

Kushina inspected these children in her own way. Satisfied, she took the baby and handed him to Lee. "Go stand with the Genin group," she told the blonde girls. Aimi beckoned at them to show them which group this was. The twins went, aware of the consequence for disobedience without being told. "You have been put in charge of this baby, as well as others," Kushina said to Lee. "Where are they?"

Lee remembered this woman. He did not ask how she had been brought there, but instead straightened his spine to speak with respect. "The triplets are coming. They couldn't keep up. Wyatt and Aimi are here, I am relieved to see. Raiden is off searching for them."

Kushina nodded. She told Lee to join whichever group applied to him and saw him head for the Jounin, Yo-chan in tow. She surveyed them all. "Now. Where is the one called Blondie? And where is Psycho-Naruto?" No one answered. Glances were given to Rasta-Sasuke and Psycho-Sasuke. "Where are they?" she asked those two.

Psycho-Sasuke said he didn't know. Rasta-Sasuke didn't answer at all, standing with his arms folded. Kushina refrained from exploding their brains in their skulls. Aimi spoke up in a timid voice. "I c-can Pull them if you want, Grandmother."

"Pull Psycho-Naruto," Kushina said evenly. "Not Blondie. Rasta-Sasuke will go and search for him."

Rasta-Sasuke lifted his chin. He hated this woman already. "I ain't no tracker. And I can't sense people either."

"You will be allowed to rejoin us when you have him." Her voice was mild, but laced with warning.

"I just told you," Rasta-Sasuke began, but he was cut off as Demon's mother looked at him.

"I'm holding you responsible for him. I said find him so find him you will. You don't want to make me repeat myself, boy."

Rasta-Sasuke was pushed toward the end of the plateau by 'Bee. He stood there a moment, looking at them in the gathering darkness. He bit his lip to keep from cursing as he turned and let the night swallow him.

-oOo-

All was quiet. The hush deepened as the darkness did, each wondering what Kushina would do next. She didn't seem inclined to speak. Finally Demon did, his muscles tight with a riot of emotions, chief among them fear. "Uh, mom? Should I contact Raiden? Tell him to come back? Or Aimi can Pull him…"

"No," Kushina said. "I want to see when it will occur to him to bring himself back here. Lee, why is he not with you?" That information had not been in his little report.

Lee explained succinctly. Kushina, having been privy to Aimi and Wyatt's whereabouts, understood why the boy had been unable to sense them. So did Wyatt and Aimi. When he was done speaking, Kushina shook her head.

"And he has not contacted either of his parents," she said with a confirming look at her son and Sasuke. "Arrogant. If his sister and Wyatt were truly missing, that should have been his first move. Notify a superior." She clapped her hands briskly. "Very well. We will begin. Aimi?"

Aimi nodded. Psycho-Naruto appeared. He looked around in confusion, spotted the woman, then glanced around for Psycho-Sasuke. Seeing him, he tensed visibly. Kushina wasted no time in explaining is a few sentences what he'd missed.

No one was more surprised than she was when the boy yelled and ran at her, throwing his arms around her and hugging her fiercely. She allowed it; this boy looked like the son she'd left behind, not the muscled man whom she'd kicked. She could not relate to Demon, but this one…this one tugged her heart strings with his familiar voice. He was perhaps a little taller than the son she'd left behind, but that was ignored. She pat his hair one, twice, then pushed him away. "Go to your group," she said quietly. Psycho-Naruto joined the Genin, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. He was happy to do whatever she asked.

"What are you doing?" Kushina asked Stud-Sasuke.

"Lighting a fire?" he said carefully. He was bent over the fire pit. "It's dark out. We have to cook and eat."

"Light the fire," she said after a moment. "But you eat only when I say. Henceforth, any action performed without my express consent or command will be seen as insubordination. That includes answering the call of nature. You are to perform the last instruction I have given you until ordered otherwise. Since I have not said anything other than for you to stand in your group, that is what you do until further notice. Am I understood?"

Stud-Sasuke lit the fire and straightened. He nodded, jaw tight.

"Good. Stop," she said when Yumichika put his hands together to form the Kido barrier. Were these people deaf as well as stupid? Had she not just stated nothing was to be done unless she siad so? Tonight would be the only time she repeated instructions, and that only because she realized allowances had to be made for their shock. Come tomorrow, if simple commands could not be followed, blood would flow.

"But the flying creatures will descend on us. They will kill us," he said seriously.

Kushina ignored him to address everyone else as the triplets came huffing up. Itachi motioned them to stand with their sister, whom they greeted enthusiastically at seeing her. Their smiles died down as Yanagi and Aimi began a whispered account of what had taken place in their absence.

"Your first lesson begins now," Kushina was saying. "Shinigami, Tokubetsu Jounin, Jounin and Chuunin form a wide ring around the fire pit. You will guard me and the Genin should Kage-Naruto fail."

"Excuse me?" Kage-Naruto bit out. He, like most everyone, was watching the tiny shapes of the creatures grow larger in the night sky. They were coming. Their screeching could be heard clearly.

"Didn't I already say you would be guarding us tonight?" Kushina said as she sat with the Genin in a tight huddle. "What did you think I meant? You will protect us all from those creatures. Failure is not an option." To the ring of Jounin and Chuunin, she said, "Should I see so much as a scratch on your persons you will not eat this week. If you cannot defend yourselves, you cannot hope to defend others."

There was silence. Gaara spoke. "As I understand it, they barely survived the first time they encountered these creatures without a barrier. Now you expect one man to defend us all?"

"I will not explain myself. Further questions without my invitation will be seen as insubordination," Kushina said calmly.

-oOo-

Demon set his feet and braced himself. He knew better than to question his mother. He also knew what she was doing.

When he was younger, he'd had a private set of rules for dealing with her. Rule number one: Never, under _any _circumstances, complain. It would be used against you. He saw now how his mother noted Gaara with a cool look and felt a measure of sympathy for his brother.

Rule number two: Unless she told you to do something, you didn't do it. Period. He did not ask why Aimi wasn't being allowed to fight, as one of the strongest ones there. He didn't even turn his head to look at her. This whole situation was too bizarre for him to grasp fully, how his mom had come to be there, but he didn't ask questions. He didn't even bother to ask when they'd be allowed to sleep, knowing that sleep had effectively gone the way of free will. Perhaps no one else here knew, but he was well-acquainted with his mom's view of insubordination. Oh, but once he got Aimi alone…

-oOo-

Kage-Naruto paced off from the outward-facing ring of ninja. He drew deeply on Kyuubi chakra and prepared himself and as many jutsu as he could hold at one time. He was livid. That would help.

-oOo-

Kushina watched the chakra blasting the creatures away for a moment, before turning to the children in front of her. Yo-chan was still with Lee. The baby was his responsibility, as far as she was concerned. Better that way. If the babe was with his parents, they'd be hindered by their concern for him. And Lee would fight better knowing he had the boy to protect. She would assess them all during this minor lesson.

The triplets, Aimi, Yanagi, Wyatt and the twins gazed up at her. "Tell me your abilities, in detail," she commanded. Yanagi went first.

* * *

Kakashi swiveled in his chair, studying the small group of people before his desk. Their chakra was impressive, but that was to be expected, considering. His eye zeroed in on the female. "And how did you get past gate security?" he asked mildly. He wondered if it showed that he was on high alert. He thought he masked his readiness to fight well.

"A simple spell," Yuroichi said. "My companion performed it."

The 'companion' was one quiet yet watchful man who wore a striped hat on his light blonde hair. He rested his hands on a cane Kakashi suspected was not needed for walking. His eye slid over the rest of the group before coming to rest on the female again. She was striking. And he was married. "How did you come to know your friends could be found here if, as you say, your gateway let you out days from here?"

The one wearing glasses spoke this time. "I performed that particular tracking spell. It followed traces of their reiatsu here. At the gate, Yuroichi-sama learned that you were leader of this place."

"I see," Kakashi said. He relaxed somewhat, but not completely. His visitors were silent, waiting for him to speak. At last, he decided they were no threat to him or Konoha. They would likely be an asset to Naruto against this threat of Akatsuki. He offered a small smile beneath his mask. "Welcome to Konohagakure then. Your friends aren't here. Allow me to arrange accommodation for you while I contact the one who can take you to them."

Yuroichi accepted the offer with a murmur of thanks and an inclination of her head.

Kakashi watched as a Chuunin led them away. Alone in his office again, he began the process of locating Aimi's link in his mind.


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: The dung beetle mentioned near the end of this chap was actually mentioned in Until You. Action pics up in the next chap, promise.

**Rasta-Sasuke, Blondie** ~ _Until You/Always You_

**Kage-Naruto, Jailbird-Sasuke** ~ _The Price of Salvation, Hunter/Hunted_

**Stud-Sasuke, Fem-Naruto** ~ _I'm With Sasuke/I'm With Naruto_

**Psycho-Sasuke, Psycho-Naruto** ~ _Canon/Manga_

**Kit, Queen-Sasuke (Queenie)** ~ _Irresistible_

**Demon, Sasuke** ~ _Bonded/New Bonds_

_*_Please forgive any typos I've missed

* * *

Chapter 36

Rasta-Sasuke stood half a mile from the plateau, staring up at the wild bursts of chakra and the obscuring black cloud of the flying creatures. He hoped they were all eaten alive, _especially _that bitch. She hadn't even bothered to introduce herself. Okay, so she was Blondie's mother, but what was her name? He seemed to recall that Blondie had mentioned it once, in passing, but he couldn't remember just then. He actually couldn't remember anything Blondie may or may not have said about his parents.

A noise, some kind of whistling grunt, spun Rasta-Sasuke on his heels. He searched nervously for whatever had made that sound, but he couldn't see anything. The moon and stars gave a weak light that effectively kept much of the landscape in velvety darkness. Holding his kunai in a shaky hand, he continued in the straight line to the forest that he'd maintained since leaving the plateau.

He wasn't going to find Blondie. He knew that. He was going to wander until someone told one of those freak kids to Pull him back to the camp, at which point he'd probably be dead already. Rasta-Sasuke didn't kid himself that he'd be able to miraculously survive out in this shithole of a planet. He was okay as long as there were people to scavenge from or manipulate, but not like this, not out on his own in the elements. If only he knew there was a town of some sort nearby.

The memory of the condition he'd been in before those girls and their crone of a mother had found them that time rose in his mind. Had Blondie not been with him he would have died out on the plains somewhere. _Yup, I'll be dead in three days or so, _he thought now with infinite self-pity. This emotion soon changed to hate towards those he felt responsible for his plight. This was a normal occurrence. He was accustomed to blaming his woes on others, he just hadn't done it since meeting Blondie.

This was all Blondie's fault, he decided as he glanced nervously behind him. Were there footsteps tailing him? His eyes skipped across the featureless black terrain behind him. His breath froze in his throat as a shadow, blacker than the others, seemed to stop moving at his scrutiny. He stared until his eyes watered but it didn't move again. He decided nothing was there and began waking once more.

The in_justice_ of this whole situation was almost too much to be borne. No, it _was _too much. All he'd wanted was some gold. Now Blondie wanted kids, was ignoring him, and had decided to go AWOL, which necessitated Rasta-Sasuke _leaving _his precious gold behind to search for his stupid, fagotty, _shit-sucking _ass_._ If by some miracle he found the fucker he would make him pay, and pay dearly. This just wasn't right. It-

Rasta-Sasuke registered that there _were _footsteps, quick ones, at the same instant that he sensed something leaping to sink fangs into the back of his neck. He whirled in fright, shoulders hunched, chakra leaping crazily out of him as he dropped his kunai. The light his chakra provided showed him surrounded by dozens of black-coated mammals of some unknowable origin. All Rasta-Sasuke really saw, though, were the rows and rows of long sharp teeth.

* * *

Yanagi spoke. Aimi went next, giving a more complete account of what she could and couldn't do. The triplets went after her. The psycho twins gave a lengthy account of their jutsu, each paying particular attention to the other's words without looking directly at each other. Kit said he was proficient at Kung-fu, firearms and street fighting. Queenie said he had years of Yoga under his belt. Wyatt listed a number of spells and magical abilities, droning on until Kushina bade him stop. She examined Excalibur when Wyatt showed it to her. Emiko and Etsuko said they didn't know when asked what they were capable of.

Kushina looked at the ring of men and women. Some, the Shinigami and Jinchuuriki, were untouched and composed. Others, namely the Uchiha, were struggling to keep the stray creatures Kage-Naruto missed from getting to them. These were becoming more and more as Kage-Naruto tired. She saw that the other Narutos and Shinigami covered for them.

A blast of black chakra boomed in their center, startling everyone badly. It dissipated to reveal one bloody preteen, who nevertheless seemed to be unharmed, as he quickly located his sister and stomped over to her. Those not occupied in the protective ring watched silently. And actually a few in the ring did cast glances over their shoulders, wondering what their new teacher would make of the most recalcitrant individual on the plateau.

-oOo-

Aimi squealed as Raiden dragged her up from her sitting position by a fistful of her hair and crushed her in a suffocating hug. "Where the fuck _were_ you?" he bawled angrily. "Do you have any _idea _how scared and worried I was? I couldn't find you _anywhere_! I even went back to Akatsuki's world and nearly had my fucking head ripped off, only to finally sense you back here where you belong! _Where were you?_"

Raiden squeezed his fat sister viciously, alleviating the sick fear he'd lived with in a hug that would have broken the bones of any normal child. He savagely bit her meaty shoulder in an ecstasy of relief, growling as he screwed his eyes shut against wayward, unwelcome tears. He'd been sure she was dead, Lee's words playing over and over in his mind. He'd been worried about Wyatt too, but it had been the loss of Aimi that had cut the deepest. He buried his face in her hair now, inhaling her smell until his eyes fairly rolled in gratitude. She was safe.

Aimi withstood this in joy. She hugged her big brother back fiercely, glorying in his bite, giving one of her own to his chin, digging her nails into the flesh of his back. She hummed. "I thought you hated me," she said when she could breathe. "That's what you told me last night."

Raiden partially released her to look down into her long-lashed eyes. "I do hate you," he said. Then he planted a hard kiss on her cheek.

Wyatt grinned as Raiden turned to find him. He braced himself for the same kind of treatment poor Aimi had received. Raiden did move toward him as if this was his intention, but two people had broken ranks in the protective ring and blocked Raiden from approaching Wyatt.

Sasuke stroked his chin, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean," he said in a soft voice, "that you went _back _to Akatsuki's world?"

"Because that sounds like you were there before," Demon added. His eyes didn't blink.

Etsuko spoke up, her face alive with her pride in being able to answer. "Oh, that place with the ugly aliens? Yeah we went there yesterday. We almost died, but it was so much fun!" She turned to her twin. "Wasn't it fun, 'Miko?" Emiko nodded happily that it had been.

Heads that had been briefly turned toward the twins now turned back to Raiden. Loyal souls that they were, the triplets stood to join him in receiving whatever punishment was coming. Aimi went and stood by Raiden's side and Raiden felt Wyatt at his back. Thus bolstered, he swallowed and met his fathers' eyes.

"We had a spell," Ryota stammered as his own father joined his uncle and Demon. "We had a spell to put Akatsuki's souls back so Raiden and Aimi could kill them."

"Did it work?" Demon asked sharply.

All the children except the twins shook their heads.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where did you get such a spell?"

Itachi's eyes bored into his children until Kei broke. "From Mom's world."

When the entire tale was told, Demon thought he'd have a stroke. "I feel like killing myself," he hissed at Raiden. "Do you have any idea how close you came to dying? How could you think to take on all of Akatsuki by yourself! Were you hurt?" he barked down at the boy.

Raiden ducked his head. "I was gutted. But I healed myself," he said quickly when his parents issued muffled curses. "And this time it was just a …just a scratch," he finished in a small voice. He didn't feel the need to elaborate with the fact that his jugular had been severed and only his quick healing skills had saved him. He'd killed the alien that had done it. "I didn't even see Akatsuki."

"And why," a new voice interrupted, "didn't you tell someone your sister and Wyatt were missing instead of taking matters into your own hands?"

Raiden turned and came face to face with a woman he'd never seen before. He looked her up and down, absently aware that the others behind him were backing away a bit. "I did tell someone. I told Lee-sensei. Who the hell are you?"

Kushina put a hand on her hip. "By someone I meant one of your parents. Someone who could contact Aimi telepathically. Your parents should have been the first to know of her absence."

Raiden shrugged, turning away. He was suddenly aware of the lack of a Kido barrier and the way the creatures were being held at bay with chakra. He looked around. "What's going on here?"

No one answered. He noticed his dads receiving glances from the new woman before silently taking their places in the protective ring again. His Dad gave him a look that promised the discussion wasn't over, but even uncle Itachi went without another word. Aimi, Wyatt and the rest stood in a huddle, looking from him to the woman behind him. Raiden turned back around to examine her more closely.

-oOo-

Kushina noted quite a few things. One, the boy was beyond arrogant. He was cocky, smug and only dimly feared his parents. Two, he was so much like her own son had been in his youth it was uncanny. He was courageous to the point of stupidity, protective, and imbued with a sense of honor…of sorts. He recognized the need to take down Akatsuki and had acted on what he'd felt was a prime opportunity. All the elements were there for the makings of a fine ninja.

But.

But he was entirely too undisciplined. She canvassed the memories she'd recently seen from her son and put them together with what she was seeing now. She reached a conclusion: Raiden was suffering from neglect in a number of ways.

First, the kid was weaker (she had an account of his first encounter with Akatsuki from Naruto's memories) than at any point in his life previously. Powerful, yes. Potentially the most powerful ninja ever, but his abilities were weakened from disuse. Before, when he and her son had lived in the cabin in the woods, he'd undergone daily training. Now, forced to hide his powers in the village as he was doing, he was at a fraction of his former strength.

Second, the boy had been left on his own too often. He no longer trusted his parents completely or he would have told them Aimi was missing. He'd grown distant from them. From what she knew of his relationship with Wyatt, the magical boy was perhaps the only one he trusted implicitly.

Third, and most disturbing, he recognized no authority but his own. That came from being neglected, but it also stemmed from his erroneous belief that there was no one more powerful than he himself was. Regardless to the fact that he'd barely survived two encounters with Akatsuki now, the boy thought himself invulnerable. That was dangerous. _He_ was dangerous, to himself and others, evidenced by this illicit trip off planet.

"Come here," she said quietly. The boy didn't move, watching her with an expression that was part boredom, part insolence. "Your sister has brought me here to instruct you all. That includes you. Come. Here."

"I already have a teacher," Raiden said. "Lee-sensei."

Kushina walked over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. The boy didn't flinch. Incredibly stupid, considering she'd seen him note the way the others reacted around her. Was he so complacent that he would let a strange woman his own parents obviously feared put her hand on him? Yes. Yes he was. She would give him one more chance. "I am Uzumaki Kushina, your grandmother. From this moment on you will obey me in all things. Is that clear?"

His eyes sharpened at learning who she was, traveling over her with new interest, but he didn't immediately answer. Her patience as gone.

Raiden felt his body heat before it went up in a flash of overwhelming pain. He tried to scream before he realized it was his grandmother hurting him. She was doing something to him. He transformed reflexively, one broad wing knocking her aside as he threw himself out of reach. He rolled, feeling his chakra repair whatever damage she'd done. He sat on his haunches, still transformed, and stared at her as she advanced.

"I know you have unparalleled healing abilities," she was saying. "That is good. It means I need not hold back with you. Something tells me you will require much before you begin to understand that I mean what I say." She launched a flow of chakra at him. Raiden gasped, coughing and holding his chest.

-oOo-

Sasuke listened to Raiden choking behind him and grit his teeth. He glanced sideways at Demon. "You going to say anything?"

Demon snorted. "If you think I'm going up against my mom for him, you're crazy. Kid's on his own. I love him, but what she did to the others is nothing compared to what she'd do to me. Besides, the little prick deserves it."

-oO0-

Raiden fought. He prepared several nasty things to launch when he felt his brain lock and freeze, paralyzed in the grip of pain so severe his nose bled from it.

Kushina walked up to where he lay twitching. "As you have no reticence in attacking a relative, I must show you the same courtesy. Your father I was rough with because of his inexcusable ignorance. You, I was prepared to be lenient with, but I see you are nothing but a brute with no refinement. Very well." Raiden was dragged by an arm to the edge of the ring by Kushina and thrown outside the protective wall the men and women formed. "Go and aid Kage-Naruto in protecting us. I will deal with you in the morning."

Raiden was lying in front of Chibi-Gaara. The diminutive Kazekage shielded him from the flying creatures with his sand until he was able to roll weakly to his feet and stumble in Kage-Naruto's direction.

Kage-Naruto was a mess. He was panting, eyes red as he drew heavily on Kyuubi chakra without releasing the demon fox. He continued to fire blasts of wind chakra that shredded the creatures in their hundreds, and Kyuubi chakra that burned the little beasts from the sky. He was down on one knee, hair drenched in sweat.

Raiden couldn't even think. His head hurt horribly. He reached the large blonde, turned, and carefully erected an impenetrable dome of chakra similar to his Death Sphere jutsu. It hurt his brain to maintain it, but it kept the creatures at bay. Kage-Naruto collapsed behind him.

* * *

Morning.

Kushina walked up and down the lines of men, women and children, seemingly fresh and cool in the sweltering heat where everyone else was standing in a puddle of their own sweat. She had her hands clasped behind her back, speaking calmly.

"I have assessed you. Some of you I can help, others no. Those I cannot help will be given to another teacher, but for the next month you will all undergo training with me."

She paused as she watched Emiko crying quietly where she stood, already tiring. Etsuko's face was red, but she wasn't crying. Not yet. Kushina resumed speaking.

"My method is severe yet simple. I do not train the body. I train your mind. Mind over matter: what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve. The prowess of a ninja lies in discipline. Discipline comes from will, and will is enforced by the mind. A strong mind means a strong ninja. A ninja who tells himself he can't do something will fail. Always."

Here she stopped again and ran her eyes over the group.

The men and boys were all shirtless. The women were in their bras and the girls in t-shirts. Each had their knees bent at nearly ninety-degree angles. Each had their backs bent at forty-five degree angles, arms held straight out to their sides. And each had a boulder balanced on the area between their neck and shoulder blades.

The size of the boulder depended on the individual's strength. The twins' boulders were larger and heavier than the triplets', Kage-Naruto's was larger than Psycho-Naruto's, Aimi's was larger than Raiden's, and so on. Wyatt, Queenie, and Kit had the smallest boulders. Yachiru and Aimi's were the same size and Kenpachi's was the largest of all.

"You will maintain these positions for one week," Kushina intoned as she paced between them. "You will feel hunger. You will feel pain. You will feel all the demands an undisciplined body makes of a ninja, but you will learn to suppress these demands. Empty your minds. Do not think. Breathe. Nothing exists but your breath, as it enters and exits your body."

She then turned and went into one of the cabins. No one thought of dropping their boulders, knowing their new 'teacher' would find a way to make things worse for them, if that was even possible. They did, however, target Demon with a volley of furious questions.

Gaara had been given the name Kage-Gaara. He went first. "You told me your mother had trained you for your second attempt at the Chuunin exam, and that she'd been strict, but you didn't tell me she was insane. How did you survive?"

"Forget that, how are we going to survive now?" Kit bit out. The boulder dug into his tender flesh, sending thin rivulets of blood running down his back.

"What is _wrong _with her?" Yukio whined. "I mean, she's killing us! How are we going to go a whole week without food or sleep?"

"I say the bitch needs to get laid," Kenji rasped.

"Don't call my mom a bitch," Psycho-Naruto flared.

"I want to know what she did to me," Kage-Naruto said tightly.

The questions kept coming. Demon silenced them all with a curse. "As to how I survived when I was little, simple. She wasn't like this. First of all, she was sick. Nowhere near this strong. Second, I was clueless about so much that she was forced to focus on basics. She did put me through a few things like this, but it wasn't her main objective. She was training my body mostly. And third, I have no idea what she did."

"I do," Itachi said. His voice was controlled and even, but he was perspiring just as hard as everyone else. "I would assume anyone here with Sharingan saw what she did. A deadly jutsu."

"That first thing she did to you," Sasuke spoke up to Kage-Naruto, "And what she did to Jailbird-Sasuke, Rasta-Sasuke and Raiden was targeted at the water vapor in your lungs. I'm not sure, but it looked like she evaporated it so that what was left probably felt like dry sand."

"She did more than that," Asami panted. "I think she removed the water molecules in the oxygen in their lungs. And when she touched Kage-Naruto and Kenpachi, she went for the water in their blood. She did it to Raiden too."

"Blood is blood, it doesn't have water in it," Shouta protested. His legs and back were killing him, trembling violently with the strain of holding his position.

"Blood," Asami lectured, "is made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. Plasma is the liquid that actually hold the other cells and is comprised of water, salts and a few other things. From what I saw, she heated the water in the plasma enough to cause pain. If she had heated it any further, she would have burst the veins and arteries, killing the person instantly."

"What'd she do to my head?" Raiden said between his teeth.

"I'm not sure," Asami replied. "I think she targeted moisture in your brain cells, but I could be wrong. It doesn't matter. She could target any part of our bodies and kill us easily. The human body is over seventy percent water."

"But to use chakra on a cellular level," Psycho-Sasuke huffed. "Not even Orochimaru could do that. Kabuto could…I think."

"Whatever," Demon said now. "She never used those techniques when I was small. Aimi," he said, trying to see her without turning his head. "You better start explaining."

When she had, there was a brief period of silence. Finally Stud-Sasuke spoke. "Send her back. I can handle myself, but she's killing my girls. Look at them."

"I have to agree," Kage-Naruto said. "The woman is impossible." He closed his eyes, as if bracing for something distasteful. "I will follow your lead, Demon. I will obey you and let you command, but for the love of all that is good _send her back._"

There were mutters of agreement to this. Demon listened. He supposed he and the rest deserved what they were getting. They'd behaved childishly, fighting when they should have been training. Aimi had been wrong to go behind their backs, yet right to do what she saw fit to get the job done. He couldn't really blame her.

"I'm not having Aimi send her back," he said at length. There was a muted uproar; no one wanted to bring Kushina back outside if they were heard. "Hear me out. She's harsh, but she's right to put us through this. We will never have a chance of winning if we're not disciplined. As bad as this sucks, I think it's what we all need."

No one had the strength to argue further. They concentrated on diverting their energies into maintaining their brutal stances.

* * *

Kushina watched from inside the cabin. Already she could tell who would make it to the end of the week and who wouldn't. She was proud to note that her son, Demon, would be one of them. His face was calm, his eyes showing the blankness that came with forcibly suppressing the dictates of one's body. There were a few surprises as well. Queenie held his small boulder without complaint, eyes closed. She hadn't really gathered from his history that he had experience controlling his body. Chibi-Gaara, too, held his position stoically. Gone was his laughter and frivolity. He'd found a pair of pants and donned them. His face was serious, eyes straight ahead. He didn't even look like the same idiot who'd challenged her earlier.

And Aimi. Aimi held her boulder calmly, though it taxed her. Hers was one of the bigger ones.

The weaker ones would be down within the hour, Kushina surmised. These were Hiroko, the harpies, Shouta, Kei and Ryota. Udon looked to be another hopeless case, but he held his position with grim determination, glasses tucked into a pocket of his pants.

She turned from studying them to consider her options. They were all strong. Beyond this bit of training she would give them for the next month, there wasn't much she could do to improve them. The Uchiha were beyond her completely, she suspected, and even the versions of her son would require someone else. She would need Aimi to bring who she had in mind. Her thoughts thenwent to Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke.

Truth be told, she could have had Aimi pull Blondie to the plateau, but she'd seen much of his personality in her son's memories. She didn't think Blondie would have walked out on Rasta-Sasuke without good reason. He could afford to miss the first few days of her training as well, since he'd appeared in the images to be the most disciplined of anyone else on the plateau. Rasta-Sasuke was another matter.

Either he would learn to get in touch with his tracking and survival abilities and find Blondie, or he would realize he needed help and come back to the plateau to get it, thus learning some much-needed humility. Both lessons needed to be learned by that young man, and she didn't particularly care which one he learned first. Her money was on his pride making him stay away, though. Perhaps he would find Blondie. If he hadn't by the end of the week, she would have them both Pulled.

* * *

Day two.

The Narutos stood passively, eyes closed. Itachi, Ibiki, Akane, 'Bee, the Kazekages and Konohamaru were likewise still standing. Juro still stood, though he was close to his limit. Lee still stood, as did the Shinigami, Raiden and Aimi. The rest were down. Kushina told them to remain down until they felt recovered, then to resume their positions. No one was allowed to sleep. The twins were mewling into Stud-Sasuke's chest. Kushina fed Yo-chan and cared for him.

Raiden had surprisingly calmed down after the first six hours to hold his boulder and position with cool determination. He and his sister looked to be able to go on for two weeks, not just one. Kushina sat cross-egged in front of them and gently rocked Yo-chan for his nap as she regarded them.

"I've come to a decision about the both of you," she told their sweating faces. "Whatever else happens, I will personally train you during these six months for two reasons. The first is that you are the most powerful, yet the least skilled. The second is that you are my own grandbabies. I may seem heartless, but I am not likely to know any other grandchildren in my lifetime. I will spend as much time with you as I can. Drop your boulders," she told them.

They did as she asked, straightening from their crouched positions with loud groans of relief. They stretched their backs. When they were done, they looked at her expectantly. Raiden showed no hint of rebellion, which was good. At least he learned quickly.

"Sit," Kushina instructed. "I am going to focus on your special abilities. You will telepathically hold your boulders no less than ten feet off the ground until the end of the week. Begin."

Their boulders lifted from where they rested and hovered in the air. Kushina watched closely. Sure enough, after twenty minutes, Raiden's began wobbling, dipping and rising back to its former position as if it were too heavy to remain afloat.

"I have a headache," Raiden hissed.

"No speaking," Kushina commanded. "Or you will hold two."

Aimi closed her mouth. She'd been about to ask when they could eat. Her boulder began bobbing a few minutes later. She concentrated on keeping it up, the ache developing between her eyes making her clench her fists on her thighs.

* * *

Day three.

Only Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Ibiki, the Jinchuuriki and Itachi remained standing. Kage-Gaara had wavered briefly before rallying himself to remain upright. The rest had needed to rest for several hours before continuing, and were even now down again. No one spoke. Kushina had shown mercy on the twins and allowed them to eat and sleep next to their brother. When they were rested, she took up a position in front of Raiden and Aimi, and began instructing them on the use of basic weaponry.

Raiden and Aimi were in a sorry predicament indeed. Such was the strain of holding the boulders telekinetically that they'd each thrown up several times. They'd passed out, resumed consciousness, grown dizzy, thrown up again from their debilitating headaches, and still Kushina forced them to go on. "Master yourselves," she told them sternly. "Heal yourselves when necessary and continue. You are the target here. Akatsuki will come after you. Everyone else here is just a shield. Ultimately it will come down to you two, so don't complain. Feel guilt, as you should, and grow stronger."

They felt guilty. They went on.

* * *

Day four.

Lee had recovered enough to resume his stance with the rest. Fem-Naruto had been caught with red eyes, accessing his Bijuu to lend him strength. Kushina had backhanded his face fiercely, causing him to nearly drop his boulder, then challenged him to use his own strength. It had been touch and go for a few moments, where it had seemed he would fling caution to the winds and transform…but his eyes slowly turned blue again.

Psycho-Naruto's Bijuu had begun erupting through no encouragement from him, called out by the monumental stress his body was under. Kushina rested a hand in his hair and gently talked him down, calming him enough so that he could continue.

The Sasukes tried. They needed to rest a few times, but Psycho-Sasuke and Sasuke were seen standing by their blonde counterparts, boulders in place, late on the fourth day. They didn't look well.

* * *

Day five.

Raiden and Aimi threw up less. They sat with their legs crossed, wrists on their knees, boulders firmly in the air.

A few of the others had crawled back to stand with the Jinchuuriki. The twins were using a target Kushina had erected to practice with kunai. No word on Rasta-Sasuke or Blondie. It was noted that Kushina fasted and went sleepless along with everyone else, which helped dispel some of the lingering resentment many had for her.

* * *

Day six.

Night and day changed places with slow regularity, but the figures on the plateau did not move. The fire pit was never used, so the flying creatures did not come. Backs were sunburned and healed by Bijuu. Other backs grew raw and were ignored. Yo-chan had whined for his parents a few times then stopped. Kenpachi had a rictus snarl of healthy pleasure at the way his body screamed in agony, but he was rock-steady with his monolith.

Chibi-Gaara hummed a certain tune until Kushina met his gaze with a cool look. He resumed his silence, but he was bored out of his mind. By now, everyone else had recovered enough to take up their positions again.

* * *

Day seven.

Kushina could have stabbed any of the Jinchuuriki through the midsection with Kenpachi's sword and they wouldn't have reacted. They stood stolidly, eyes closed, as still as if they were sleeping. They each breathed almost in unison. Their expressions were untroubled. Itachi had lasted the week, along with Ibiki, Kenpachi, Ikkaku and Kage-Gaara.

The rest struggled, but stood beneath their boulders.

Raiden and Aimi had not thrown up in over a day. The frown between their eyes had smoothed out by the end of day five, so Kushina knew their headaches were either gone or considerably lessened. Their boulders hung in the air, revolving slowly, but maintaining their altitude.

As a demonstration, Kushina formed an intricate barrier of interwoven chakra bars, placed closely together over everyone at the end of the seventh day. She wanted to show that she did not ask of them anything she couldn't do herself, even fasting. She lit the fire pit and located several of the huge deer-like animals in the smokehouse. She cooked these as the flying creatures descended in droves against her barrier, which held up nicely. The smells wafting from the fire pit did nothing to weaken her students, she was pleased to note. They had themselves so firmly under control that she would likely need to get violent to bring them around.

The moon was up, though the flying creatures blocked it from view. Kushina stood back when the food was cooked. "Well done. Your week is up. Eat your fill then sleep. In twenty-four hours we will begin the next training session."

Nothing happened at first. Then Aimi's boulder dropped with a crash as she screeched and made a bee line for the food. This broke the trance the Jinchuuriki were in and Demon and Kage-Naruto nearly killed each other getting to the fire pit. Between the two of them they ripped a whole deer in half with their bare hands. The others dropped their boulders and straightened slowly, hobbling to the fire pit in pain.

They ate only little. Their stomachs were too shrunken to withstand more than a bite or two of food. Kushina admonished them to go slowly. They drank. Almost as one, they streaked to the edge of the plateau to relieve themselves, fending off the flying creatures easily in their need to answer nature's call. Their bodies began responding to the little food they'd eaten and then hunger pains set in in earnest. The deer, all of them, were eaten to the very bone.

* * *

Rasta-Sasuke wasn't dead, but he reflected that he might as well be. That first night was a blur in his mind. All he remembered was his chakra jumping out of him. When next he was aware of his surroundings, all the fanged creatures lay dead. He'd turned and walked aimlessly into the night, wondering if he'd be doomed to wander forever.

He caught and ate what animals he could. Around the fourth day he'd eaten some kind of spiky plant that had caused him to hallucinate badly. Itachi -his Itachi, the one he'd killed- had come to him and taunted him. He'd tried to put his hands on Rasta-Sasuke and even high as he was, the amount of chakra he'd put out had caused him to black out again. He'd come around sober, dry-mouthed…and at the center of a circle of destruction so wide that he couldn't see the end of it. Seeing it had scared him.

He didn't know why he was blacking out whenever he released more than a moderate amount of chakra, but he was horribly afraid that one day he'd wake up to find he'd killed someone. Like Blondie.

This whole search for him reminded Rasta-Sasuke of the time that old geezer had healed him after he'd killed Itachi. He'd been left out in some backwater months from the Five Great Nations. He'd been unable to find Blondie then, too, but every day he'd thought about the guy. As he was doing now.

Gone were his anger and certainty that this was all Blondie's fault. Now he just wanted to find him and fall into his arms and have the big lug make everything all right again. He always made everything all right. He didn't even have to do anything. As long as Rasta-Sasuke could snuggle down into those massive arms and not have to worry about anything, he'd be good.

By the sixth day, he was starving again and lost in that endless forest of ginormous trees. All he had to eat were the waxy green leaves of that spiky plant. He didn't want to hallucinate again, but the plant had been oddly filling. He sat down with his back to a tree and reluctantly chewed a few of the tough leaves.

Empty as his stomach was, the effect was immediate this time. His head fell back against the trunk of the tree as his hands dropped, palm up, to rest on the forest floor. One of the toxic leaves, the last, fluttered from his hand to be carried away on the hot breeze. He heard its scratchy passage across the sparse grass for what seemed like a long time. His hearing seemed amplified to the tenth power.

All his senses were heightened. His lids closed and opened slowly. He could hear and feel the membranous skin of his inner eyelids as they slipped over the glistening friction of his corneas. He could see dust motes in the sunlight that slanted across his face, texture on each dust mote. The bark of the tree he leaned against seemed made of not fissures but great canyons. A caterpillar inched along, and each stiff hair on its green body was like a shiny spike of steel. Its rasping progress was every loud.

Rasta-Sasuke breathed deeply, mesmerized by the feel of his lungs expanding. He swore he could feel the oxygen exchanging places with carbon dioxide in his alveoli… and since when had he known the word alveoli?

Many words were coming to him. Many things, bits of knowledge he'd forgotten, faces he'd seen, places he'd been, things he'd done…people he'd met. He stared up through the branches at the sky, his eyes watering from the glare, but unblinking. His mind, kicked into overdrive by the powerful stimulant, seemed to detach itself and float up into the endless blue-

-oOo-

-_sky. The sky was so big and endless. He stared up at it as his mom pushed him in his stroller and felt happy that his little belt was fastened. Sometimes he felt like he would just float away into the sky and never come down. _

_"Don't look at the sky, Sasuke. It will hurt your eyes. Mom, make him stop." It was Itachi, his big brother. Later, Itachi would begin hurting him when he was a big boy, but he didn't know that. How come he'd thought of it, then? Itachi was the best big brother in the whole world. He slept next to Sasuke at night and rocked him when he had bad dreams. He would kiss his hair and say 'Mm, little brother, you smell yummy. Don't be afraid, I'll never let anything happen to you.' And he believed him. Itachi would never hurt him._

But he did. And I killed him.

_That was a dumb baby thought, Sasuke chided himself. He wasn't a baby. He was three. Almost a big boy. _

_The stroller stopped. His mom was talking to a cloth vender. They were outside the Uchiha compound. He stared up at the sky, dizzy, ignoring Itachi who complained to their mom that he needed new sandals. Mom told Itachi to use his own money from missions. Itachi said a bad word behind her back._

_The village was busy and noisy. Sasuke felt nice and safe with his mom and brother. He sat comfortably in his stroller, dropping his eyes to the other pedestrians in the road at last. _

_Someone was crying across the street. A boy. He held his finger, which was bleeding, and kicked at a large dung beetle with his grubby foot. Somehow Sasuke knew the boy had tried to pick it up and been bitten. He was taller and sturdier than Sasuke was, but looked to be around the same age, three years old._

_Sasuke studied him. He was filthy. His blonde hair was a bushy cloud around his head and his blue eyes were streaming tears as he pulled on someone's shirt, presumably his father. The man was Jounin by the looks of his attire. He did not look like the blonde boy, so maybe he wasn't his father. At any rate, he turned and yelled at the kid sharply, telling him to shut his noise. The blonde boy hiccupped a few times then became quiet. The Jounin threatened to leave the boy outside the village for wild dogs to eat if he dared touch him again. Sasuke watched curiously as the boy wiped his runny nose on the back of his sleeve. _

_"Mommy, how come that man is so mean to that boy?" he asked and pointed._

_His mother had turned, seen the boy, and quickly concluded her business with the cloth vender. Itachi had been lured from her side by a sweet seller and so missed the following interesting information his mother had to impart. She spoke while briskly wheeling her younger son back to the Uchiha compound._

_"That boy is evil. You are never to talk to him or play with him if you see him again, do you understand me?" Mikoto had gone on to say a bunch of things Sasuke hadn't understood. He leaned around the side of his stroller, peering behind him at where the blonde was in the process of trotting after his Jounin babysitter. _

_Blonde hair. Blondie._

_-oOo-  
_

"Blondie," Rasta-Sasuke said thickly. His mind was still gone, spinning lazily somewhere in the stratosphere. He felt like he was looking down on himself where he sat. He was aware of everything around him, of the energy and life force that moved through all things. As his physical body murmured that name, he sensed a particular current of energy define itself from the rest of his surroundings.

Rasta-Sasuke came back to himself halfway and stood. He felt weightless, as if he would rise into the sky from the simple action of pushing to his feet. A giggle escaped him as he remembered thinking that when he'd been a baby. He bent his knees experimentally and pushed off, testing the theory.

A yell escaped him as he soared into the air, crashing through tree branches. He had to cover his face with his arms as he fell back to earth. He didn't feel the landing at all, and when he grabbed the trunk of one tree to pull himself up, a large hunk of wood came away in his hand. He stood looking at this sight for a long time.

His juiced mind fed him incomprehensible jargon dealing with the way the chemicals in the plant he'd eaten were stimulating his muscles as well as his central nervous system. All he understood was that he was high and he was strong.

And he could sense Blondie's chakra.

* * *

It took him a few tries, but he soon got the hang of leaping hundreds of yards in a single bound. He did this, with a mixture of running at dizzying speeds, following that current of energy that seemed to call to him. Sometimes he laughed, but he couldn't hear himself over the rush of wind. The drug was in his system a good twelve hours before it wore off.

When he woke up, he knew he'd been gone from the plateau seven days. He was starving and every possible thing in him that had nerves hurt like hell. He was numb in some places. When he sat up and took stock, he saw that his right hand was broken, the pinky and ring fingers twisted at unnatural angles.

Something made him look to his left. Blondie lay stretched out on the ground not too far away. He didn't appear to be hurt. His eyes were open, staring at nothing.

Rasta-Sasuke shuffled over to him on his knees, cradling his broken hand. He touched Blondie. His skin was warm, but he didn't blink. Obviously the guy was breathing. Rasta-Sasuke couldn't see an injury anywhere. "Blondie? Come on man, stop fucking around." No answer. "Blondie!"

He slapped him with his left hand. Nothing. He pounded on his chest, screamed his name. Still nothing. Rasta-Sasuke sat on his heels and looked around.

Now what was he supposed to do?


	37. Chapter 37

A/N: I know this is late. I'm on summer vacation again. I don't have relatives clamoring to spend time with me this year, but this summer has been a real downer and I haven't felt like writing much. That, coupled with the fact that there's so much I want to say in these chapters that isn't about training. I think TTb is in danger of becoming boring, but if I just went straight to all the training with no foundation laid, it wouldn't read right. I'm doing my best. This chapter was turning too long so I'm putting the rest of it in Chapter 38.

**Rasta-Sasuke, Blondie** ~ _Until You/Always You_

**Kage-Naruto, Jailbird-Sasuke** ~ _The Price of Salvation, Hunter/Hunted_

**Stud-Sasuke, Fem-Naruto** ~ _I'm With Sasuke/I'm With Naruto_

**Psycho-Sasuke, Psycho-Naruto** ~ _Canon/Manga_

**Kit, Queen-Sasuke (Queenie)** ~ _Irresistible_

**Demon, Sasuke** ~ _Bonded/New Bonds_

*Standard line about typos applies_  
_

* * *

Chapter 37

The inhabitants of the plateau, with the exception of Queenie, displayed a disturbing lack of control while they were eating. A few fights broke out, a few Bijuu were accessed…Kushina had eaten a single piece of meat the size of her hand as she watched. She didn't comment. When she was done, she stood and that brought silence to the plateau.

Chibi-Gaara was assigned guard duty this time. Kushina told 'Bee to find alternative sleeping arrangements as she was taking over his cabin; Rasta-Sasuke and Blondie weren't there and Chibi-Gaara wouldn't be sleeping that night. She then separated Raiden and Aimi, who were in the middle of their own fight, and led them by the hands to the cabin. Demon and Sasuke followed.

-oOo-

Kushina folded herself onto the floor and made Aimi sit in front of her. Demon and Sasuke sat across from her, wondering what would happen next. Raiden took one look at what promised to be a boring evening and went back outside.

Aimi hissed as her grandmother began untangling her long hair with her fingers. "Son," Kushina said abruptly.

Demon jumped. "Huh?"

"I've seen your memories. Your past. But I haven't lived it. Now, while we have a few hours, tell me of your life."

Kushina did not particularly need this account, but she suspected her son did. During the past week she'd watched him and seen traces of the boy she'd left behind in his calm control of his body. She felt love that she didn't indulge, and remembered the kick she'd given him. A poor way to reunite with him after so long, but she'd been angry and he'd deserved it. For herself, she knew her time with him was short. She wasn't here to re-establish her life, but she would give him what comfort she could while she was there.

Demon hesitantly began speaking.

* * *

Rasta-Sasuke lit a fire. He realized the stupidity of this when he saw one of those flying creatures land near the flame. He put the fire out hastily and zapped the little shit with a bolt of lightning. It made pain flash through his body, using that small amount of chakra. The pain was gone quickly, but it made him realize that whatever he was doing when he blacked out was taking a toll on him. It felt like his chakra was being overused, or at least his body was starting to feel the way it had after he'd killed Itachi. He wasn't in anywhere near that kind of pain now, but if he used more chakra without resting it might get to that point.

He sat near Blondie's side, warming himself with his heat. He saw that Blondie blinked from time to time, so that was good. He'd given up trying to talk to him or snap him out of whatever was wrong with him. He figured Blondie had seen something that had put him in shock. Whatever _was_ wrong, he didn't think it was physical.

Starving. The sensation made him wonder when the last time Blondie had eaten was. He wondered how long his man had been down. He stared at the twisted digits of his broken hand and dimly remembered punching at something. Had Blondie eaten some of the same plant?

He was nodding off, his head drooping, when a snapping twig brought him back to his senses. He looked around but couldn't at first see anything. Their clearing was dark. His eyes had adjusted, but it didn't mean he could see clearly.

There was breathing. Heavy, as if from a large creature, and close by. Something made Rasta-Sasuke look behind him and up…up…up to a pair of glowing yellow eyes. He saw, with mild fascination, that the eyes had another smaller set sitting beneath them. The wind shifted and he was brought an eye-watering stench that made him gag. The thing lunged.

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke blinked. He was crouched back against Blondie's side, one hand up protectively in front of his face. There was no sign of the creature. A sense of fading pain left his body humming.

He got to his feet and looked around. What the hell? How could something so huge disappear in the time it took to blink? He considered the mild pain lingering in his body. No. If he'd blacked out again…

He walked carefully to where the creature had been standing. Bending to pick up a branch with his good hand, he lit it with a katon and used it as a torch. By its light he could see that the trees around where he currently stood seemed scorched. They were blackened, lifeless. Touching one, he hissed. It was hot.

A path led from those charred trees, just as dead and black. Afraid, Rasta-Sasuke followed it, holding his branch aloft. It led into the forest for perhaps a hundred yards. At the end of the path was the shape of the creature. Or what was left of it. It appeared to have suffered the same fate as the trees.

Rasta-Sasuke dropped his branch. The fire went out. He panted in the darkness, suddenly unable to breathe. "What's happening to me," he quavered.

Back at where Blondie lay, he fell to his knees and collapsed across the big teen's chest. He sobbed. It was too much. If Blondie didn't wake up to take care of them both they'd die. Or he'd end up killing them both. "Blondie, please. _Please _wake up soon."

* * *

Aimi was sleeping, her hair in neat braids. Kushina cradled the fat girl in her lap, tracing her black brows and round cheeks with a finger as she listened to her son speak on. He came to the time Sasuke had died and paused mid-sentence.

She saw how he looked over at the sleeping Sasuke. It still hurt her to know her son had died as he had, but she did not give in to or acknowledge the emotion. It was done. Acknowledging it now would help neither of them.

He was speaking of the part where he'd woken up to find Sasuke dead on his chest. His voice was low in the cabin, as she continued to hold her granddaughter.

"I tried to save him. In my mind. I tried to save his soul, to keep him with me." Here her son's voice caught, but held. She did not look at him, knowing that he was struggling not to cry in her presence. "I r-ran. I'd never run so hard in my life, but he didn't wait. He…I couldn't save him. He saved my life and I c-…cou-"

Kushina waited. When no more words came, she put Aimi down and went to kneel in front of her son. She rested a hand on his neck, letting him know she was there and that this time, this one time, it would be all right to let go. He leaned his head wearily on her chest. When he'd recovered somewhat, still with no tears, he resumed.

"I broke. When I saw that he'd died for me I just broke, mom. I couldn't take it. I still can't think about it. Guess I'm not as strong as you tried to make me."

Kushina rubbed the large blonde head, stroking his ponytail. She thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "Son. Naruto. Look at me." She waited until he'd lifted his face to gaze into her eyes. "I know what you went through. When I learned that your father was gone, it killed me. He was my world. You and your father were everything to me." She looked away a moment. When she turned back, Demon saw that there was a suspicious wetness in her eyes. "I broke too. But I had to put the pieces together again, for your sake. I knew you'd need me. I wanted nothing more than to join Minato in death, but I couldn't. And neither can you afford to lose control like you did again, Naruto. This might not end well. In fact, I strongly suspect things will get very bad and only the strongest, the Jinchuuriki, have a chance for survival. You have two beautiful children, Naruto. They are wild yet, but I will fix that. You, however, must be strong. For everyone. Do you understand?" She gave his head a small shake.

Demon sat back and took a long look at her. He'd really had no time to process her arrival. She'd just suddenly been there, then he'd been too busy trying not to incur her wrath, and then they'd begun training. Now he looked at her and remembered when he'd been very small, how she'd make him ramen, and tell him of his father. She'd been a hard woman, but she'd loved him and she loved him still, he could see. His mother. His mother was sitting in front of him and he suddenly felt his dormant love for her swell in his chest and throat. "I've really missed you, mom."

Kushina allowed the tight hug he pulled her into, squeezing back briefly. She then left him to find sleep while she sought her grandson outside.

* * *

Raiden was trying to engage Wyatt in some sort of game, but Wyatt was conked out by the fire pit, clearly exhausted. So were the people who usually slept in the main house. That structure was gone, the people stretched out on the bare dirt. A large dome of sand covered everyone and the fire pit, lit by the fire. Before going to Raiden, Kushina elected to satisfy her curiosity about something.

-oOo-

Chibi-Gaara sat morosely some few hundred yards from the large dome he'd erected to protect the inhabitants of the plateau. Not a shred of light could be seen from inside it, so the creatures were absent. He sang, making lazy shapes in the air above his head with his remaining sand.

He felt his chakra challenged on the dome as an opening appeared in the side and Kushina walked out towards him. He watched her with a mild spark of interest, wondering what she wanted. It couldn't be to criticize his shield, since it was perfect. He ran his eyes up and down her body, liking her purposeful strides.

Kushina looked down at where he was sprawled. "Kazekage," she said.

"Hm?"

"I'd like to speak with you."

"So I gathered, since you're here." He continued to make those fanciful shapes with his sand, not looking at her now.

"I will get to the point then. During this past week, you did not seem taxed by the lesson. You were comfortable enough to sing. And now, you do not seem tired though you must be expending a good deal of chakra with this technique. Everyone else is asleep. Drained. How do you feel?"

"Fine." The voice couldn't have been more bored.

"Kazekage, why do you behave like a lackwit, when you are clearly more than that?"

Chibi-Gaara rolled to his stomach, propping his chin on a hand. "Because it's fun. Getting on people's nerves is fun. Being 'normal' is _the _boring-est shit ever. And I don't act like a lackwit. I just like having my fun, is all. How come you're calling me by my title all of a sudden?"

Kushina ignored his question. "I see."

Chibi-Gaara flicked her a green glance that she couldn't immediately decipher. "I think you're fun. Badass, but funny for all that. I've decided I want you to be my first."

"Excuse me?" She couldn't imagine what he was talking about. This conversation would soon be over.

"My first…person."

Kushina stared at him. When he saw that she was still in the dark, he elaborated.

"Let me see if I understand you," she said dangerously. "You are propositioning me for sex? You, a child? I could kill you," she said with mild wonder. "You practically ask for it."

He stood, and there was that serious expression on his face that she'd seen during the lesson. "Okay, one? I'm not a child. I'm nineteen. I may be short, but I'm an adult. Two, most people I meet try to kill me so that's nothing new. What, you think I have no dick?" He moved to do something to the front of his clothes, perhaps looking to show her that he wasn't a child.

Alarmed, Kushina stepped back, her voice cutting the air like a whip. "If you expose anything to me I will see that it disappears. Suggest again what you did and I will end you. Good night." She strode briskly away.

Chibi-Gaara stared after her thoughtfully. Then he grinned widely, bursting into song at the top of his lungs. _"FIRST there is a mountain…"_

_

* * *

_

Kakashi walked toward the modest motel his guests were staying in, went to their room, and knocked on the door. The redhead opened it. He made some insolent remark before turning away, leaving Kakashi to let himself in.

They were ranged around the sitting area, apparently content to stare at each other in silence. Kakashi cleared his throat at their expectant looks.

"I'm afraid there has been no development. I can't reach the one who would take you to your comrades. The link she left in my mind is unresponsive, leading me to believe she has been occupied this past week or that the link has been severed somehow. I will keep trying of course, but…" Kakashi shrugged delicately.

One of them, the black-haired one, said, "Why would someone leave an unresponsive link? Suppose this were the emergency you say your village is preparing for?" His voice was low, mild, but held bald disapproval that was clearly heard.

"The one who left it is a child," Kakashi answered with some embarrassment. "And I don't know if she has ever done anything like this before. You know how children are…"

"Thankfully, I don't." The dark-haired man went back to staring at a wall.

Yoruichi glanced at her companions. "Advice?" she asked.

"I say let this good man continue his efforts," Urahara said after a moment. "Captain Commander bade us not to come back without them. What else can we do?"

"What indeed," Yoruichi said. She sighed. "Very well, Kakashi. We will wait. Please keep trying."

Kakashi bowed himself out.

* * *

Raiden turned from trying to wake Wyatt up and came face to face with his grandmother. He bit back his yell of fright. "Uh-"

"Come with me," was all she said. Raiden went.

They walked a good mile from the protective dome. He saw her scan the horizon briefly, before turning to him.

"Sit," she instructed. Raiden sat. "I want an account of your abilities. Tell me everything you've done from the earliest time you can remember."

Raiden's mouth fell open. "_Everything?_" he said soundlessly. "But…you already-"

"Need I remind you of how I feel about repeating myself?"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No, Grandmother."

Raiden began talking, heartily wishing that he'd gone to sleep with everyone else. He didn't know why his grandmother was able to stay fresh and alert; she'd gone a week without sleep just like he had. True, he was tired, but not comatose like everyone else was. He didn't consider stopping to ask her how she did it either, since he was more afraid of her than he'd ever been of his fathers. He was surprised to find himself actually liking the woman about halfway through the week. Whenever his mind had wavered from holding that boulder, she would talk to him, encourage him. He wondered if she ever played, or smiled, or laughed…his dad had to have gotten his playful side from somewhere, right? And if it was true that this woman was the only parent he'd ever known-

"Stop. You have mentioned several times this ability to take control of someone's chakra."

Raiden hadn't even been aware of what was coming out of his mouth. "I have?"

"I truly hate it when you behave as if you are stupid when you're not. It seems to be a common practice around here. Either you become more observant, Raiden, or I will rip the living tongue from your head." Kushina's eyes blazed with brilliant fury. Her voice vibrated with it.

Raiden nodded meekly. "Okay," he said in a small voice. "I'm sorry." He would have to be at his most alert from now on.

"You first did it when you were in your papa, before you were born. When Kaito pushed him from the cliff. Correct?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then you mentioned doing it with your uncle Gaara after you'd been born. And you did it when getting your sister and Wyatt from Madara, when he was attempting to pull them into one of his dimensions. Is this all correct so far?"

Raiden thought. "Yeah."

Kushina called up her chakra and sent it into the boy's lungs. She set about systematically drying the moisture in him, watching as he began to choke. "Do it now. Take control of my chakra and reverse what I am doing. Follow it into my own body and try to imitate the jutsu."

Raiden was gasping, coughing in wracking barks. "I c-can't!"

"You countered this jutsu when we first met, albeit inexpertly. Do so now. _Think,_ Raiden, and take control of my chakra. You must learn to fight when stressed, with calm thoughts, not only when enraged."

"But I can't br-breathe!"

"Nor will you unless you save yourself." She sat and coolly increased her jutsu.

Raiden struggled to calm his panicking mind. It was difficult. His entire body screamed for oxygen. He was receiving only enough to keep from blacking out. He closed his eyes and forced his body to be still, to subsist on the meager trickle of air entering his lungs. He searched for and found the flow of alien chakra within him and called up water chakra to match it. He melded it with his grandmother's chakra before taking control of it completely and following it back to his her body. There, he let it loose, copying her jutsu and applying it with all the strength he could muster.

If Kushina stopped breathing for even a second, she didn't show it. She severed her flow of chakra neatly and waited for Raiden to take several deep breaths. He sat up shakily.

"You took too long. Again. And be quicker this time."

* * *

Morning saw everyone still asleep. Kushina woke from her own sleep and roused them most unpleasantly via a deluge of scalding rain. She waited until they were lined up before her. Some had the audacity to yawn.

"Some of you will not benefit too greatly from my training. You are either strong enough or hopelessly weak, so I will let you train your other abilities. Shinigami, Wyatt, triplets, twins, Udon, Queenie and Hiroko. Stand there."

The individuals named stood apart.

"Kenpachi, you will choose someone from your group to begin training Wyatt in swordsmanship. Wyatt, you and Ryota will practice magic when not otherwise occupied," Kushina continued. "Lee, you will train with the others while Wyatt and Ryota practice swords and magic. When you are done with me, take them and train them as you have been doing. The same for Aimi, when I am done with her for the day. We will coordinate so that half the day your students train with me, the Shinigami or magic, and half with you."

Lee bowed in understanding, shaking with eagerness.

"All Jinchuuriki remain on the plateau. The rest of you," Kushina intoned, "Go and bring me a head."

Silence. Jailbird-Sasuke spoke up. "What head?"

"The creatures you let chase you on your first night here," Kushina said to Demon. "Each of you bring me one head. Be back well before noon, as this is only a warm-up exercise. Real training begins when you get back. Dismissed."

They each looked around at each other, some never having seen the creatures she'd spoken of. Those that had suppressed their groans and left, taking the others with them. Kushina turned to Raiden and Aimi, who were waiting expectantly with the rest of the children.

Aimi was about to ask when they would have breakfast when she heard the Hokage loud and clear in her mind through the link. She gasped, realizing that she'd forgotten all about it. She raised her hand. "Grandmother?"

Kushina listened to Aimi with a small frown. "I see. Is it the attack?"

"I don't know. I can't make out words, just the sense of him calling me. He wants me in Konoha and I think he's been calling me for awhile."

Kushina knew that Kakashi was aware of Aimi's abilities. If this was indeed the war they all waited for, she didn't want her granddaughter finding out alone and possibly getting hurt. "All right. I will send someone with you." She lifted her head and scanned who was available.

Lee was still present, changing Yo-chan's diaper and feeding him. He'd planned to catch up to the rest later.

"Lee, you and Kenpachi accompany Aimi to Konoha. Find out what the Hokage wants and come back immediately," Kushina said.

Aimi grabbed their hands and Boomed. Kushina tsk-ed when she saw that they'd taken Yo-chan with them.

* * *

Aimi made sure they came out within her Papa's house in the Uchiha compound. She jogged quickly through the village, flanked on either side by her escort, on her way to the Hokage building.

Kakashi had her admitted right away to his office. "Aimi, thank god," he said as he stood up behind his desk. "I was beginning to fear the worst."

"Hokage-sama, is it the attack? Has the war started?" Lee asked seriously.

"No," Kakashi said as he came around his desk. He crossed his arms and leaned against the edge, eyeing Kenpachi. "Actually, I'm glad you came, Captain. There are some people here from your world. That's the reason I was trying to contact Aimi."

Kenpachi regarded the shorter Hokage, each sizing the other up with one eye. "Take me to them."

Aimi was left alone in the Hokage's office as Lee said he wanted to check on Sakura-san while Kenpachi and the Hokage left to see about the new visitors. She sat on a chair in the corner and proceeded to wait.

-oOo-

The inhabitants of the motel room looked up when their door was unlocked. They beheld Kenpachi and breathed a collective sigh of relief. All except the black-haired one, who stood now and addressed the scarred captain.

"Zaraki-Taicho," Byakuya said formally. "Captain commander has put me in charge of this mess. You are to retrieve the others immediately and return with me to Soul Society."

_Ah, shit, _Kenpachi thought.

* * *

Lee learned that Sakura had the day off and was currently lunching with Ino. He adjusted Yo-chan on his back and went in search of her.

He saw her distinctive pink head in the back garden of a restaurant. He leapt and landed at her elbow, startling both women badly and making them spill their drinks.

"Lee!" Sakura screamed. She jumped into his arms. Lee wasted not a moment and disappeared with her to their house.

-oOo-

Sakura closed her eyes, enjoying the windy feel of Lee's Shunshin as he took them home. She had her arms around his back, so she felt the lumpy parcel he had strapped there. When they stopped and she heard him unlocking their door, she opened her eyes and came face to face with a pair of black ones looking over Lee's shoulder at her. "What-"

Lee ushered them inside, took the sling from his back and set it, and the baby it housed, on the floor near the door. The baby looked up at Sakura through a fringe of thick black hair. It did not make a sound other than to fart wetly into its diaper. An odor wafted up from the baby soon afterwards that told Sakura there had been more than air to the sound.

"Sakura," Lee said feelingly. He crushed her in a hard hug, ignoring the way she stared at the baby. "I've missed you."

Sakura turned her head to look at him and was distracted by a passionate kiss. She tried to protest, but Lee, ever forceful, slid a hand between her legs and lifted her easily to pin her against the wall. Her head fell back as desire bloomed within her, augmented by the fact that she'd missed him too. A lot. "Lee…"

"Shh. I don't know how long I can stay." He was kissing her jaw, teasing her, his hands tight on her hips as he pressed his groin to hers through their clothes.

They were both aggressive when it came to sex, but he outmatched her every time. Now, reeking of dirt and sweat, circles of exhaustion under his eyes and a new hardness to his features that hadn't been there before, Sakura wasn't quite sure how this would play out. Especially since she'd said some harsh words to him before he'd left. Either way, she knew things would get rough. She liked it rough.

He leaned back, taking her top off with a practiced move, before capturing one ripe breast in his mouth. She arched, the heat of his tongue and lips setting off an answering heat between her legs and the rest of her body. He ran his callused hands down her back, stopping at her ass to lift her higher. He murmured something unintelligible as he moved to the other breast, working to undo the button on her capris.

His fingers scraped her thighs dragging the garment down. She helped, kicking off the short pants so that she was naked in his arms, the scratchy feel of his clothing against her bare skin making her shiver. Lee braced them against the wall again and looked into her lust-clouded eyes. He sucked two fingers and lowered his hand, pressing the digits into her grasping warmth firmly.

"Ah…ai," Sakura sighed. "Yes…"

He watched her face as he moved his fingers in an exaggerated in and out maneuver, one guaranteed to make her come in short order. He pressed upward strongly, knowing precisely which spot brought her the fiercest, quickest pleasure. He felt her inner walls sucking his fingers deeper, felt her thighs tremble as that deep ache began building. Sweat appeared on her brow, her eyes fluttered open and closed and he knew, as he always did in these moments, violent pride at having the love of this forceful woman.

His hand was suddenly drenched with moisture as she came with a small cry and a spasm of her pretty face. He kept at it, moving his fingers tirelessly, adding two more fingers as she became wetter and tighter, coming again soon after the first climax. He'd enter her only after she'd come a few more times, when she was too sensitive to do anything but scream for him, when the slide of his flesh in hers would drive her wild. God, but he lived to make love to her!

Sakura tried to brace her palms against the wall behind her, tried to find some way to anchor herself. All her muscles were trembling. She came again, the feeling twisting through her sharply until she cried out, begging for Lee to stop, for him not to stop, for mercy when she didn't want any.

He had his clothes off in record time, entering her convulsing heat with a bitten off moan of pleasure. He had her standing up, too needy to bother searching for a flat surface to lay on. He just needed to have her, to feel her surrounding him with that twitching wetness, to hear and smell and taste her as he finally satisfied his own desire.

Her pink hair stuck to her sweaty face, drool gathered at the corner of her slack lips as he repeatedly slammed her down on his thick rod, making her breasts bounce enticingly. She tried to control her screams. Each time she did, he would plunge harder, snapping her control and bringing them both closer to the edge of sanity. The feel of his steely muscles beneath her palms excited her further, as it always did. She plain loved it when he overpowered her. It made her feel sexy and womanly, when she was frequently more powerful than a lot of the people around her.

She was tightening, her body stiffening as he catapulted her towards a final orgasm. Her hands clutched at him as her eyes squeezed shut. He kept the movements tight and fast now, driving single-mindedly towards his release even as he felt her body prepare for its own. When it came, it was like a bright explosion in them both; they froze for a few breathless seconds, heat pouring through them, and then they were undulating uncontrollably, riding the steep waves of pleasure, mouths open in silent screams of intense gratification.

-oOo-

Lee finally walked to the couch and fell on it, Sakura bouncing slightly on his chest. They were still joined. Lee dozed until Sakura noticed the baby sitting by the couch, still staring at them. Apparently it had crawled over. Its sling was caught on one little foot, the straps straggling across the floor where they had been dragged.

"Lee," Sakura poked him hard in the chest.

"Hmmph." He captured her hand and held it, preventing additional pokes.

"Whose baby is that?"

Lee groaned and resigned himself to having no sleep. He opened his eyes and stared at where she was looking. "That is Uchiha Yoichi." He went on to explain about everything that had taken place on the plateau. When he was done, Sakura propped her chin on his chest and regarded him with wide eyes.

"It sounds unbelievable. All those versions? Wild."

"It is."

"Kushina herself is there? Really?"

"Really. She is as amazing as I remember her being. More so."

Sakura made more exclamations about the situation before Lee silenced her. "You're right, it is amazing, but more importantly, it has made me realize just how dangerous and uncertain the future is. Sakura," he said seriously. "You know how much I love you. Stop thinking that marriage will take away your independence somehow and be my wife."

She didn't have to think about it. She'd thought of little else but their argument since he'd left. "Yes," was all she said now.

Lee grinned, pushing himself up straighter. "Yes? You mean it?"

"Mmhm." She leaned down to kiss him, quickly losing herself as his arms came around her.

They both jumped when they felt small hands touching their faces. They broke apart to find that Yo-chan had climbed onto the couch beside them. He wedged himself between their naked bodies, squirming until he was comfortable. He gave Sakura a look, accompanied by a high little growl of possessiveness. He placed his chubby little arms around Lee's neck.

Lee laughed. "I think he's jealous of you touching me."

* * *

Kakashi stood by as the argument escalated.

"It ain't about me defying the old man," Kenpachi said tightly. "It's about me helping these people. I gave my word." He hadn't and it wasn't about anything of the kind. He wasn't leaving a world with such strong people in it until he'd had his fill, plain and simple. Everyone there knew it.

"I have said it time and again," Byakuya shot back. "You are not fit to be a captain in the Gotei 13. You are too undisciplined."

"Really? Why don't we settle this with swords, see just who has more discipline?" Kenpachi unsheathed his blade. There were small gasps; it was considered a grave insult for one captain to unsheathe his blade before another outside of an attack both were facing. The deepest insult, one that could not be ignored. Byakuya was forced to respond in kind or lose face. He gripped Senbonzakura tightly, preparing to answer the challenge.

Urahara stepped calmly between them. "Why don't we take a vote? We can meet with the others on this world Kenpachi spoke of and see who is in favor of leaving and who wants to stay."

"Ridiculous," Byakuya said through admirable control. "I have my orders. A vote is unnecessary when I am leading this mission. We will meet with the others only to gather them for the return home." He looked to Kakashi, while managing to keep his attention on Zaraki and his blade.

Kakashi bowed slightly. "Of course. This way, please." They followed him out, Byakuya and Kenpachi bringing up the rear as the latter reluctantly put his sword away.

-oOo-

Aimi, who'd been amusing herself with the song she'd learned from Chibi-Gaara, stood up when they entered the office. Kenpachi went directly to her and knelt. "Listen quick and say nothing," he murmured. "When the times comes you have to refuse to take anyone back to Soul Society." Louder, so that the others in the room could hear, he said, "All right Aimi, we've kept you waiting long enough. Take us back to your parents so I can introduce them to these friends of mine." He said the word friends with a sneer over his shoulder at the people in question.

They clustered around Aimi in preparation for departure, but Kakashi said, "Aren't you forgetting someone? Where's Lee?"

There was murmuring as the others wondered who this was. Sometime later, running footsteps could be heard and Lee himself ran into the office with Sakura in tow, and Yo-chan bouncing wildly on his back.

"Hokage-sama, Sakura-san and I wished to be married at once," Lee said in a rush. Gai came thundering up behind Lee, wearing a formal green kimono. Neji and Tenten were there, running behind him, with Ino and Chouji. They declared themselves witnesses.

Kakashi, flustered with the abruptness of the occasion, nevertheless had the correct documents prepared and signed in record time. A handful of rice was thrown, IOUs written in place of gifts, and then Lee was kissing Sakura ardently to the hoots and hollers of his former team mates. Sakura was set on her heels, cheeks as pink as her hair and breathless. Yo-chan growled at her, baring tiny pointed fangs.

Lee said he was ready to leave. The Shinigami, having watched all in silence, clustered around Aimi anew. They left from the office with a loud clap of chakra and sound that blew Kakashi's papers everywhere.

* * *

In further training of their minds, Kushina took all of the Jinchuuriki to the base of the plateau.

"Today's lesson is another simple one. Look at this rock formation housing the plateau."

They looked.

"Can it be lifted?" she asked.

"Fuck to the naw," Fem-Naruto exclaimed. "This formation has to be at least four or five miles long and wide, a thousand feet high."

Kushina smiled. "Lift it."

Fem-Naruto stared blankly. Kage-Naruto rolled his shoulders, but made no move toward the formation. From down here the whole thing looked like a mountain. There were other such formations spread in the distance, but this was the largest, and Fem-Naruto's estimate of its measurements were accurate. Chibi-Gaara tugged on his lip, squinting up at the formation. "How?" he asked.

Kushina was loathe to speak to him after the insult he'd given her, but she was not petty enough to do more than narrow her eyes. She praised him by saying, "Someone with brains. The answer is: together. However long it takes, there will be no food or sleep until the task is accomplished." She turned and jumped along the face of the rock formation until she reached the plateau. She left them alone.

They looked at each other. "I hate that woman," Kage-Naruto said quietly.

"At least we can go to the bathroom this time," Psycho-Naruto whispered.

"_First there is a-_

"SHUT UP!" the others roared violently.

* * *

Aimi came back to the plateau and went directly to her grandmother. She, along with the other children, proceeded to watch the interaction with the reunited Shinigami.

Kenpachi looked from Yumichika, Hitsugaya, Ikkaku and Yachiru, to the people who'd come with Kuchiki Byakuya.

Yoruichi stood with Urahara, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu. They were the only ones besides herself who'd consented to enter that gateway to the Ryoka's world. Byakuya had been assigned his mission by the Captain Commander, the only captain Yamamoto felt capable of bringing Kenpachi back if he'd gone AWOL. The two groups eyed each other now.

For her part, Yoruichi guessed that all but Kenpachi were eager to get back to Soul Society. It seemed they'd been roped into some upcoming war by their inability to return home. She was as shocked as the rest when she heard Ikkaku declare that he wasn't going anywhere.

Hitsugaya was silent, frowning at the ground. "Are we to go back right now? You can open the gate to Soul Society?" If that was the case, then it was urgent he speak to Asami's father.

Urahara held up a device in his hand. "Yes, but we'll only have one shot. I can't open the gate from this side more than once, and it will only remain open a few seconds."

Byakuya caught a glance that Kenpachi threw towards the girl who'd transported them. He saw the girl give an imperceptible nod, before hearing Urahara cry out behind him. Byakuya felt suspicion settle in him as he asked what was wrong. He knew the answer before the hat-wearing man replied.

"The device is gone," Urahara said. He elaborated. "It disappeared from my hand."

Kenpachi stepped forward. "No one is going anywhere until this war is over. Then we can go back."

"Where is the device?" Byakuya asked with deadly calm. Kenpachi shrugged.

Byakuaya turned to the black-haired girl, Aimi. He was by her side in an instant, pulling her away from the group of children and the red-haired woman she stood with to search her roughly.

A sandy-haired boy leapt to her defense. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? Let go of her!"

Byakuya leveled two fingers at the kid and sent him flying with a mild Kido spell. The girl twisted from his grasp, screaming in a voice that made his ears hurt, but by then he'd discerned that the device wasn't on her. "Where is it? I know you took it," he said down at her. "Give it to me now and no one gets hurt."

The kid who'd defended her earlier zoomed back on wings and delivered a kick that Byakuya blocked with the flat of his blade. The impact had the captain sliding back several feet with a surprised grunt. "Raiden," the red-haired woman said. And the kid stopped his attack, going to land near the woman and Aimi. The children had watched everything with open mouths.

Kushina took charge. "Aimi, did you take that device?"

"Yes." No hesitation, but Kushina noticed that Aimi's eyes never left Kenpachi's small black one.

"Where is it?"

Aimi retrieved something that was in pieces from thin air and held this ruin out in her palm. Urahara made a small sound of dismay as he came over and inspected it.

"I can't say your aid won't be sorely missed," Kushina said as she looked up at the Shinigami, "but I understand that your place is elsewhere. Aimi, send them back to their world."

"No." Aimi's voice shook a bit, but her face was set. She still stared at Kenpachi, seemingly taking courage from the steady look he gave her in turn.

Kushina knew of their infatuation from her son's memories. She went to stand in front of Aimi, blocking her view of the captain as she lifted the girl's chin. She met her gaze with a stern one of her own. "I don't tolerate disobedience, Aimi."

"I know, grandmother."

"If you don't mind me, there will be consequences."

Aimi nodded. Suddenly Raiden was there, standing with his sis and shouldering his grandmother's disapproval with her.

Kushina saw this and said, "Might I assume you will also refuse to send them back?"

Raiden swallowed hard, but nodded.

Curious, Kushina asked, "Why?"

"I don't want Kenpachi to go. And we need them," Aimi said in a small voice.

"And I always back up my sis," Raiden said. "She has my back on not sending Wyatt home."

"I will decide what's needed," Kushina said firmly. "Either one of you sends them home, or there will be punishment. I'm not your fathers. I'm a good deal worse."

Aimi's face crumpled. Raiden felt his former rebellion come surging back and stiffened his spine.

Kushina read the answer in their expressions. She turned to the Shinigami. "My apologies. They will be dealt with. For now, it seems you are stuck."

Kenpachi let loose a smile that was so cocksure that Yoruichi was forced to deliver a kick to his face.

Jinta watched the sandy-haired kid, Raiden, being led away with Aimi by the red-haired woman down the side of the plateau. He was interested in getting to know that kid. He looked powerful.

Shortly thereafter, Raiden and Aimi's screams could be heard.

* * *

Demon paused in trying to lift the plateau with the others.

"What is it," 'Bee asked. He was sweating as hard as the rest. He welcomed any excuse to stop their impossible task.

Demon stood where he was, listening to his son and daughter shriek. It chilled his spine, but he knew they were with his mother and that they had to have earned whatever she was doing to them. He'd seen the way she looked at them, how she'd cradled Aimi. She loved them. And his mother was right, they needed to focus on getting stronger. Deciding to leave his children in her care, he turned to the others.

"Look," he said. "I know my mom. She wouldn't have set an impossible task. She's all about giving you something you _think _is impossible so you can learn that it isn't. She said we have to do this together, right?"

'Bee straightened with a suppressed groan. "We have been trying together. It's ludricrous, Demon. This thing dwarfs us all. There's no way we can lift it, not even with the phenomenal strength you blonde's possess."

Demon placed a palm on the rocky side of the formation, gazing up at its summit, where the plateau was located. "No. I think she meant together, as in all of us. Bijuu included."

Chibi-Gaara whistled. "That might work. But fuck, do you realize I will have to totally release Shukaku for that?"

Demon looked down at him. "I think that's the point. Working with our Bijuu when violence isn't a factor, and getting the Bijuu to work with each other."

Kit pushed off from the wall where he'd been leaning and listening. "Okay, great. Breakthrough, congratu-fucking-lations and all that jazz, but guess what? My Bijuu doesn't work. You all talk about releasing but I don't have anything to release."

Kage-Naruto pointed at him. "Freak's got a point."

"I also have a few hundred submachine guns up in that truck for the next person who calls me a freak, freak," Kit added. "Any one of them would send you to the afterlife quite nicely."

"All right!" Demon said testily. "All right, just stop fighting. Kit, why don't you sit this one out, see if we can handle it?"

"Fine." Kit paced off some distance. He needed a cigarette in the worst way.

"All right, the rest of us, gear up," Demon said.

They backed away, giving themselves room. The Eight-Tails sprang into being with no trouble or fuss. Shukaku grew from the sand Chibi-Gaara possessed. Demon, Kage-Naruto, and Psycho-Naruto went to three tails. Then Demon and Kage-Naruto made it to seven, then eight…and finally with mutal roars that rent the air, nine tails.

It was then that they turned and saw the smaller fox, crouched and bristling: Fem-Naruto. In this state, the three foxes hunkered down, the dictates of their hosts minds too muted at first to override the towering need to mate that had them all salivating.

Then Demon got control of his Kyuubi and spoke from its mouth with difficulty. **"NOT…NOW." **

Control seemed to come to the rest and they stood down. Then Psycho-Naruto's transformation got away from him and all of them had their hands full with a wild Five-Tails Kyuubi.

* * *

Aimi groaned inaudibly, her face turned into the dirt, as her bones set themselves and re-knit. She heard Raiden's body undergoing the same process with loud pops and snaps of joints. He was wheezing. When they were whole, they lay prostrate at their grandmother's feet, quaking in anticipation of the next spate of blows. They didn't come.

"Will you send them back now?" Kushina asked.

Raiden and Aimi nodded weakly, utterly cowed and bent to her will.

"Good. Don't."

Raiden, being Raiden, dared to lift his head and fix her with a questioning glance. Kushina answered.

"Aimi is right, their strength is needed. If their presence will give you two the slightest edge, the merest hint of a chance for victory then they will stay. Your punishment was for defying me, something that I won't allow. I trust the lesson has been learned?"

More feeble nods. Kushina knelt before them and rested a hand each in their hair. "Don't make me have to give it again."

* * *

The day went by. The head-hunters returned with their heads before noon as instructed. Some, in fact most, were wounded. They were rewarded with food and rest. Kushina continued to train Aimi and Raiden for a time, during which Hitsugaya began teaching Wyatt the basics of sword fighting. Kushina stopped her teachings with Raiden and Aimi and Lee took over teaching all the children while Yo-chan was napping. Jinta and Ururu decided to join out of boredom. Ururu and Aimi took to each other as if related by blood. Jinta approached Raiden, who liked him immediately. Wyatt looked on jealously, earning a knock in the head from Lee, who chastised him for being inattentive.

-oOo-

Towards evening, the entire plateau rumbled. People cried out until Kushina explained the task she'd set the Jinchuuriki. The Sasukes were the first over the side, newly woken from their rest.

It was a sight to behold, seeing so many fully released Foxes, the Ox and the Raccoon. They were spaced so that the entire formation was balanced on their shoulders with an even distribution of weight.

The real surprise was seeing Kit. It had taken hours upon hours of intense mental communication between the other Foxes and the vestiges of his demon, but finally contact was made and a partial extraction accomplished. He had two tails released. The Narutos had helped him access his chakra during the first hour in order to help him withstand the Kyuubi chakra they were trying to release. That this feat had been accomplished in less than a day was testimony to just how hard the other Jinchuuriki had worked with him.

At the same time, they'd helped Psycho-Naruto begin learning to control his own Bijuu. When he asked the others how they managed, they'd each answered more or less the same.

"I gained control when Sasuke died. My love for him, after he was brought back to life, helped me control Kyuubi," Demon said.

"After I captured Sasuke and put him in jail," Kage-Naruto replied. "I knew I'd only be able to reform him with love. That was when I was able to control Kyuubi."

"I hated Sasuke till he came back to the village. I realized I loved him and he was the one who actually helped me control Kyuubi," Fem-Naruto said. "Everything kind of went from there."

Psycho-Naruto still couldn't admit what he felt for Sasuke, but the feelings and thoughts of their night together were there. He attained a shaky control of the Nine-Tail state, long enough to lift the rock formation with the others, anyway.

Kushina was impressed. "Excellent. Well done. You learned this lesson well, and quicker than I would have believed: in order to succeed, you must help each other. No fighting. No competition. Only teamwork."

They were allowed to return to normal. The formation was set down with a thunderous sound that oppressed the very bones in everyone. When the dust cleared, Yoruichi sauntered over for a closer look at one of the men.

'Bee was aware of her looking at him. He inspected her from behind his shades, running his eyes up and down her body, before turning away.

Yoruichi purred in her throat, suddenly not at all minding the fact that they were staying a while longer.

-oOo-

Byakuya had not gone down with the others. He sat in front of the Shinigami cabin, quietly seething at how he'd been roped into the same madness that had now cost the Gotei 13 three captains. He saw that the first to return from wherever the rest had disappeared to was a blonde woman he'd seen before. She smiled at him and sat a short distance away, apparently waiting for the rest to show up.

She looked nothing like Hisana, but there was a quietness, a delicacy to her manner that reminded him of his late wife. This blonde woman's figure was altogether too flamboyantly feminine to be appealing, but it tightened his skin just the same. He was by turns surprised then disgusted at himself. He was far beyond the lusts and wantonness of less disciplined men. He turned away from her friendly black eyes, remembering that she was married, or so he assumed when he'd seen some large man kissing her upon his return from the head-hunt.

-oOo-

Kushina allowed them to eat. Then she allowed them to sleep. She decided that everyone would have guard duty by turns. By this system, Wyatt became next to serve as guard through the night. He erected his shield over their area of the plateau and proceeded to ignore the way Raiden and Jinta were talking up a storm.

Before Raiden went to bed, Kushina pulled him side. Everyone else, with the exception of Wyatt, was sleeping. "Can you sense Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke," she asked without preamble.

After a moment of concentration, he nodded. "Yup."

"Bring them."

Raiden closed his eyes and made a grabbing motion in the air.

* * *

Rasta-Sasuke was sick. He coughed wetly, groaning as the spasms hurt his starving body. He was facing another night of hell with Blondie as his only company. He waited dispassionately to die.

He hadn't dared leave to find food, and nothing came his way that he had the strength to catch. He was afraid to use his chakra in any way, lest he black out and kill Blondie by mistake. He spent the long hours from the time he'd killed that thing praying desperately that another wouldn't come by.

Blondie showed no improvement. Rasta-Sasuke stayed by his side, staring at his face, too listless and dispirited to wonder anymore what was wrong. Blondie was breathing, but dead and he himself soon would be dead. It was just a matter of time.

He felt the strange sensation of being Pulled and had no energy to do anything other than raise his eyes to the bitch who'd sent him in search of Blondie when he saw himself back on the plateau. She seemed surprised to find them together.

"You found him," Kushina said to Rasta-Sasuke. "Why didn't you come back?"

Rasta-Sasuke discovered that he had energy for one thing after all. He lurched to his feet and landed a punch to Kushina's jaw with all the enraged force of his body. He then passed out at her feet.


	38. Chapter 38

A/N: Mostly Blondie in this. Apologies.

**Rasta-Sasuke, Blondie** ~ _Until You/Always You_

**Kage-Naruto, Jailbird-Sasuke** ~ _The Price of Salvation, Hunter/Hunted_

**Stud-Sasuke, Fem-Naruto** ~ _I'm With Sasuke/I'm With Naruto_

**Psycho-Sasuke, Psycho-Naruto** ~ _Canon/Manga_

**Kit, Queen-Sasuke (Queenie)** ~ _Irresistible_

**Demon, Sasuke** ~ _Bonded/New Bonds_

**Kage-Gaara**_ ~ Bonded/New Bonds_

**Chibi-Gaara**_ ~ Until You/Always You__  
_

*Standard line about typos applies_  
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* * *

Chapter 38

_He felt wonderful. Nothing hurt anymore. He was still hungry as shit, but his body felt fine and light. Almost as if he was floating. He felt warm hands on him, putting more of the wonderful floaty feeling inside him, and then he heard speaking._

_"Good job, Wyatt. Is he still unconscious?"_

_"No, it's more like he's sleeping."_

_"He is completely healed?"_

_"Yeah. He had a respiratory infection and the broken hand, but he's good now."_

_"Excellent. Come and see about Blondie. Can you find anything wrong with him?"_

_"No, I already tried. He's fine."_

_"He is not fine." There was a sigh. "All right. Go and bring Chibi-Gaara and Killerbee. They know him, maybe they can enlighten me as to his condition."_

_"Okay. Do you want me to heal that bruise on your jaw first, Miss Kushina?"_

_"No, thank you. Just bring them quickly. And bring Aimi while you're at it, I want to see this boy's past."_

_The sound of retreating footsteps, a door closing. He heard the bitch -Kushina was her name?- murmuring to Blondie. Sometime later quick, heavy footsteps were heard and then the quiet was disrupted by Chibi-Gaara's feverish whispering and 'Bee's low rumble of a voice._

_"Blondie! Oh god, what happened to him?" Chibi-Gaara sounded distraught._

_"We don't know," Kushina said. "Wyatt can find nothing physically wrong with him. Have either of you ever seen him like this?"_

_There was silence, during which Rasta-Sasuke felt himself drifting comfortably toward the oblivion of deep sleep. He was roused to his former state of half wakefulness again when 'Bee spoke._

_"Once. It was when he thought that one there had died. Rasta-Sasuke had disappeared from the face of the earth. We couldn't find him. Blondie was…I don't know what to call it. I guess he was grieving. He didn't speak or eat unless we forced him to. He just sat staring at nothing. It lasted weeks."_

_"This looks worse than that sounds," Kushina fretted. "We've already tried to feed him with no response. Aimi."_

_"Yes, Grandmother?"_

_"Take me into his timeline, let me see what happened to him."_

_There was silence again. This time Rasta-Sasuke fell completely into the waiting arms of sleep and let it carry him away._

_

* * *

_

Inside the Corridor, Kushina turned immediately to look at the ceiling, expecting to see the river of moving images. The river was there, but it wasn't moving. Aimi, at her side, frowned up at it.

"What's wrong," Kushina asked.

Aimi encountered resistance in Blondie's timeline. She struggled against it, looking for a workaround. When she found one, the river began flowing and they stood looking up, watching closely.

Kushina was horrified. It was worse than anything she could have imagined, how this version of her son had been treated. She felt rage, violence and her chakra swell in a devastating tide within her, and she knew that she would do all in her power to help this boy. This poor lost boy who thought Rasta-Sasuke was the only salvation or love to be had.

"Stop," she said to Aimi.

Aimi stopped the flow, scared to see her unshakeable grandmother quietly crying. She saw how her grandmother frowned over the tears, but made no move to brush them away.

"Move forward until just before my arrival. Let the images pass slowly," Kushina instructed.

Understanding Blondie as she now did, Kushina thought she knew what had happened. Rasta-Sasuke. He had rejected Blondie, rejected the most importing thing to him, the most important request. His only request.

Rasta-Sasuke had broken her son. Completely. His will to live was gone, his mind and body shut down.

Kushina was not aware of when she began considering Blondie her son, she only knew that what fragile acceptance and sense of self-worth he'd had with that dread-wearing bastard had been hurt too badly for him to recover on his own. Her entire body ached at how he'd been hurt, at the need to lash out.

She controlled herself. "I'm done here, Aimi. Take us out, please."

Aimi obeyed, stepping out of the timeline with her grandmother and into the cabin they were using. It was Blondie's cabin, along with the people he'd come with. He and Rasta-Sasuke were laid out on the floor. Demon, Sasuke and Raiden were sleeping outside with the others.

Kushina sat at Blondie's head, cradling it in her lap and smoothing the spiky hair. Her tears fell on his face unheeded as she thought.

She'd planned to train them a little longer before summoning the next person, but everyone was doing well, better than she'd expected. She would cut her month of conditioning short and summon the rest of the teachers now. They needed specialized instruction and this boy in her lap needed her. "Aimi," she said now. "You will need to bring a few others tonight. First you will bring…"

Aimi listened, nodded, and turned to leave, but Kushina halted her.

"Bring me Uchiha Hiroko before any of them, though. And Kaze-Gaara. I fear by the time you bring the others it may be too late. It might already be too late."

Aimi ran to get her aunt and uncle.

-oOo-

'Bee stared at Blondie where he lay as they waited for Aimi to get back. He bled for him, he really did. He wished he'd never let him leave the cottage to go wait for Rasta-Sasuke to return. He wished he'd been able to make the young man love him. He knew he would have been able to help him, to heal his scars and make him laugh.

Blondie's laugh. It was a rare sound, one that only Chibi-Gaara could evoke. They'd been like a family in that valley, getting along so well it was as if they'd been meant to be together. He'd never stopped loving the boy, 'Bee thought sadly.

"Should I sing to him?" Chibi-Gaara said tearfully to the room.

Kushina nodded after a moment. The soft strains, sung well, further surprised her about the small Kazekage, but she made no comment. She and Chibi-Gaara stroked Blondie and waited for the others to show up.

* * *

Aimi stepped around sleeping bodies until she found her uncles curled around each other. She nudged and prodded until Uncle Gaara woke up. She told him that he was wanted by her grandmother. He got up to leave, and she went to her cousin Hiroko's cabin.

* * *

Konohamaru's arms were strong around her. The hard muscles of his body dug deliciously into her soft flesh; his biceps, his thighs, his chest. He was so hot as he wrapped himself around her softness. His cock was likewise hot as it slid in and out of her with increasing speed, making her bite her lip to keep quiet. The cabin was dark, making everything she felt more intense. He grabbed Konohamaru's long hair in her hand and arched into him as she came hard, his body holding her pinned beneath him as he waited for her to finish before he began thrusting again.

The knock was an unwelcome intrusion. It was insistent, though. Konohamaru lifted his face from her neck, still pulsing inside her. "Who is it?"

"It's Aimi. My grandmother wants Hiroko. She said to come quickly, it's about Blondie." The girl's voice was somewhat muted from traveling through the muffling barrier of the cabin door.

"I better go," Hiroko sighed. Konohamaru nodded, kissed her lips, and slipped out of her.

"Hurry back," he said with a caress of her hip. "I'm not done yet."

"You're never done," she giggled as she located her clothes.

* * *

Kaze-Gaara arrived at the appointed cabin and entered after a discreet knock. He felt himself bristle at finding Chibi-Gaara there, then felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at hearing him sing. He stood stiffly just inside the door until Kushina told Chibi-Gaara to stop and looked up at him.

"Kaze-Gaara, I need your help. I've made a general assessment of what's wrong with him, but I think you can do a better job." She then turned to Aimi, who was just coming in the door and told her to show him Blondie's timeline. Aimi took his hand and led him to the big teen stretched out on the floor.

Kaze-Gaara had been curious to meet this particular Naruto. He knelt at Blondie's side now, wondering what had happened and how he could help.

The Corridor, its river of images, and Blondie's life fascinated him. He looked, saw, went back and studied certain scenes, key occurrences in Blondie's life, and then told Aimi he was done.

-oOo-

Kushina waited for Kaze-Gaara to speak when he and her granddaughter appeared. She noted that Aimi was yawning as her eyes returned to blue, but there would be no sleep for the girl this night. "Well?" she asked Kaze-Gaara.

Hiroko walked in as he answered. "He's depressed."

Kushina, Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee answered in one shocked voice. "_Depressed?_"

Kaze-Gaara went on to explain. "He's suffered a psychotic break. This can be manifested in a variety of ways, depending on what caused it and the individual. The break was violent…I trust you saw the images where he lashed out with all his chakra? That was the start. He's having a major depressive episode now with the catatonia being the result. Catatonia itself has variations. This particular subtype is called a stupor. It is usually treated with medication."

"We have none," Kushina said tightly. "Am I right in thinking his depression was caused by Rasta-Sasuke refusing to give him children?"

"Partly," Kaze-Gaara said as he continued to look at Blondie's face. "What it boils down to is having put all of his capacity to love in one person and then having that person hurt him. I don't think he's ever risked his emotions before. The damage done by the rejection is severe, obviously, but part of this reaction is just the way Blondie is. He's been walling himself off since early childhood. This current state he's in is sort of an extension of that."

"What can we do?" Kushina asked. She was calm, in control of herself, but her voice held a strain of agonized impotency; her child was hurting, she felt compelled to help him.

"Well, you seem to have something in mind?" Kaze-Gaara said as he glanced at Hiroko.

Kushina nodded. "Yes. I thought to have Aimi summon my husband and then let Hiroko guide us into his mind. I thought perhaps we could reach him that way."

"The Fourth Hokage?" Kaze-Gaara breathed.

"I'd planned to bring him anyway, to train the Narutos," Kushina said quietly. "But now I think he's needed sooner. Do you think it will work?"

Kaze-Gaara thought for a few moments. "That would depend on what you found in his mind. The only person he ever let in hurt him. I don't guess he'd let anyone else in. He's protecting himself."

"Will he come out of it on his own?" 'Bee asked.

Kaze-Gaara turned to him. "Probably. However, he's likely undergoing a radical change as we speak. I don't think the person who comes out of this will be anything like the Blondie you remember. I'm sorry, but we are not dealing with a normal person, with normal reactions, if what I saw in the images is true. He might come out of this a psychopath or worse. "

"Worse?" Chibi-Gaara squeaked. Then he threw a venomous look at where Rasta-Sasuke was sleeping. "Can _he _help him?"

Kaze-Gaara shook his head. "I don't know. I don't advise him making contact with Blondie until we know what we're dealing with."

"What do you advise then?" Kushina said.

"Go with your plan. See if you can find the original Blondie in his mind, the one his disconnected attitude is always protecting."

Kushina nodded at where Aimi stood waiting. Aimi transformed and disappeared into Kushina's timeline with a sucking sound.

-oOo-

They waited. Hiroko, having listened to the conversations around her, had a pretty good idea of what would be expected of her. She had never plumbed the depths of one's psyche without applying Genjutsu. If her Uncle Gaara was right and there were barriers in place, things could get dicey. She stood where she was, hugging her elbows, as she began devising strategies.

* * *

Aimi let the images flow until she saw her grandmother, looking younger and very weak, being brought by a blonde man to a blonde baby. The blonde man was just handing the baby to her grandmother, saying he was going after the Nine-Tails, when Aimi stepped into the image and made her presence known.

Minato turned at seeing her. He stood up, putting himself between his wife and son. The hand seals he performed were blinding, yet the girl did something too fast for him to see. He found himself in a yellow hallway, with strange pictures above him. There was Kushina and their new baby. They appeared frozen as he'd left him.

"Who are you?" he asked, aware that the girl only stood and stared at him with wide yellow eyes.

"Uzumaki Aimi."

"The Uzumaki clan is no more. My wife is the last." But he was inclined to believe her. This had to be some kind of Fuuinjutsu, a specialty of the Uzumaki clan. "Where am I?"

"In Uzumaki Kushina's personal timeline. Please," Aimi said as she pointed at the ceiling. She let the images begin flowing.

-oOo-

Minato saw that Kushina had survived the sealing process at a cost to her health. She'd raised their son (how beautiful he was!) until she could hold off from death no longer.

The images stopped. He turned to the girl, but the girl was taking his hand and then they were outside somewhere, at night, among many sleeping bodies. She led him between them until she selected a large male with blonde hair…

Minato gasped. He had no idea where he was, what was going on, but that hair, those whiskers-

They were in another yellow corridor. This time the girl, Aimi, let the images flow from a scene in a graveyard, where Naruto looked to be the same age as when Kushina died. He saw a black-haired boy, Uchiha Sasuke (he'd seen him befriend his son in his wife's memories), comfort him. The images played from there.

He saw Raiden born and then, apparently a few years later, the girl beside him. His eyes were wide as he looked from the fat baby to the fat girl. He turned quickly back to the images, not wanting to miss anything.

When he saw that Sasuke had brought his son back from the dead, he knew he owed the Uchiha family a great debt. He saw himself in Naruto's mind, understood what had happened and then he was watching his grandchildren grow, seeing a lot of himself and Kushina in them…and then Madara. Madara, who'd had Naruto in his clutches as a baby. He didn't see him in these memories accept briefly before Naruto had died, but he had an account from Raiden to look at and then the reason for where he was and why was made known.

But no. There were other versions of his son here, one called Blondie who needed help. The images stopped and Minato sagged, drained from processing so much information. He sat down in the corridor and heard the girl do the same. She yawned behind her hand as she walked on her knees to sit beside him.

A thought occurred to him. "The Nine-Tails will destroy the village if I'm not there to stop it."

"When I return you, I will return you to that moment. It will be like you never left." Aimi yawned again.

Minato nodded. "Yosh. Let's go."

-oOo-

They exited onto the plateau, and this time Minato understood what he was seeing. He saw the dome of magic above him and the boy maintaining it. Sure enough, he found the form of his grandson sleeping not far away from the child he now knew was called Wyatt. He wanted to go to him, look at him, but Aimi tugged his hand and led him to a cabin.

* * *

He was stared at when he entered, but he had eyes only for his wife. He'd just left her side, yet he felt as if years had passed; he'd seen the thirteen years she'd spent raising Naruto and then the rest of Naruto's life, yet here she sat, healthy and strong, cradling the head of Blondie. She got up and came to him.

The inhabitants of the cabin watched them embrace as if they'd never seen such a thing. The Fourth was among them, right there in the cabin. They looked at him in wonder, silently, awestruck. There wasn't a person present who didn't know tales of his heroic deeds.

The reunited couple spent some long moments murmuring quietly to each other. Kushina tamped the painful urge to cling to Minato down fiercely as she leaned back in his arms and looked at him.

He was the same as the last time she'd seen him. The exact same, down to the clothes he was wearing. Her heart missed several beats…how she'd missed him and needed him during those years she'd been raising their son!

But she'd survived without him. And now Blondie needed them.

She gave an account of the boy's life as she led Minato to his side. They knelt and Kaze-Gaara added his unprofessional assessment to her words, rounding out the picture for him. "Help me," she said. "Help me save him, Minato. I can't stand the thought of him hurting another second."

He nodded, patting her arm. "Of course."

The other occupants of the room were discomfited to see this soft, concerned side of her. They were used to Kushina's unyielding attitude towards everything. The fact that she displayed such human attributes made them feel as if they were witnessing something personal and private.

Hiroko stepped forward. Minato knew who she was, thanks to the memories. He couldn't get over how the Uchiha clan had been massacred, but it shouldn't have surprised him. His own wife's clan had been done away with as well.

"I'll be leading this mission into Blondie's mind," Hiroko said softly. Her voice was somber, in deference to the melancholy atmosphere of the cabin. "Please don't do, say, or attempt to touch anything in there unless I say so. I don't know what we'll find, but I can say this: people who are as quiet and controlled as Blondie is are that way because they internalize everything. The environment of his mind is probably extremely hostile. We must be careful and you _must _do as I say."

Kushina and Minato nodded.

"All right," Hiroko said. "We will be looking for the original Blondie. He will probably take the form of a small child, the age at which children become aware of themselves as part of the larger picture around them. This is when they learn that the world is not there to serve them, but that they are a small part of the world. It is usually the time when they receive much love and support from whomever is raising them, generally their parents. This is when they learn their worth.

"If I understand correctly, Blondie never had that, so he locked away his true self and went through life in this disconnected form. I think the only one to know his original self is Rasta-Sasuke and he may have damaged Blondie's unprotected self, from what Uncle Gaara said."

Said uncle was impressed. He knew Hiroko, as such an expert with Genjutsu, had studied psychology from his scrolls and texts, but he'd had no idea how proficient she could be with it. It was a pity she didn't apply the knowledge to other areas of her life or she might not have run afoul of Kabuto.

"Take my hands, please," Hiroko said as she held her hands out to Kushina and Minato. "Here we go."

* * *

Psycho-Sasuke sat with his knees drawn up, his arms draped loosely over them, as he stared at Psycho-Naruto pretending to sleep.

Everything in his life, without exception, had been a lie of one form or another. There had never been anything real. His clan had been trying to stage a coup. His brother had really loved him. Orochimaru had never intended to let him go after Itachi, and Madara had likely only been using him.

And here, more lies. The Itachi here wasn't really his brother. He knew he would never be allowed to stay with him, and Konoha would probably never accept him back as a citizen.

No, the only real thing in his life, ever, had been Naruto. Him with his loud mouth and stupid ways, and ruthless, relentless pursuit. Naruto was the only one who never lied to him, the only one who never changed…the only one he'd never lost.

And that night a week ago had been fraught with the clarified truth of their relationship.

Psycho-Sasuke relived that night daily, hourly. The feel of Naruto's skin had been…indescribable. He'd never touched anyone like that, had never known the feel of areas normally covered with clothing could elicit such a riot of eagerness in him. It had felt specifically forbidden, the things he'd done, and Naruto's resistance of him had excited him…then it had scared him.

He couldn't tolerate Naruto rejecting him. Not Naruto. Not ever. Never from him…he was the only constant, the bar by which he measured everything else in his life. If even Naruto left him…

But he hadn't. He'd conceded in the end, and Sasuke had never known victory as he had when he'd been able to make Naruto enjoy his touches.

The night after the week-long lesson he'd wanted to touch Naruto again, but he and the blonde had fallen asleep immediately after eating. Today there had been no opportunity to even look at each other, and now…now they were alone and the blonde was pretending.

Talk or touch? Sasuke wondered. He felt they needed to talk about what they'd done –had he really done that to Naruto? How?- but he also wanted, needed, to lose his mind to Naruto's body again. And currently the one was outweighing the other. He dropped his hands in preparation to standing up.

Naruto was on his feet instantly, a kunai held defensively in front of him. The look on his face as he braced his back against the wall could only be described as terrorized. He didn't even give Sasuke a chance to speak.

"Stay away from me," he said in a firm voice. "I mean it, Sasuke."

Psycho-Sasuke only stood and continued to walk toward him, moving slowly, deliberately.

"I mean it, Sasuke. Don't come any closer." Wind chakra sprang up around the kunai. Sasuke looked at this, but was unconcerned. "Damn it, Sasuke, I said-"

But Sasuke had reached him. He leaned a palm on the wall by the blonde head, leaned forward until his mouth was by Naruto's ear. He said nothing at first, enjoying the way Naruto's body trembled against his. His other hand ran down Naruto's arm until it reached his wrist…then the fist around the kunai. He gently pried the fingers open and the kunai was given to him.

-oOo-

Naruto could only hear the way his heart thundered madly in his chest. Blood pounded in his head, making a sound in his ears like a low-key drum. Sasuke's chest was barely touching his own. His smell was all around him and Naruto's eyes were hot with unshed tears. His nostrils flared in an effort to hold them back.

Sasuke's mouth drifted closer to the shell of his ear, his black hair tickling Naruto's face. "I want you, Dobe. Right now."

Naruto's eyes closed and the tears were pushed over his lids to run silently down his face. A shaky breath escaped him. His head went back against the wall as Sasuke's lips touched his ear. They touched and touched and then they drew Naruto's ear lobe into Sasuke's mouth and bathed the morsel of flesh in wet heat. Through the constriction of his throat, Naruto whispered, "Please don't. Not again. Please."

"You liked it," Sasuke hissed.

_My body liked it, _Naruto wanted to scream. _I hated it!_ But Sasuke's mouth was moving across his jaw, making its way inevitably to his lips. Sasuke licked the salty tears away, licked until Naruto felt his dick warming and hardening in his pants. He tried to resist the hand that pulled his head down, wanting to lose himself in contemplation of the ceiling and ignore what was happening, but Sasuke kept tugging. Then he was kissing him and Naruto was lost.

"Oh, Sasuke," he sighed. How was it that he wanted the Uchiha to end his misery while he was the one responsible for it?

Sasuke guided them to the floor.

* * *

A discussion was taking place in the Shinigami cabin, now very crowded with the new arrivals.

"Zaraki, it is incumbent on you to order your lieutenant back to Soul Society with the rest of us," Byakuya was saying. "It is unthinkable that he should remain here for some girl. He has duties that cannot be ignored, nor does he belong here."

Ikkaku kept silent, as he was supposed to do in the presence of captains. If he was spoken to, he would respond, not before. But it was getting harder and harder to hold his peace.

"Furthermore," the 6th Division captain droned, "it seems you have some influence over that girl. Aimi. Exert it to get her to return us and I will make sure the Captain Commander hears a favorable word about you. As things stand now, you will be demoted from captain when we get back. If I tell how you have actively done everything in your power to weaken Soul Society by keeping us all here, you may be put to death by the Soukyouko. Decide."

Kenpachi sat mutely, unconcerned with threats. Byakuya couldn't do a damn thing until they returned. He'd worry about what trouble he was in then, not beforehand. He yawned in Kuchiki's face and turned to go to sleep.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed at the insolence and disrespect done him. He said nothing for the time being.

* * *

Hiroko could not simply enter Blondie's mind as she would someone else. Catatonic as he was, the first thing she encountered when she tried was something like a steel door set in the middle of a steel wall that stretched as far as the eye could see. She circled endlessly, looking for any crack in the impenetrable barrier, before she found one. It was a tiny opening, but she slid her consciousness in far enough to widen it and draw Kushina and Minato in with her.

They turned, Hiroko in the lead, and were faced with upheaval, devastation, and destruction everywhere they looked. The landscape erupted as if from volcanoes, the sky tore and roiled, and mountains seemed to crumble. Oceans of some acidic red substance heaved and tossed violently. Things, objects that defied description, were propelled at great force through the air so that the prospect of moving from where they stood was clearly fatal. A shrieking, howling wind blasted through it all, setting the three people's teeth on edge. Above it all revolved Rasta-Sasuke's head, impossibly large, dwarfing everything around it. There was light emanating from this godly head, but the face was contorted into an expression of dislike and anger. Unbeknownst to Hiroko and the two with her, this was the last expression Blondie had seen on Rasta-Sasuke's face.

Hiroko immediately sent out her chakra, seeking to calm the environment around her. Nothing happened. She tried to think.

The mind had levels. The subconscious, conscious and superconscious. If she wasn't mistaken, Blondie had gone through his entire life suppressing his subconscious, the part of him that dealt with wants, desires and needs. He lived almost entirely by his superconscious, letting it dictate his interaction with the world around him. His conscious mind was startlingly absent through much of his day to day life, or it had been until Rasta-Sasuke had come around. Then, Blondie's superconscious, the part of him that dealt with right, wrong and morals, had been colored completely by Rasta-Sasuke.

But the arrival of Rasta-Sasuke had awakened subconscious urges in Blondie at last. And now, because of whatever Rasta-Sasuke had done, the subconscious had completely taken over. Hiroko wasn't sure what she was seeing, but she thought it was predominately sadness, along with all the secondary and tertiary emotions that went with it.

That frightened her badly. If all this was still only the hurting phase of his reaction to Rasta-Sasuke, she did not want to be here when it began changing to anger. That was when Blondie would wake up and he might well be the psychopath Uncle Gaara described.

Levels, she reminded herself. Even the subconscious had levels. Holding Kushina and The Fourth's hands, she closed her eyes and concentrated.

The quiet was immediate. Hiroko cautiously opened her eyes and found herself in something like a black swamp. She could distantly hear the rampaging destruction going on a few levels up. She crept forward, alert for any traps. "Let's go. We don't have much time."

* * *

Minutes passed in the cabin. Hiroko was gone for an hour, then two. Kaze-Gaara watched.

Hiroko sat near Bondie's head, one palm resting on his forehead. She held both Kushina and Minato's hands in her other one. They all had their eyes closed.

Looking across the room, he saw Aimi curled in a corner sleeping. 'Bee and….that abomination, were sitting not far away, speaking in low whispers. Rasta-Sasuke was turned on his side, sleeping comfortably. Kaze-Gaara dearly wanted to know what went on in that kid's mind. Why he acted the way he did and why he'd hurt Blondie if he loved him.

* * *

They reached a crumbling stone staircase that led farther down. Hiroko paused at seeing it. They'd already descended many levels. She wondered how much farther they had to go; Blondie's mind was turning hostile against them, a sign that his conscious mind was coming back…which meant he was switching over to rage. She, Kushina and Minato were somewhat worse for wear, not wanting to retaliate and risk damaging Blondie further. Off to one side was a hall leading away, with exposed pipes and fixtures. Heavy breathing could be heard down this hall and Hiroko guessed Kyuubi was somewhere down that passageway. She beckoned them down the stairway.

It went on and on until Hiroko feared ever returning. She had never had such trouble maintaining her hold on herself when in another's mind.

They reached the bottom. It was a stone room, windowless. In the far wall was a door like one would find in a prison. The door had a small window of bars near the top. Hiroko approached the door slowly, hesitated, then pushed it open. It was unlocked.

-oOo-

A small blonde boy, perhaps three years old, stood facing one corner. He was sniffling. He turned to look over his shoulder at the three people as they entered the room and Hiroko felt some of her tension leave her. "We found him," she said with relief. "Kushina-sensei, Hokage-sama, the rest is up to you."

* * *

Back in the cabin, a frown appeared on Blondie's face. Kaze-Gaara saw with a jolt that the blue eyes were turning red. A slow rumble began deep in Blondie's chest.

"What's happening?" Chibi-Gaara hissed.

"I think he's coming around," Kaze-Gaara answered.

"Did they reach him, do you think?" 'Bee asked.

"If they did, the mission failed. Wake up Aimi. She may need to control Kyuubi if this gets out of hand." Kaze-Gaara backed away from Blondie, noting with dismay that a ghost of orange chakra was beginning to curl off of him.

* * *

There was a deafening roar and growl from above them. "Kyuubi," Hiroko breathed staring at the ceiling. "He's being released…I have to stop it!" Hiroko turned and left, running for the stone stairway.

"Should we come with you?" Minato called after her.

"No, stay there! Try to get through to the original!" Hiroko was gone.

Minato closed the door and searched for a means to barricade it. If Kyuubi was being released, that meant there was an aspect of Blondie's conscious mind in here releasing it. He did not want that aspect coming to interrupt them. He feared for Hiroko.

-oOo-

Kushina knelt by the crying boy and was helpless not to cry herself. Her hand went to her throat a moment, clawing at the lump sitting there. The boy was filthy, bruised, clearly hungry. He looked up at her with vacant eyes. When she reached to touch him, he pulled away. "Minato," she said. "He needs us."

Minato went to her. The door would have to remain as it was. He sat down in front of the boy and offered a smile, hiding how this sight of his son hurt him. "Hey, kiddo."

* * *

Hiroko ran down the hall lined with pipes until she was brought up short: The tall gates she remembered from her Uncle Naruto's mind were further reinforced by rows and rows of what looked to be steel blocks, each block larger than she was. The seal fastened to the gate doors kept Kyuubi in place, true, but these steel blocks did a better job than that seal ever could. If the seal should ever break or weaken, there would be no getting past those blocks.

But there was a large blonde…thing…currently flinging those blocks away as if they were nothing. If the blocks were Blondie's control, as she suspected, then this must be some form of Blondie that was doing away with them. This was his conscious self, then. He turned to look at her now, sensing her presence. Hiroko's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.

He was grotesque. His hair was long and matted, his eyes lopsided and bulging. He was tall, ten feet at least, and hunched over from a curved spine. His arms were disproportionately long, the hands hanging past the bent knees. He roared at her. "Get out. Unless you want to die."

Hiroko stood her ground. Using her Sharingan, she made a preemptive strike and took control of Kyuubi before Blondie could. Blondie saw this and went for her throat.

* * *

There were objects in the room with the original. A large purple dinosaur and a doll with rainbows on her blue clothing. There were a few other soft toys of the plushie variety. A picture of 'Bee hung on the wall. That was it.

Though Kushina and Minato tried, the boy would not speak to them. Finally Minato picked up the purple dinosaur. He turned it this way and that, moving its arms and legs, and making it jump. Above them, Hiroko's faint shriek and an accompanying snarl drifted to them.

"That's Barney."

The voice had been a whisper. Minato quelled his smile of triumph and kept a serious expression on his face. "Oh? Do you like Barney?"

A nod. The boy only looked at the toy, nowhere else. "Gaara gave him to me."

"And do you like Gaara?" Kushina asked gently, following her husband's lead.

"He likes me," Little Blondie said.

Minato exchanged a glance with Kushina. That was an important statement. "Gaara's not the only one who likes you."

"'Bee likes me too."

"Who do you like, dear?" Kushina tried to touch him again, but Little Blondie shied away, cringing against the wall. She put her hands back in her lap.

Another snarling growl from above. "That's The Beast," Little Blondie said softly.

"You mean Kyuubi?" Minato clarified.

"No. The Beast. He guards my door."

Kushina looked at the door. "He's not here now."

Little Blondie reached for Barney. Minato handed the toy over, and the boy hugged it. "Sasuke used to be in here with me sometimes." Little Blondie hugged Barney tighter. "You should go."

* * *

Hiroko was fighting. As mental battles went, this was worse than the Genjutsu fight with Kabuto. She might, _might_, have been able to take on Blondie by herself, but Blondie had taken control of Kyuubi from her and they were both fighting her. Kyuubi from his prison and Blondie with everything he had.

She was losing.

* * *

Kushina ignored the advice and the sounds of Hiroko screaming. "Did Gaara and 'Bee come in here too?"

"Just Sasuke."

"Why did The Beast let him in and not Gaara and 'Bee?" Minato asked

Little Blondie looked up at them. "He didn't. I did."

* * *

Hiroko was down. Finally. Blondie turned from her bleeding body as it began fading into the air and did away with all the steel blocks at once, with one wave of his hand. Kyuubi grinned and Blondie grinned back. He began peeling off the seal.

* * *

Kushina understood at last. Little Blondie had let Rasta-Sasuke in because he believed in him. He'd trusted him. And he wouldn't let her or her husband touch him because he didn't trust them. He didn't _know _them. She'd had enough.

Brushing his protesting hands aside, Kushina took hold of her little boy and hugged him fiercely. "I love you," she said desperately. "I always have, even if I haven't been around. I'm your mother and I love you. My son, my precious son!"

"I don't have a mother."

Minato and Kushina looked up. It was The Beast, standing in the doorway.

* * *

Hiroko first collapsed, then began bleeding from her nose. Kaze-Gaara rushed to her side, Chibi-Gaara screamed, and Blondie was in the process of growing a second tail.

Aimi was awake. She heeded her Uncle Gaara's harsh command and folded Rasta-Sasuke, Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee away. She remained in the cabin with her grandparents while Uncle Gaara scooped up Hiroko and left. Then she too entered Blondie's mind.

* * *

Minato stood, facing the Beast with a steady look. Behind him he heard Kushina speaking softly to Little Blondie. The Beast leaped, claws extended, fangs bared, for Minato.

"Naruto," was all Minato said.

The Beast stopped. "That's not my name."

"What is your name, then?" Minato asked. He heard Little Blondie asking if it was true, was Kushina his mommy. "Beast?"

"I am a beast."

Minato walked forward slowly, placing each step carefully. "You are Naruto, my son."

* * *

Kaze-Gaara left Hiroko with Wyatt and went back to the cabin quickly. He was in time to hear Blondie speak for the first time. "No," the blonde moaned.

* * *

"No," The Beast moaned.

"Yes." Minato took another step. "You are my son. My boy. You have my hair and eyes and your mother's chakra. You're mine and I love you." He'd reached him now, and stood looking up at the terrible face. "My beautiful boy."

-oOo-

Little Blondie looked up into his mother's eyes and found what he'd been looking for his entire life. What even Sasuke had been unable to give him completely. He found love and acceptance. He found his family.

Kushina cried out as the little arms went tightly around her neck. She tried to sooth the sobbing boy, but really she was in no condition to do the job right; she was hysterical herself.

-oOo-

Blondie looked at this in shock. He could feel the acceptance of his original self, the way he felt everything the boy did. They were connected. Mirror images. He felt a touch on his body and looked down to find his father holding his hand. His father. The Fourth Hokage, as Chibi-Gaara had told him. His father led him by the hand to where his mother sat rocking his original self and crying. He knelt with them, towering over them, and then his father and mother had drawn him into the embrace. They held him and the original, and Blondie couldn't bare the sweetness.

* * *

A sigh escaped Blondie. Kaze-Gaara waited for more, but nothing came. When he looked at Aimi, he saw that her eyes were changing from Sharingan to their normal dark blue. "Kyuubi's neutralized, but I can't fix that seal," she said.

"Let us hope The Fourth and Kushina can do something," Kaze-Gaara said uneasily. His disquiet only grew as time passed with no developments.

* * *

The four of them stayed that way, rocking and crying, sobbing and stroking. Minato and Kushina told both boys repeatedly how much they were loved. They kissed them and held them. Much later, when Little Blondie suddenly vanished with a broad smile, the parents lifted their heads to find Blondie changing in their arms.

He was shrinking. His features were turning into the normal handsome ones his physical body possessed. He sat there with his parents and stared at them. "Are you really here with me?" he said hoarsely.

"Yes," Kushina smiled.

"Then I'm dead," Blondie said.

"No. Aimi brought us from the past," Minato explained with a caress of Blondie's hair. "We're here with you, son." He gave a little background information as to where Aimi had brought them from.

"But then you're Demon's parents, not mine," Blondie said. His face fell.

Kushina lifted his chin to glare at him. "You are _my _boy. Don't ever deny it." Then she choked him in another hug. Blondie matched her violence, hugging her in turn and Minato hugged them both.

* * *

Blondie blinked, raised a hand to his face, and sat up. Kaze-Gaara had his sand out and ready, though Blondie's eyes were blue. Minato and Kushina likewise blinked back to an awareness of their surroundings. When the three saw each other, there was a moment of silent staring and then they seemed to be fighting each other as they all tried to hug at the same time.

Kaze-gaara stood and left the cabin with relief. The tension of the past few hours had left him weak.

-oOo-

Blondie spent long minutes touching his mother everywhere. He touched and pinched, squeezed and sniffed until she slapped his hands away in embarrassment. She let him run her long hair through his hands until Minato looked at Blondie with thinned lips. He took the hair that he loved so much from Blondie, meaning to tell his wife to go and fetch the boy something to eat, but Blondie turned to him and Minato was given the same treatment. Face red at where his own son's hands were roaming, he managed to tell Kushina that the kid needed food.

"Son," Minato said. "Naruto. _Blondie. _Enough. I'm real. There's no need to-"

Blondie kissed his father's eyes, his nose, his hair. He hesitated at Minato's mouth and the older man's eyes widened in fright. "Sasuke said it was wrong for brothers to touch this way, but surely parents and their children can kiss to show love?" Blondie said. And he attempted to do just that.

Minato didn't want to risk a relapse by rejecting Blondie, but he held off from attacking the kid just barely. "Son, no, you mustn't-" The boy was incredibly strong. Too strong to fight off without getting serious. Minato spotted Aimi watching sleepily. "Aimi, bring Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee. Hurry!"

Blondie managed a quick peck of his father's lips and was satisfied. He sat on his haunches. Staring avidly at how his father –his _father!_- tried to wipe his lips unobtrusively. "Dad."

"Yes?"

"Dad."

"Yes, son."

"Dad."

"Blondie-"

"Dad. I like saying that. Where is mom? Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom-"

Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee entered the cabin and that, thankfully, distracted Blondie enough for Minato to slip away.

* * *

Kushina was just ordering the camp fire lit, one of the huge deer dressed and roasted. Everyone on the plateau was awake from her loud commands. Minato walked up to her and there was a collective gasp, a hush, then a cacophony of sound. He turned to find a bunch of blondes with wild-looking eyes heading straight for him, some of them on all fours.

Minato ran.


	39. Chapter 39

A/N: A month to the day since I've updated this. That won't happen again, I will make very sure. I beg your forgiveness, especially from **Addiena-Saffir** and **Kanazerosukenaru**, two readers I believe crave this story the most. That said, this chap is somehwat short, but it went through several revisions before I felt I had it right. I hope you all enjoy, and I thank you humbly for your patience.

*Standard line about typos applies.

* * *

Chapter 39

There was no outrunning them. Minato had no idea where he was going anyway, and soon came up against the barrier of the magical dome Wyatt was maintaining. Not wanting to pass through it before he understood the dynamics of it, he stopped and turned to face the horde. He was braced for an attack with hand seals ready.

The attack, when it came, wasn't what he expected. Several large bodies (that giant with the Hokage robe couldn't be his son, could it?) slammed into him painfully and crushed him in their midst. He was pawed roughly, realized he was being hugged, and simply closed his eyes in surrender; he didn't like to think what refusal would do to these clearly excited men.

They were all speaking at once, wanting to know if he was really there, why he was there, how long would he stay. Thankfully, none of the hard hands roamed below his waist, as they had with Blondie, but he was lifted between the several bodies and carried someplace, presumably back toward the camp fire. He kept his eyes closed for all of it, realigning his thinking to encompass the knowledge that all these versions of his son had grown up without knowing their father.

He was set down. He felt no further touches on him and opened his eyes at last.

It tightened his muscles to see how all the Narutos stood around him so closely. They were staring at him with such expressions of intensity that he was surprised none of them were going Kyuubi. When he'd seen them galloping on all fours he'd assumed that was the case, or that they wanted to molest him as Blondie had, but now he supposed it had been eagerness on their part. From the images in his son's mind, he understood that any sort of high emotion made Naruto –any version of him- resort to his animalistic tendencies.

Swallowing his discomfort, Minato grinned. He threw his arms open wide and all those bodies moved as one, squeezing him in a joint embrace.

They spoke together, a mixture of words, questions and stories that Minato could not at first understand. It seemed he had other grandchildren by some of the versions, but he wasn't sure. When he was at last given personal space again, his eyes automatically searched out the blond with a ponytail. The only one who was actually his son. Demon met his gaze and had to duck his head, hiding the shine in his eyes. Minato didn't want to single him out and risk making the others jealous, but he did lay a hand on his shoulder. Demon nodded into his chest in acknowledgment, putting his hand over his father's.

* * *

Inside the cabin, Blondie sat staring at the door his father had closed behind himself. Chibi-Gaara waited only a second before throwing himself on Blondie's neck. His words were muffled.

"Are you _okay_?" Chibi-Gaara shrieked. "We were so worried!"

"You gave us all a scare," 'Bee said quietly. He rested a hand on Blondie's knee.

"I'm fine," Blondie said, becoming truly aware of them for the first time. He looked down at Chibi-Gaara's face.

His small red-haired friend. His only friend, the one closest to him after Sasuke. He'd always considered Sasuke as his lover, Chibi-Gaara as his friend and 'Bee as a surrogate father. Now that his real father was here, he supposed 'Bee was like an uncle. Chibi-Gaara, however, would always remain his one true friend. It occurred to Blondie that he'd never really hugged Chibi-Gaara. He did so now, returning Chibi-Gaara's embrace and feeling the small body shake in gladness at this contact.

Killerbee gently pulled Chibi-Gaara aside. Blondie initiated the hug this time, going to 'Bee and clinging to him a moment. The older man was a solid ninja, able to withstand the rib-cracking strength Blondie exerted now. 'Bee frowned in concern. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Blondie nodded against the shoulder under his chin. "Where…where is Sasuke?"

"Sleeping, I think," Chibi-Gaara answered. "Want me to go get him?"

"Sleeping," Blondie said softly. His broken heart, beginning to heal with the recent acquaintance of his parents, broke a little more. Why wasn't Sasuke there, being concerned for him as Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee were? "How long was I gone? How did I get here?"

"About eight days," Bee said. "I believe your mother had one of Demon's kids Pull you."

He'd been gone a week and Sasuke wasn't worried. He was sleeping. Blondie sucked in a breath and forcibly pushed his hurt down, holding the memory of his parents' embrace in the forefront of his mind. _They _loved him and wanted him. Sasuke… he wouldn't think about Sasuke.

Kushina brought food in some time later. She personally ripped the meat and handed it to Blondie, feeding him until he took the haunch of deer meat from her and fed himself. She stroked his arm fondly as he ate and smoothed his hair. Both she and Blondie seemed to revel in these touches. They were practically sitting in each other's laps. Kushina even kissed Blondie's cheek when he sucked his fingers clean, which had Blondie turning worshipful eyes toward her.

Chibi-Gaara took umbrage. "How come you're all nice to him and bitchy to the rest of us?" he hollered at her. "He wasn't even here to live through your training! I demand that I get a kiss, too!"

Kushina turned slowly. Her face was stiff with disapproval, her eyes as hard as stones. "_What_ did you say?"

Chibi-Gaara got out of there. 'Bee suddenly remembered urgent business outside the cabin as well.

* * *

There was a party atmosphere on the plateau for the space of an hour or two. The Narutos were grouped around Minato, sitting near the roaring camp fire. The twins and Yo-chan were introduced to him, as was Raiden. There was loud talking and laughing from that entire blond group.

The others sat or lounged around the blonds, listening as everyone got caught up. They basked in The Fourth's presence, ecstatic at having such a legend right there amongst them. The plateau was alive with sound and merriment from all except a few people.

Rasta-Sasuke was indeed sleeping the sleep of the dead, off to one side. Aimi was curled up behind him, her face buried in his back. And the Shinigami stood to one side, watching the gaiety with bored expressions.

Blondie and Kushina stepped out of their cabin. Blondie was greeted by the other Narutos enthusiastically. Minato had filled them in on recent events to save Blondie's mind. They clapped him on the back as if welcoming a brother as he wedged himself next to The Fourth.

Kushina felt this time-wasting had gone on long enough. She clapped her hands smartly, eyes bright with determination and the fact that her husband and Blondie were now with them. "Enough! Uchiha!"

Every Uchiha present stood at attention, without exception. They didn't even question her, a fact Minato found very interesting.

"Stand there," Kushina instructed. They went to stand where she pointed. "Uzumaki!"

The blonds, all except Minato, and Raiden rose to their feet. Kushina bade them stand across from the Uchiha.

"Aimi? Aimi!" Kushina looked around in annoyance. She strode to Aimi and dragged her up by an arm. She pushed the yawning girl toward the line of Uzumaki.

Kushina continued to issue commands. "Shinigami, there. Wyatt, with them. Kazekages and Killerbee, there. Lee, Ibiki, Udon and Konohamaru with them." She turned to survey Rasta-Sasuke a moment, who was still sleeping. "Raiden fold him to his cabin, I will deal with him in the morning."

Raiden did as she asked. Byakuya narrowed his eyes at seeing Kenpachi and his group take orders. He saw with disgust that Urahara had decided to amuse himself by joining the line of Shinigami. Tessai, Jinta and Ururu followed the fan-waving exile. Yoruichi opted to remain apart, a fact Byakuya thought was wise. They watched the proceedings.

Ninja stood ranked to either side of Kushina in silent lines. She had the kids stand in their own line. Only Etsuko, Emiko, Yo-chan, and the triplets were in it. Raiden, Aimi, Wyatt, Jinta and Ururu were in the other lines.

-oOo-

Minato sat off to the side, arms draped loosely around his drawn up knees, watching his wife with pleasure. It was hard to imagine that she'd died, seeing how lively she was now. He studied her as she walked up and down the lines, inspecting for the slightest slouch in posture or lapse in attentiveness.

From what he gathered from Demon's memories and what his own eyes were telling him, this woman was very different from the wife he'd left holding their newborn son. This woman was hard, so hard, and almost merciless. Even without the impending war, she'd been ruthless while raising their son, and when training him. It gave him unpleasant shivers to think of what might have happened if she'd been like this when the Kyuubi had been inside her. There were traces of compassion still, love and kindness, but overall Minato rather thought the Kyuubi would have gained control of this angry woman he called wife.

-oOo-

"I have been soft with you," Kushina began. There were several choked off curses at this, which she ignored. "That ends now. Aimi?"

"Yes, Grandmother?"

"Bring the other teachers I told you about earlier."

Aimi walked to Sasuke, transforming as she went. There was a collective gasp as she disappeared into the space behind him. While she was gone, Kushina continued speaking.

"You Uchiha need to train your Sharingan. I confess, I'm ill-equipped to teach members of your clan. You will have specialized teachers, one for both your Genjutsu abilities as well as other techniques unique to your clan.

"Jinchuuriki, you will be trained by Minato and one other, whom my granddaughter will also bring. Enough coddling. True training begins now and will not cease until the call to battle is received.

"Shinigami, you will work with Wyatt and allow the others to spar with you in swordmanship or Kido. It is well that they pit themselves against your unique way of fighting."

Aimi returned as Kushina was going over details. Itachi and the Sasukes nearly broke ranks; Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku stood among them. Aimi disappeared again as Mikoto and her husband walked towards Kushina and greeted her. They then turned to the crowd.

-oOo-

Mikoto had had less catching up to do than Kushina and Minato in the Corridor, having died after Sasuke had been an adult. Fugaku, though, had needed her to explain all that had taken place after his death. She'd also spent some long, unbearably sweet moments reuniting with her husband, disbelieving such a jutsu existed that could restore him to her. Aimi had explained a great deal while showing the images and that had helped Mikoto and Fugaku both.

Learning that her son had followed her in death not long after had hurt, but it was eclipsed by her reason for being called. It was unnerving to be in the future, to see so many versions of her son, but worse by far was the knowledge of what was coming.

She stood beside Fugaku and looked at her grandchildren, now grown and with children of their own in some cases. Raiden was there, looking like her son had at his age. And Aimi. She was enchanted with this new grandchild, with her abilities. The girl had disappeared behind Minato. Mikoto gathered her thoughts and addressed her family and the other versions of Sasuke.

"Much will have to be left unsaid. I won't go into how it feels to go from defending you children from Pein's attack of the village, to seeing you all grown. I know what is going on, as does my husband. We will start immediately."

But Psycho-Sasuke broke ranks after all, running hell bent for leather to throw himself at Mikoto and Fugaku, making sounds no one on the plateau would have thought possible. He was completely hysterical, inconsolably so, as he grabbed his parents around their necks with each arm and hung on in a frantic hug. "Mom! Dad! Oh, god, you're alive!"

The other Sasukes twitched to do the same, but Kushina stayed them. Minato frowned at her, which caused her to meet his disapproving look with one of her own, which gave the Sasukes, Itachi, and the other Uchiha the opportunity to make a run for Mikoto and Fugaku. It was the Minato scene all over again. Kushina sucked her teeth at seeing this, but then Aimi appeared with the last teacher.

"Oh ho!" Jiraiya hailed the plateau residents. "So it's true, then!"

That was another hour lost. Kushina felt the last of her patience evaporate and unleashed every ounce of her chakra.

To a man (and woman) they were prostrate in the dust, hands clutching throats as Kushina's victims fought to breathe. No one was spared, not even the children. Mikoto countered with a tricky use of her chakra that had Kushina raising a brow, but she scarcely paid the woman any mind as Mikoto stood and walked calmly to join her in surveying the group of writhing individuals.

Byakuya was down with the rest of them, appalled at being felled so easily. He concentrated on the foreign reiatsu in his lungs, trying to expel it.

Minato walked up behind his wife, startling her. He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't I take over?" he asked quietly.

Kushina relented, suddenly remembering that she'd never been able to get the drop on him. She released her jutsu. The smaller children immediately began crying. Their parents tried to comfort them.

-oOo-

Jiraiya coughed once as he stood, watching Kushina walk off. He massaged his chest. He should have countered quicker, but he'd never seen that jutsu before. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

The girl, Aimi, had come while he'd been about to fight Pein. She'd whisked him off, letting him sit in the Corridor attached to her Minato's timeline as he watched a fascinating series of events. It made his skin crawl to know that Akatsuki had been joined to the Bijuu, that they were now after Naruto's children. Still, this whole situation promised to be a lot of fun.

He cut his eyes to a buxom dark-skinned woman with yellow eyes, noticing for the first time all the other prime female flesh around. Oh yes. Fun _indeed._

-oOo-_  
_

Kage-Naruto watched Kushina walk off the plateau and grinned. "Excellent." He turned to Minato. "Now, as one Hokage to another-"

That was as far as he got. Minato exchanged a glance with Jiraiya before he disappeared right before the onlooker's eyes. There was a brief flash of his yellow hair, then Kage-Naruto was down again, groaning from various blows he'd received from Minato.

Minato appeared a few feet from him. "Don't mistake me for someone lenient," he advised the downed blond. "Up. Follow me. All of you," he raised his voice to include everyone on the plateau.

They did so. Jiraiya brought up the rear.

* * *

Minato did away with the rigid lines his wife had enforced and asked everyone to sit wherever and with whomever they were most comfortable. He saw couples and families form little groups and nodded. Much of their training would have children away from parents, husbands away from wives and men away from partners. They should be together whenever they could. He took a moment to think about what he wanted to say as Mikoto, Fugaku and his old sensei came to stand on either side of him.

"Something is bothering me," he said at last. His voice was low, though perfectly audible. He tugged on his lip as he frowned around at all the sitting individuals. "Can anyone guess what that is?"

No one spoke for a long time, though it was clear they were all thinking hard. Finally, a thin red-haired boy tentatively raised his hand. Minato invited him to speak.

Kei stood nervously, pulling the hem of his shirt down. "Um. Yondaime-sama, is it that we don't have a plan to defeat Izanami and Akatsuki?"

Minato was deeply impressed. He couldn't help his grin as he nodded. "Yes. _Exactly. _Tell me, how did you know that was what I was thinking…?" He raised his brows in inquiry of the child's name. This information had been in his son's memories, but was not something he'd thought to hold on to.

"Kei, Senpai," Kei bowed respectfully. "Uchiha Kei. It was simple logic. You know we're training, but we have no strategy. The topic hasn't even come up since we've been here."

There were murmurs to this. Minato was busily accessing what he knew of this boy and found that a few tidbits had indeed remained with him. "You were the one who knew where to find the Bijuu army and the teachers. Tell me, do you have an idea as to how this war might be won?"

Kei ducked his head. He caught his father's eye and the nod of encouragement Itachi gave him. Kei squared his shoulders. "Well…I did have one idea."

The plateau was very quiet. Most of the individuals were noticing Kei for the first time. He'd been just another one of Itachi's brats to the majority of the newcomers, but now The Fourth was focused on him, impressed with him. Uchiha Kei was now someone of importance. He was listened to with interest.

"It came to me when we tried to use a spell on Akatsuki recently," Kei was saying. "To re-ensoul them so they could be killed."

"And what was your idea?" Minato prompted. He noticed his wife quietly coming back to camp, composed now and listening to Kei as well.

"Not so much an idea as a solution," Kei clarified. "The only solution possible, really. The only way to re-ensoul Akatsuki would be to kill Izanami herself. I thought, for a moment, that extracting the Bijuu from Akatsuki's bodies would kill them, but it won't, not as long as she has control of their souls. So I figure we first need to separate the Bijuu from their Akatsuki hosts, so they aren't as powerful, then kill Izanami. Only problem is that no one here is powerful enough to do that. There isn't a jutsu in creation that can kill a goddess. The only force powerful enough to maybe kill Izanami is magic, and our only magic users are Ryota and Wyatt. And the Shinigami, I guess," Kei added as an afterthought.

Minato cut his eyes sideways at a small movement from someone in the group. It was Wyatt covering his face with his hands and Raiden patting him consolingly on the back. He brought his attention back to Kei. "That is a well-thought out and bold strategy, Kei. You are a true credit to your family name. You bring the Uchiha much honor, as I am honored to meet you. I believe you will be a remarkable ninja one day." He did Kei the supreme honor of inclining his head in a small bow.

Itachi looked away, eyes streaming atrociously. He had to screw his face up sternly in order to master himself, but even so a small sob escaped him. Kaze-Gaara murmured comforting words to him, clasping his shoulder.

Minato raised his eyes to regard everyone. "Kei has it right. Killing Izanami is the only way to win this thing. And magic is the answer. Some of you may be asking yourselves this: What are we training for then, if magic is the answer? Simple. Akatsuki will have their own army. Count on it. This isn't just a war between Akatsuki and you. It is a war between good and evil. Do you think you will stand alone when the time comes? Konoha will rally to your side and other nations will rally to Konoha. Just as nations will join with Akatsuki. And, if Akatsuki is successfully weakened, there will be Izanami to deal with. She will bring her army of the dead, but who knows what other beings may join her? By involving herself so intimately with the living we may be sure of one thing.

"Izanami wants Raiden for a reason.

"That reason is likely to obtain something she otherwise cannot get. If I understand my history of the time before creation correctly, Izanami wants power. She may want it to break out of her prison of the underworld completely, or she may want it for something else. Raiden has power, comes from power. We may as well assume she knows of Aimi if Madara saw her, so she will want her as well.

"It is likely that your magical members will be the ones to fight Izanami while the rest of you engage everyone else. _That_ is why you're training. Are there questions?"

Raiden shot his fist into the air. Minato nodded for him to speak.

"What you said is true," Raiden said as he stood up. Kei sat down. "About good and evil, I mean. Phoebe told me the forces of good in this dimension were using me. They gave me the visions so that I could warn people and sort of swing the fight in their favor I guess. And she said that if the forces of good were taking an interest then there had to be forces of evil also taking an interest. Also," and here Raiden paused to look at Psycho-Naruto. "A prophecy or some shi-sorry. A prophecy was made about Aimi and me. I think that might have something to do with it. It might be…" Raiden twirled his hand in the air, searching for the right word.

"Relevant?" Minato supplied. Raiden nodded. "I see. Was the prophecy made to you?" Raiden shook his head no. "To whom?"

Raiden pointed away from himself. "To Psycho-Naruto."

Minato searched him out with his eyes and found him already standing to speak. "What was the prophecy? Tell us in as much detail as you can recall."

Pyscho-Naruto nodded, his eyes serious. "Ojiji-sama told Aimi's future. He said, 'She is broken…Balance in all things. She is half of a great Power. What her other half lacks, she has and vice versa. Apart, they are safe. United, unstoppable. United, too dangerous; their power is coveted by Great Ones. They have started a war that will end in darkness. Darkness for all.'" Psycho-Naruto paused. "And then he told me to go with her and help her, that she'd bring me back to my time."

Minato exchanged a glance with Jiraiya, who now spoke. "Naruto. How did Ojiji-sama look while he was telling Aimi's future?"

"Well, when he was telling my future he was sort of out of it," Psycho-Naruto answered thoughtfully. "Kind of there, but not there, you know? But when we brought Aimi in front of him he was all wide awake and nervous-looking. I think he was scared."

Another glance between Jiraiya and Minato. Psycho-Naruto sat back down when no further questions were asked of him. The only sound to be heard was the faint buzz of Wyatt's protective dome and the distant screeching of the flying creatures. The fire in the fire pit crackled and popped a few times. Minato stood with his head bowed, his hand loosely cupping his chin and his elbow supported in one hand. He stayed that way for some time. Kushina came and stood by him, putting a questioning hand on his shoulder. When Minato raised his head, his face was very grave. His voice was low and somber.

"We now have confirmation that Aimi is wanted as well. That is all I will say on that subject for the time being. You may all go to bed. The other teachers and I have much to discuss." At seeing the longing looks cast at Mikoto and Fugaku by the Uchiha crowd, he added, "There will be time to reunite properly later."

* * *

Once everyone had disappeared into their cabins, Minato turned to his comrades. "Let me first say what an honor and joy it is to see you again, Sensei." He bowed to Jiraiya. "And Fugaku-san. I am grieved to learn of what befell your clan and at Konoha's part in it. I owe your family a debt for restoring my son to life." He bowed even lower to Fugaku, holding it until it was acknowledged by the Uchiha patriarch.

They sat around the fire pit. Mikoto located the food stores and brought out salted fish to cook. While she tended to these preparations, Minato spoke quietly.

"I am afraid." Kushina stroked his arm, waiting for him to continue. "I'm afraid of the power in my grandchildren, of Izanami and what she might do, of everything 'ending in darkness.'" Minato took a deep breath. He met their eyes. "But there is hope. There is always hope. Who are we thinking Aimi's other half is?"

Kushina answered. "It must be her brother, Raiden. 'What she lacks the other has and vice versa.' It fits. He is accomplished at Ninjutsu and susceptible to Genjutsu. She excels at Genjutsu yet cannot perform Ninjutsu."

Minato nodded. "I agree."

Fugaku spoke now. "I don't know these children except from my son's memories, but much information was there. They are devoted to each other, but they do not fight together. How could they be united as the prophecy said? _Should_ they even unite? It was foretold that they would be too dangerous that way, and yet if matters are as dire as they seem and Aimi and Raiden are in fact unstoppable together, shouldn't we unite them?"

There was frowning silence. "I think we must train them to fight together," Mikoto said at last. "Izanami is coming after them. This is no ninja, but an ages-old goddess. If they are unstoppable together, then they must learn to fight as one or they will never have a chance. No one will."

"It is decided then," Kushina said. "I was going to train them anyway. Now I will make sure they train as a unit as well. I've also devised a training schedule, with what skills will be gone over by which teacher."

Kushina drew in the dust of the plateau as the others leaned over to watch. The schedule was tweaked and refined, with all the teachers adding their input, as the fish was consumed. They finished sometime before dawn and went to wake their charges.

* * *

The teachers stood in one line facing their students, who were grouped by family. Minato addressed them first.

"I have been here a few hours now. I have observed the way the stars and moons moved and have adjusted my internal clock accordingly. Right now it tells me this world also enjoys a 24-hour cycle between day and night. I put the time now at 4:30am. You will all come to be able to tell time in this manner. For now, we have come up with a schedule for you all. Take out any blank scroll you may have in your weapon's pouches and write the following."

Kushina stepped forward and began reciting as people rushed to locate scrolls and writing utensils. These were present in their weapon's pouches, usually kept for devising seals or writing emergency messages. The youngest children had none and were lent some by older people.

"There will be five groups. Group one is the Uchiha," Kushina intoned, "which will consist of the Sasukes, Itachi, and his children sans triplets. It has also been decided that despite her name Aimi will be grouped with the Uchiha due to her Sharingan and Genjutsu abilities." Kushina frowned slightly at the thought of an Uzumaki being sent to the Uchiha camp, but went on. "Group two is the Uzumaki, consisting of the Narutos and Raiden. Group three are the Shinigami. Wyatt will be with this group. Group four will be called the Kage group, consisting of the Kazekages and Killerbee, but Lee, Ibiki, Udon and Konohamaru will also be in this group. The last and fifth group will be the kids. Emiko, Etsuko, the triplets, Jinta, Ururu and Yanagi will be in this group. And Yoichi."

Minato stepped up and addressed them again as they were scribbling. "Yosh. Group one will be trained by Mikoto. Group two by myself, Jiraiya and Kushina, though not at the same time. There will be rotations, but more on that later. Group three will work together to train Wyatt. Let me explain that.

"Wyatt is the most powerful magic user here. I understand you Shinigami use Kido, which isn't compatible with Wyatt's brand of magic, but you can use it to train and strengthen his own. If he has to defend against several attackers he will be forced to use his magic in ways he might not otherwise think of. I ask that you each train him in the use of his sword as well, but focus on magic."

The Shinigami who came with Kenpachi nodded. Byakuya saw that Urahara was listening raptly to all that was said and also nodding.

"Group four will be trained primarily by Jiraiya," Minato resumed. "Group five will be trained by Uchiha Fugaku. Sensei?"

Minato stepped back as Jiraiya moved forward to address the furiously writing group of students. He rolled his neck on his shoulders. "And so! I will go over the schedule. Write only the parts that pertain to your group. This will be the schedule we follow from now until the time to fight comes: 5am to 10am, group one with Mikoto. Group two with Minato and Kushina. Group three works together. Group four with me. Group five with Fugaku."

When Jiraiya saw that everyone had that down, he continued.

"Yosh, 10am to 1pm, group five with Minato. Aimi with Lee. Raiden with Kushina so that he can learn Fuuinjutsu. Groups one and four with group three. Group two with me. Wyatt and Ryota are to practice magic." Jiraiya waited a few moments. "From 1pm to 3pm will be your break and lunch session. This is the only time you will eat. From 3pm till midnight Raiden and Aimi will be with Kushina. Groups two and four will be with group three. Group five will be with me to learn summonings. Group one with Mikoto again, though later this will be altered to include another teacher. Kage-Gaara may train Yanagi at this time, and Wyatt may train his magic with the Shinigami again, Ryota, or on his own, his choice. Midnight to 4am is when you sleep. No more fun time in the cabins."

And so saying, Jiraiya turned and had all the cabins engulfed in flames with a massive fireball. The students watched stupidly. No one noticed Psycho-Naruto sighing in relief.

Mikoto stepped forward. "It is five now. We will begin. Go to your assigned teachers for this period."

Mikoto gestured that her clansmen should follow her. She made her way out of camp, exiting Wyatt's barrier. When the flying creatures descended on them, the Sasukes kept them away with lightning attacks or katon jutsu. The sun was almost up anyway, so the creatures were few.

* * *

Hitsugaya threw up a Kido shield to replace Wyatt's barrier. "Come with me," he told the boy. "And bring your blade." Wyatt followed him along with the other members of his group.

After a moment of hesitation Byakuya went after them. There was literally nothing else to be done. He was stuck in this mess until such a time as they could leave. But when he returned to Soul Society, he would personally execute Kenpachi and his two lieutenants. He would not suffer the bastard to live after this debacle.

* * *

Yanagi stood with the triplets, Jinta, Ururu, and Fem-Naruto's children. Yo-chan howled at seeing Lee jog off with the Kage group. "Ree-tentei!" he screamed, watching Lee's retreating back. He held his chubby hands out toward the Jounin. Lee heard and screamed right along with him, running back for the child.

"He said my name!" Lee bawled, tears pouring from his eyes. "He knows me! He is too adorable, I can't _stand_ it. Sakura-san and I simply _must _make a Yo-chan of our own." And with this he hugged the relieved baby violently, running back to catch up with Jiraiya and the rest.

"He wasn't supposed to take Yo-chan with him," Yanagi observed calmly. "I bet he'll be in trouble for that." The others nodded in agreement as Fugaku came up to them and began going over what they'd be doing in their first lesson.

* * *

Mikoto stopped her group. "Here is fine. Hiroko, Psycho-Sasuke, Itachi, Aimi. You four are strongest with Genjutsu. Hit me with all you've got."

Hiroko blushed. "Grandmother…no offense, but I remember your abilities. I've surpassed you by a great margin. I could end up killing you. And Aimi certainly would."

Mikoto cast an almost undetectable Genjutsu at Hiroko, inverting it and layering it to such a degree that those who'd been able to catch it, paled visibly. Mikoto noted that Hiroko was able to counter some of it before it took root in her mind, but by no means all. Hiroko dropped to her knees, face blank, under Mikoto's control. Mikoto raised her eyes to the rest.

"She," and here she pointed at Hiroko, "has made the mistake of thinking that I would show my true strength to a child. A ninja never shows his or her true strength unless death is imminent…and an Uchiha never does. However strong you think my techniques are, bear this in mind: there is always more I don't show. Now come at me or I will come at you. Those watching, pay attention. Sharingan will be maintained at all times from this point onward."

Itachi turned his gaze from his daughter and attacked with Psycho-Sasuke and Aimi.

* * *

It was decided that the captain of the 10th Division would start off with Wyatt.

Hitsugaya unsheathed his sword, coming to stand beside Wyatt, who held Excalibur. "We will begin with various ways one holds their sword," he said. "But first tell me the nature of Excalibur's powers. How do you and this sword become one? Why is the wielder of Excalibur considered the ultimate power on your world?"

Wyatt began speaking, telling what he knew while admitting that there was much he didn't know. "In the end, I think it amplifies my own magic. I think the sword and I join naturally over time, the longer I use it. At least, that's what happened to my mom when she was using it."

Hitsugaya exchanged glances with the other Shinigami. "I don't understand. Do you mean Excalibur could bond with any individual who held it?"

Wyatt considered his answer. "I don't know. I think so. People fought my mom for it, so they could have its power…but at the same time, only one person is destined to wield it at a time. King Arthur had it before me. Why?"

Urahara stepped up, snapping his fan shut. He rested his hands on his walking stick. "Because," he said to Wyatt with interest. "Our Zanpaktuo do not cleave to anyone other than their owners. We fight together with our swords. They are our companions in battle. They give us their power as we trust them to do and we, in turn, are loyal to our blades. As they are loyal to us. What you are saying is that Excalibur has no loyalties."

Wyatt eyed the hat-wearer curiously. "Of course not. It's a _sword, _not a person. What…are you saying your swords have _minds?_"

In answer, Urahara unsheathed his blade. "That, and more. They can manifest. Watch."

* * *

Lee, for once, was having his ass handed to him. He could not remember ever having such a difficult time during any training he'd undergone in his lifetime. He'd been forced to set Yo-chan down on a distant boulder. He'd been worried the flying creatures might bother him, but the sun was now coming up so the creatures were gone. And in any case, he had his hands full for the moment.

Jiraiya was well-suited to teach the Gaaras and 'Bee. The Gaaras had earth and wind natured chakra, the Sannin had Earth and fire. 'Bee had lightning, which Jiraiya countered with earth chakra. Lee, on the other hand, only had Taijutsu and the gates. He used a combination of both, but the Sannin was not going down, not even after the Gaaras, 'Bee and Lee pooled their energy against him. Which only meant one thing.

The Sannin had deliberately taken a dive when the exiles had beaten him. Lee doubled his efforts.

He would make Gai-sensei proud!


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: I meant to have this up a week ago, but my summer vacation is winding down and I'm busy trying to run last minute errands. Also, this is only half the chap. I'll put the rest of this in 41. I figured I'd better post something now before certain people who shall remain nameless decided to hunt me down and do something not nice to me.

*standard line about typos apply

* * *

Chapter 40

Raiden jogged nimbly behind Kit, the last in the line of versions of his dad. They all followed his grandfather, a seriously cool dude he couldn't wait to tell Hiroshi and the others he'd actually met, on their way to someplace to train. Or so he presumed. He felt excited. Jazzed. So much was happening; people back from the dead and all. He remembered his dad talking about Jiraiya some years ago, about the time when they'd been exiles. That had been before he was born.

Speaking of the Sannin, Raiden had barely had a split second to remember that Rasta-Sasuke was in one of those cabins and fold him out before Jiraiya had set the things on fire. The guy needed to warn people before he did shit like that.

He wondered what his gramps had planned for today's lesson. He personally couldn't wait to find out. He hoped his sis was having as much fun, and wondered if Wyatt was having any trouble with so many teachers.

* * *

Kushina waited until everyone was out of camp before casting a water jutsu over the smoldering remains of the cabins. She paused at seeing Rasta-Sasuke lying near the fire pit, her lips a tight line of disapproval. She'd forgotten about him. Her own grandchildren had displayed more foresight by folding the youth out of harm's way. Jiraiya had acted without warning, but that was no excuse, not when she'd been the one to order Rasta-Sasuke placed in his cabin to begin with. She stood looking down at him, contemplating if he was well enough now to be woken.

At remembering that Wyatt had said he was completely healed, Kushina decided Rasta-Sasuke had slept long enough. He was not Blondie to fit seamlessly into the training they were all doing. She had an idea Rasta-Sasuke wasn't much of a fighter and would therefore require as much time as possible to learn.

She nudged him with her foot, calling his name at the same time.

Kushina had quick reflexes or she would have been dead again. Rasta-Sasuke came awake immediately, his eyes swirling with Mangekyo Sharingan, and his chakra leaping out of him. Kushina surrounded herself in a sphere of her own chakra, pumping it out as strongly as she could to combat the oppressive and dense whirlwind of destruction coming from Rasta-Sasuke.

* * *

Rasta-Sasuke found himself sitting up on another swatch of scorched land. The same blackened ground stretched as far as he could see. The last thing he remembered was punching out Miss Bitch on the plateau. There was no one in sight. The plateau was gone. He was on ground level. "Oh no," he moaned. Tears sprang to his eyes as he got shakily to his feet. "Blondie?"

He turned and found the bitch herself lying on the ground behind him. Rasta-Sasuke dropped to his knees beside her, amazed to see not a mark on her. He slapped her roughly in his gratitude. If she was alive, maybe Blondie was too! "Bitch? Hey, bi-" He took a second to try recalling her name. "Kushina! Wake up, damnit! _Hey!_"

Kushina came around groggily, moaning in weak protest to the slaps Rasta-Sasuke refused to let up on. She tried to raise a hand to ward off the blows, but she didn't have the strength. She turned her head aside with a great effort, trying to speak.

Rasta-Sasuke halted his hand in the air. "Kushina?"

She looked at him through eyes slitted with exhaustion.

Rasta-Sasuke let out a relieved breath. "You survived, great. Where's Blondie? And how come you're like this if you survived? What's wrong with you?" Rasta-Sasuke twisted around, looking at his surroundings. "Shit, guess that means the gold is gone," he muttered. He seemed unconcerned with Kushina's answer for the moment as he frowned at the horizon.

When he turned back, Kushina was passed out again. He stood impatiently and shook his dreads out of his face. He tried to think.

He was starving. It made thought almost impossible. There had been food on the plateau, he recalled, but that was gone, thanks to him. He spent a moment wishing absently that he knew just what it was he was doing when he blacked out like that.

Blondie.

He refused to think he'd killed him. He just couldn't think about that. His mind ran through the others that were probably dead and felt a twinge of unease at thinking maybe he'd killed the boy and girl. The freaks who'd brought him here. If they were gone, then he was stuck. And if Blondie-

But no, Blondie was all right. He had to be. Blondie could survive anything. And now that he thought about it, those freaky kids were pretty sharp, too. Maybe they'd survived as well.

_Who am I kidding, _he thought in disgust tinged with despair. _I'm reaching. _

A wave of sudden hopelessness had him sitting down in the dust. He dropped his head into his hands, letting the feeling sweep through him completely. He would have cried if he'd had the energy.

He was tired. So fucking tired. Shit just never went right anymore. The only time things were ever okay was when he and Blondie were on their own. Every time other people came into their lives it fucked everything up. Every fucking time. And this sitch, with the versions and the freaky kids and the war…it was the height. Just the height. It was bad enough on its own, but what made it worse was that it had changed Blondie. Like, seriously changed him. Rasta-Sasuke barely recognized him anymore, and Blondie was all he had, man. Blondie was home and life and all the good stuff. If he didn't have Blondie, then he didn't have shit.

_I don't have him, _he thought as he stared at his torn pants leg. _I don't have him, the gold, Gaara or 'Bee. I don't have anyone or anything. I'm alone on this fucked up planet, losing my mind and starving. _He picked at a scab he found on his knee as he considered the fact that he'd probably just killed a bunch of people, including the only person he loved. The people he couldn't care less about, but Blondie…

The thing was, it was so easy to tell himself that Blondie was okay. After all, had he seen a body? No, he hadn't. But the inescapable logic was that there'd been people on the plateau when he passed out. There'd been people there when he heard the bitch and Wyatt talking, after he'd passed out. And they never all left the plateau at the same time…at least they hadn't since going to cut down trees for the houses. So it followed that at least some people were dead. And Blondie could be one of them.

Rasta-Sasuke lost patience with this stupid back and forth. He turned suddenly to Kushina and instead of slapping her awake as he'd done before, he brought his fist down on the side of her head. The panic at possibly killing Blondie, something he'd feared doing for the past week, gave the blow enough kick to bring her around without him having to administer another. Her eyes fluttered open heavily, her lips parted to speak. Rasta-Sasuke leaned down close to her face so she could see him.

"All I want to know," he said speaking quickly before she lost consciousness again, "is if you know where everyone went. Is Blondie okay? Did you see him?"

Kushina managed an imperceptible nod. "Training. Help me up." Her voice was a faint whisper.

He left her where she was. "You sure Blondie is okay? Did he leave the plateau or something?"

Another nod.

Rasta-Sasuke sat back on his heels and hung his head in relief. "Thank shit," he said shakily. Tension he hadn't even known he was holding rolled off him now so that he issued a small, tired laugh. "Thought I'd done it for sure this time."

Kushina blinked slowly at him, waiting for him to remember she was there. When he looked at her, she made a feeble gesture with her hand. Rasta-Sasuke saw and scooted closer to assist her to a sitting position. She was limp, unable to even support her head. He let her recline against his chest as she took in what used to be the plateau.

She was shocked. Nothing remained of the plateau but a few scorched rocks. She couldn't see the end of the circle of blackened ground they were in, so wide was it. Recalling how she'd had to use every last bit of her chakra to protect herself, Kushina was grateful to be alive. As soon as she'd recovered her strength, she would deal with Rasta-Sasuke, but until then, she let him support her with his wiry body. For now, she focused on what she'd seen of his jutsu.

The range of it was unbelievable. It had combined fire and lightning in such a way as to almost create a new element. And the amount of chakra he used! If it wasn't equal in strength to an unsealed Bijuu, she'd be surprised. Why had he attacked like that? She'd let the punch he'd given her when he'd been brought back to the plateau slide, but this? She would never have believed he would attack like this. She hoped it had been an accident, if such destruction could be labeled as accidental. His concern over Blondie's whereabouts seemed to indicate this. If that was the case, then she needed to know what had triggered his reaction. The simple act of waking up shouldn't have caused him so much distress.

-oOo-

Out of nowhere, Minato appeared with all the Narutos ranged around him. He had Raiden in front of him, and everyone had a hand on Raiden's back. All of them, Minato included, regarded Kushina and Rasta-Sasuke with frightened, worried eyes. Minato quickly distanced himself from his sons and went to his wife. He knelt and caught her as Rasta-Sasuke dropped her in his haste to stand up.

Raiden and most of the Narutos were staring around at the obvious lack of a plateau.

Rasta-Sasuke was staring at Blondie.

Blondie gave one brief look at Rasta-Sasuke before lowering his eyes to where his parents sat. He did not look at Rasta-Sasuke again for a long time.

"Minato," Kushina said hoarsely.

"Shhh," he admonished. "I sensed the chakra, but it was Blondie who said it belonged to Rasta-Sasuke. I knew you'd stayed behind and became worried. I thought something had happened to you. What happened here?"

Blondie watched them speaking in low whispers, aware of Sasuke's eyes on him. Ordinarily, he wouldn't be able to tolerate Sasuke's anger, but now, with his parents here and their love an ever-present blanket around him, he felt that he could not only withstand his anger, but indulge in some anger of his own. He'd never been angry at Sasuke before. In fact, he couldn't remember being angry at anything, ever. It was not an emotion that had ever had a chance to be nourished, despite his upbringing. Now he felt a small shoot of it take root, growing from the seed of hurt planted by Sasuke's behavior. It wasn't much, but it was there, and it helped keep him from running to Sasuke and begging forgiveness. It kept him able to look away from him.

Rasta-Sasuke had begun to smile, and had even taken a few steps in Blondie's direction when Blondie's body stiffened. A low growl escaped him, like a dog warning away another dog. Rasta-Sasuke halted, disbelief warring with his need for Blondie and some anger of his own. Since _when_-

"Rasta-Sasuke." Minato now stood with Kushina cradled in his arms.

Rasta-Sasuke glanced at him briefly, still frowning at Blondie's behavior. "What."

The other Narutos glanced back and forth between Blondie, Rasta-Sasuke and their father.

"I'd like to know why you attacked my wife. The chakra she put out to protect herself has left her drained and weakened. You could have killed her."

Wife? Rasta-Sasuke's glance was longer this time as he studied the man and Kushina.

Library. Rasta-Sasuke belatedly realized he'd seen this man's portrait in the Konoha library when he'd looked up where the Nara Parkland was, right after he'd met Blondie. Who was he again? Oh right. The Fourth Hokage. If that bitch he was holding was his wife, then that made him Blondie's dad.

Rasta-Sasuke took a moment to assess the coloring of the Hokage. He supposed he and Blondie looked alike. Seemed people had been busy while he'd been off dying in the wilderness with Blondie. Why on earth had they brought this guy back from the dead too?

"Well?" Minato said quietly.

Rasta-Sasuke needed a moment to recall the question. "I didn't. I don't know what happened. I found myself sitting there," he pointed vaguely, "and her layed out behind me." He jutted his chin at Kushina, before turning to insist Blondie stop acting like a grade A dick.

"That's not what my wife says," Minato replied. "She says she tried to wake you and you woke with Mangekyo and your chakra spilling out of you."

Rasta-Sasuke was about to ask what he meant when another group of people appeared. This was all the Sasukes, Itachi, his kids, and Aimi. In short, the Uchiha group. This group had an addition that caused a series of events to occur in rapid succession, almost simultaneously.

One, Rasta-Sasuke saw his mother, his own murdering mother, and his mind went blank. Two, Raiden saw Mangekyo Sharingan blossom in Rasta-Sasuke's eyes, something he'd read about in a forbidden scroll he'd come across when he was younger, and put this sight with what his gramps had only just finished saying not ten seconds previously. Three, and this was where things happened all together, Raiden gathered everyone telekinetically and levitated them all straight up into the air away from Rasta-Sasuke as fast and as high as he possibly could. He transformed and flew upward along with them. At that same moment, the landscape seemed to ignite with fire and lightning based chakra, blooming outward in a spreading dome of devastation and heat that had the occupants in the air yelling in pain.

-oOo-

Raiden said a quick prayer of thanks to his grandmother. If she hadn't put him through that first week of training with the boulder, he never would have been able to hold so many people up so high for so long. It was a strain now, but he was equal to it. The dome stopped about a hundred feet below them, crisping the fine hairs on their arms with its heat and making the hair on their heads stand up with the added electrons in the atmosphere. The dome vanished with faint, isolated swirls of lightning. Rasta-Sasuke stood unharmed in a deep crater now, looking around in horror.

"_Blondie_!" Rasta-Sasuke hollered.

"Gramps?" Raiden asked with a look toward his grandfather.

Minato was busily accessing what he knew of this Sasuke. It wasn't much. Again, the information had been present in his son's mind, but with so much other information streaming through that river of images, his own mind had picked what it felt salient to hold on to and discarded the rest. All he could remember about this one was that he liked money and lived as a bandit. "Don't put us down just yet," he told Raiden.

Something about the Uchiha group had triggered Rasta-Sasuke's reaction, Minato thought quickly. Just as Kushina waking him up had triggered the same reaction. Minato put aside his feelings on the jutsu itself to put his mind back to when the Uchiha group had materialized. Rasta-Sasuke had turned, seen…

_Seen who? _Minato frowned, feeling himself close to the answer. _Who had made the boy release so much chakra? _He ran his eyes over the floating Uchiha. Of course. The only new one of the group. Mikoto.

"Aimi," he said without taking his eyes off where Rasta-Sasuke seemed to be dissolving into tears. "Fold both your grandmothers and the Uchiha away. Remain with them until further notice."

Aimi did as she was told.

Minato's arms dropped as Kushina vanished from them. He never took his eyes off the boy below them. "Raiden, take us down now."

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke looked up when he sensed people and surged to his feet. "Blondie, oh god. I thought you were dead, I thought I'd killed you! I can't keep going through this, man!" He plastered himself to Blondie's chest in a fierce hug, sobbing. "I can't take this anymore. I can't. I can't. I just can't, it's too much."

Blondie's arms rose around Rasta-Sasuke's slight frame, instinctively wanting to console him. He held him close, his anger forgotten for the moment. Rasta-Sasuke needed him and this temporarily made him put aside his hurt feelings.

Minato dragged Rasta-Sasuke from Blondie roughly and shoved him away so that he was standing alone. Rasta-Sasuke cursed, Mangekyo swirling into place. Heat baked off him, but not anything near what he'd done a short time ago. Minato watched him closely, prepared to teleport Rasta-Sasuke away at the first sign of that jutsu again.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you son of a-" Rasta-Sasuke began.

"If you curse my father I will never forgive you." Blondie's voice cut off Rasta-Sasuke's tirade cleanly.

Rasta-Sasuke glared at him in confusion. "You know what? I don't even know you anymore. I bet that ain't your real dad, either. I bet it's Demon's dad, just like that bitch is Demon's mother."

Blondie held his gaze. "They consider me their son. They are likely the only parents I will ever meet."

Minato stepped forward. "Rasta-Sasuke?" Rasta-Sasuke's eyes tracked to him, losing Mangekyo to be replaced with Sharingan. Minato noticed the heat abate at the same time. He filed these details away. "What happened just now?"

He was a long time answering, but Minato saw Rasta-Sasuke's eyes skip nervously around, clearly looking for the Uchiha. When he spoke, it wasn't to answer Minato's question. "What the hell are you shits bringing dead people to life for?"

"You better watch who you're calling a shit," Demon said threateningly. "A lot's happened while you were away. Until you're caught up, why don't you let Dad ask the questions?"

The heat came back, but the eyes remained in Sharingan. Rasta-Sasuke looked from Minato to Demon then back. "Did someone bring Fugaku too?"

Minato gave a single nod, still watching him warily.

The heat escalated, bringing Mangekyo with it. The air shimmered around Rasta-Sasuke as he stood with his hands on his hips, chewing his lip and staring up at the lip of the crater. Minato hovered on the verge of teleporting Rasta-Sasuke away. The heat was nigh on unbearable, but Rasta-Sasuke seemed not to feel it.

"Rasta-Sasuke," Minato said after a moment. "Stop."

"Huh?" Rasta-Sasuke seemed to come out of thinking about his father as if he'd forgotten the others were present.

"Stop the jutsu or I'll have to send you away some distance." Minato was panting now, the oxygen too oppressive to breath properly. He noticed the other Narutos backing away.

Rasta-Sasuke frowned. "I'm not doing anything. Look, I'm starving, is there anyway some food could be brought or am I going to have to drop dead before that happens?"

Raiden had a small tornado of air moving around him, keeping him cool. He heard the request for food and cocked his head, sensing. He found a fruit-bearing tree some seconds later and folded the thing to himself, roots and all. There were murmurs as the tree dropped in their midst, sending up a shower of leaves and dirt. It was one of those purple banana trees. Rasta-Sasuke ran to the leaves and began plucking the fruit hand over fist, biting into them at the same time.

The heat vanished with the appearance of the tree. Minato saw that Rasta-Sasuke's eyes were black again. By now everyone else had come to the conclusion that Rasta-Sasuke was to be steered clear of. They watched him eating in silence, waiting for Minato to tell them what to do next.

"Blondie," Minato said now in a whisper. Blondie tore his gaze from Rasta-Sasuke. "Have you ever seen this jutsu before? From him?"

"No."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

Minato nodded, turning to his grandson. "Raiden, bring me Kage-Gaara."

Raiden nodded, concentrated, and Kage-Gaara materialized, his hands in the form of a hand seal, and sand swirling around him. He'd obviously been Pulled from training. Minato went to him and halted his angry questions. He explained briefly and succinctly what the situation was. Kage-Gaara turned to look at Rasta-Sasuke with a frown.

* * *

He'd have preferred meat, something to drink, a nice chocolate bar, but the fact was that hunger was the best sauce; when you were starving anything tasted great, even a bunch of retarded purple bananas. Rasta-Sasuke ate them as fast as he could peel and swallow them, only halting briefly when his stomach began protesting. He sat down heavily, uncomfortably full. Someone walked up to squat down next to him and he lifted his head to see that other Gaara, who hadn't been there twenty minutes ago, staring at him. "What do you want?"

"I want to ask you a few questions. Do you mind?"

Rasta-Sasuke had a sudden urge to shit, no doubt brought on by his full stomach. He hadn't had a good shit since being sent in pursuit of Blondie. He eyed Kage-Gaara's water flask dangling from his hip. "Can I have some of that?"

Kage-Gaara handed it to him. "You remember seeing your mother a little while ago?"

Rasta-Sasuke halted the flask an inch away from his lips. "First of all, that bitch ain't my mother."

Kage-Gaara had corked his gourd when Minato was speaking to him. He uncorked it again now at seeing the Mangekyo appear in Rasta-Sasuke's eyes. He made a small hand signal behind his back. He knew Minato had seen it when he heard him whispering to Raiden to fold everyone else away. He nodded now for Rasta-Sasuke's benefit. "I know she isn't. But you saw her?"

"Yeah. So?"

"What happened after you saw her?"

Rasta-Sasuke waved his hand. "This, I guess. I blacked out."

"Blacked out?"

"Happens. A lot, actually." Rasta-Sasuke slowly bit into another fruit, clearly too full to eat it, but unable to deny himself after being hungry for so long. "And every time I do this is what happens."

Kage-Gaara watched him trying to force himself to eat, chewing stolidly. He frowned in thought a moment. "What did you feel when you saw Mikoto?"

"Nothing."

"How did you feel about your own mother?" Kage-Gaara had not been present when Rasta-Sasuke told his story upon his arrival and he could not recall Itachi telling him.

"She tried to kill me." It was said nonchalantly, but Kage-Gaara felt heat pulse off Rasta-Sasuke for the space of a heart beat, before receding.

"I see. And your father? Did he try to kill you too?"

Another nod.

"How long have you been blacking out?"

"'Bout a week."

"Have you ever used this jutsu before?"

"I don't know what jutsu it is, do I? Not if I'm blacking out." Rasta-Sasuke rolled his eyes and gave up trying to eat. He threw the rest of the fruit he was holding aside with a groan. Then he looked up, looked around. "Where's Blondie?"

Minato came forward. Only he and Raiden remained, everyone else had been sent back to training. "He's safe. You released quite a bit of chakra a short time ago. Not once, but twice. How do you feel?"

Rasta-Sasuke rotated his shoulders where he sat. "A little tired. A little achy."

"And you're sure you don't know what's happening when you black out?" Kage-Gaara pressed.

"No. But…"

"Yes?" Minato invited.

"Well…if I keep blacking out and doing what I'm doing, I start to hurt. After I killed my brother I was hurting the same way, only much worse. _Much_ worse."

Kage-Gaara saw that the eyes that had reverted to black, turned to Mangekyo again. _He has no control over it. Right now his emotions control it. _"How did you kill your brother?"

Rasta-Sasuke looked away. A caterpillar the size of his arm was dangling from one of the tree branches, curling and wriggling. It was hideous. He couldn't look away from it as he answered. "I don't really know. I was just so angry…all this chakra came out of me and it was like he couldn't touch me. When he was down, I stabbed him."

"And you remember that?"

"Yeah." The caterpillar plopped heavily to the ground.

"Have you had blackouts or memory loss before this past week?"

"No. Well, I had some memory loss before I met Blondie."

"How long did that last?" Kage-Gaara wanted to know.

Rasta-Sasuke moved his leg from the caterpillar's path, thinking. "Dunno. Nine years or so."

"_Nine years?_" Minato and Kage-Gaara chorused in shock.

Rasta-Sasuke stood up. "Look, forget about that, it's old news. I want to talk to Blondie and find out why he's avoiding me. Then you," he pointed at Raiden, "are sending me and my peeps back. I've had enough of this place and you people."

Kage-Gaara thought quickly. "While you're having these blackouts I don't feel that's wise."

"Lucky for me I don't care what you think."

"Let me explain," Kage-Gaara held up placating hands. "While in the grip of these fugue states, you could harm someone. Even Blondie. Don't you think the smart thing to do would be to solve the riddle of these blackouts and control whatever is happening during them?"

"I just want me and Blondie to be good and to get the fuck off this planet."

Kage-Gaara thought for a minute. "Very well. One moment."

Kage-Gaara led Minato away some distance. "What is it?" The Fourth asked.

"He's dangerous. Under some kind of psychological stress," Kage-Gaara whispered back. "I'd need to speak to him at length to find out the cause, but for now I can say with reasonable confidence that his emotions are triggering these fugues. It's defensive, I'll say that much. Frightened or angry, these blackouts and the Mangekyo Sharingan happen at the same time. I believe I could discover the source of the problem with hypnosis. But I've never practiced that skill. And I'm training."

Minato looked around at the blackened landscape. "Raiden, fly up and tell me how big this crater is." When Raiden had flapped away, he turned back to the Kazekage. "If this jutsu could be harnessed we'd have a powerful weapon on our hands. An asset. I think you should halt your training to help him."

Kage-Gaara was nodding. "He wants to speak with Blondie. They've each been dealing with some issue between them in their own way, I think. Blondie had his psychotic break, and Rasta-Sasuke is going through these blackouts. I think it's imperative they do reconnect. Separation is affecting them adversely, and through them the rest of us. When Raiden gets back, have him bring Blondie. I would then ask to be left alone with them, Hokage. You should go back and resume training."

Minato nodded. When Raiden landed next to them a short while later and reported that the crater was a little over a mile in diameter, the men exchanged grave glances. Blondie was brought, then Raiden and Minato vanished.

-oOo-

Kage-Gaara spoke with Blondie for a moment, motioning for Rasta-Sasuke to wait. "How do you feel towards him?" he asked Blondie.

Blondie avoided looking at Sasuke. "I don't know."

Kage-Gaara studied him. "Well, you two need to talk. I will be here to help in anyway I can, but I need you to remember what you saw him do. And to remember that he has no control over it. All right?"

"I don't want to talk to him right now," Blondie said firmly. "I want to go back to my father."

"This needs to be resolved." Kage-Gaara was just as firm. He beckoned Rasta-Sasuke to join him and Blondie. When he had, he inclined his head. "We should sit."

He set an example by sitting cross-legged on the ground. He left his gourd open. After a moment, Blondie copied him and Rasta-Sasuke followed. Rasta-Sasuke stared hard at Blondie, who stared at the ground. Kage-Gaara settled back and waited.

* * *

"You're not moving your feet," Hitsugaya barked at Wyatt. "Advance when I retreat, don't just stand there catching your breath. Switch!"

Hitsugaya fell back as Yumichika moved into play. Wyatt pivoted correctly to face him, sword held in his recently learned two-handed grip. His muscles quivered with strain. Sweat dripped from his hair into his eyes, stinging. Yumichika came at him and he tried to recall the parrying thrust for that particular move Yumichika was in the process of executing. He knew they'd shown him several times already, knew he'd done it himself at least twice since being shown, but for the life of him he couldn't remember it now. They'd barely been at it two hours and already he was about to drop. It was like Mr. Lee-sensei all over again, only a jillion times worse since there were so many Shinigami and only one of him. _What was that parrying move?_

"Concentrate!" Yumichika said sharply. He nicked Wyatt's cheek with the tip of his blade and the pain seemed to refocus Wyatt's attention. He brought his blade up in the parrying move he'd been trying to recall. The impact of Excalibur meeting Yumichika's Zanpaktuo shivered his arms to his shoulder joints, making him cry out miserably. "Again," Yumichika said. They did it again. And Again. And again.

* * *

Fugaku walked up and down his line of students. He'd had them warm up with simple chakra-accessing exercises for an hour. The triplets and Yanagi were successful right off, having already been through some measure of this at the ninja academy in their respective villages. Emiko and Etsuko managed after forty-five minutes of intense concentration. This would not have been possible for ordinary five-year-olds, but they were exceptional. Jinta and Ururu said they weren't accustomed to handling their reiatsu that way, but then went on to demonstrate superb control. Fugaku was grateful that his students were so bright. He wasn't the teaching type and had little patience for dullards or lazy people.

They were now ready to begin. "The twins and triplets will be learning Gokakyu. Yanagi, you will learn the equivalent with your wind chakra. Jinta, Ururu, what element can you manifest?" Fugaku waited for their answer with his arms folded.

The two children in question thought, but could come up with nothing. They shrugged. Fugaku told them they would just have to use raw chakra then. He pointed to a target he had set up fifty feet from each student. "Begin. Aim for the target in front of you. You advance to the next lesson when you can either knock down, or burn your target completely."

The triplets went through the hand seals with the twins. Yanagi performed a slightly different set. Jinta and Ururu closed their eyes, focusing.

* * *

Queenie was off to one side of the Uchiha group with Kushina, feeding her some water. He couldn't receive training of the sort Mikoto was currently giving since he didn't have Sharingan, nor could he use chakra. He had some of Kit's nuts in his lap. He ate these one by one, passing a few to Kushina from time to time. He watched the woman who looked so much like his own mother had, but who was nothing like her.

-oOo-

Mikoto stood while her clan sat. She had them all in a massive Genjutsu and had informed them that this would be their 'training grounds'. She spoke to their minds, monitoring responses and reaction times as she methodically attacked each one.

"If Genjutstu could be defined in one word, it would be 'subtlety'. It is a fine, fine art, one that relies on the utmost subtlety and attention detail. Excellent, Hiroko," Mikoto praised when Hiroko had evaded an invisible trap. She tsk-ed a moment later. "Shouta, you must do better than that. Yukio, Juro, you lack subtlety of any sort. Stop blundering through and think. Strategize. Layers, boys, everything has layers and your attacks should also have layers. Fail safes. Backup plans. Adjust, revise, and analyze while attacking and defending. Nothing is as it seems, yet because of that something may be exactly as it seems in order to confuse you. Aimi, you far outstrip the rest, but you lack conviction. Stop hesitating. Itachi…that was cleverly done."

-oOo-

Psycho-Sasuke armed sweat from his brow. The Genjutsu was such that he could not –could _not- _tell it from reality_. _He only knew he was in a Genjutsu because he'd seen and allowed it to permeate his mind, as instructed by his mother. The landscape they were all in was foggy, with a night time sky and dozens of moons. Full moons, crescent moons, and every phase in between. Creatures, people, friends and enemies populated the Genjutsu. It was a futuristic city they were in.

Mikoto had crafted an entire world for their minds.

Intellectually he knew he was sitting somewhere in a circle with his family. But every time hetried to remember that, he failed at something in the Genjutsu and was admonished for it. He had never seen anything remotely like this, and every time he tried to undermine his surrounding and impose his own will, or alter the Genjutsu, he failed. If he weren't undergoing training, he'd have been dead. Anyone with this kind of absolute power over him would have been able to kill him easily.

He jumped back, paused, and saw that the building he was supposed to enter did not have an entrance. He stood analyzing what he saw, looking for the layers his mother droned on about, striving to prove that her earlier statement of him being one of the strongest with Genjutsu was true. The building was like one long rectangular mirror. All of its sides were reflective. He walked around the entire thing and saw that on the east side of it, the building reflected another building across from it, identical in shape, size and composition. But when he turned his head, he could see no second building. He turned back to the first.

As if the second building did exist, the two buildings and Sasuke himself were mirrored indefinitely, countless times, the way two mirrors facing each other reflected each other on into infinity. "But there is no second building," he thought out loud. And yet it was there in the reflection. Which was real?

He touched the building in front of him, feeling its smooth surface. Real enough. It even cast a faint shadow.

Shadow. _Light._

Bending light could render things invisible, Sasuke recalled. It was the basis of concealment jutsu. All he had to do was reach out with his chakra and feel for the concealment jutsu…there!

The second building appeared. Using the theory of bending light, Psycho-Sasuke bent his chakra toward the infinite reflections and there, in one of them, a door appeared in the second building. He had no idea how to enter it yet, but it was progress. He heard his mother speak.

"Stellar work, Psycho-Sasuke. I expected nothing less."

Psycho-Sasuke grinned with pride.

* * *

Silence reigned until Rasta-Sasuke cursed fluently and bitterly. "I can't believe you fucking left me," he hissed at Blondie's profile. "Just up and walked out of the cabin and left me there. Seems like you don't care about me at all anymore. Got your mom and pops now, so I don't matter. I heard you a minute ago. Telling this one that you wanted to go back to your dad instead of talk to me. Oh, and let's not forget what started this whole thing. Kids. 'Somebody to love', were the words you used. So is that it? You and me are done?"

Blondie closed his eyes briefly. "I mean nothing to you."

Rasta-Sasuke jumped to his feet and screamed as loudly as he could, "You mean _everything _to me! You're all I got, jackass!"

Blondie tipped his head to look at Sasuke's red face. "Then why won't you even consider children? Why did you call me ugly? Why did you say all those things that night? They…hurt me," Blondie finished with bewilderment. "You hurt me. Why do you do that if I mean so much to you?"

Rasta-Sasuke threw his head back, barely holding in another scream. He took a breath. "Since when do you talk about your feelings like this? I always talk like that to you and it's never been a problem till we showed up here."

"I've never really wanted anything from you beyond what you were already giving me," Blondie answered. "The one thing I ask you for, you deny me. I told you I would care for the child. You wouldn't have to do anything."

"I don't. Want. Kids." Rasta-Sasuke said this through gritted teeth.

"Why?"

Rasta-Sasuke curbed his retort to give his answer some thought. He sat back down again, picking up a handful of blackened dust. "Because," he said at length. "I'm selfish. I don't want to take care of some brat, or even have it around me, taking up my time and food and money. But most of all," he said as he met Blondie's eyes. "I don't want to share you. I don't want you loving anyone or anything but me. You're mine. All mine. Only mine, and if we have some shitting kid all that would change. I won't be the only thing you love anymore. I won't be the most important thing to you anymore. I know you love me now, even though you're pissed, but even I know loving your man and your own flesh and blood are two different things. You'll love the kid more. And I can't handle that."

Blondie looked at Rasta-Sasuke with unblinking eyes. "You love me that much?"

A sigh. "Yeah. Guess I do."

"But not enough to give me this."

"You didn't deny that you'd love the brat more than me. And why does it have to be me not giving you something? Why can't it be you demanding something I can't give? What about that, huh? How come you're the victim here?"

"I would give you a child if you wanted it, Sasuke."

"Well, that's just it, ain't it? I _don't_ want it. What I want is for you to drop the subject and move the fuck on."

"And I always give you what you want, don't I Sasuke." It was a statement.

"Yeah. You do. Until now. Are you going to keep asking for this kid?"

"Will you change your mind?"

"Never."

"Then there is no point in me asking."

"Damn straight."

"But you love me," Blondie said as if trying to comfort himself.

"Yeah, I love you," Rasta-Sasuke griped.

Blondie nodded, looking down at his hands. He swallowed hard. In his mind, he was slowly erecting walls around his inner self, protecting himself from Sasuke and the way he was hurting him. Things weren't the same between them, but Sasuke loved him. And he loved Sasuke too much to continue to fight him over this. It hurt too much.

"Are we good now?" Sasuke asked him impatiently.

Blondie nodded, though he knew they weren't. Sasuke came to him looking to be hugged. Blondie managed a one-armed version of it. Before Sasuke could complain about this meager attempt, he stood and addressed Kage-Gaara. "May I return to training?"

"Can you find them?" the Kazekage asked mildly. He was aware of things being far from resolved between Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke.

Blondie looked at the sun then at the lip of the crater. "Yes. My group is northeast of this position."

Kage-Gaara inclined his head. "Then by all means."

Blondie left immediately, bounding up the side of the crater and out of sight. Rasta-Sasuke watched in shock. "He didn't even say goodbye."

Kage-Gaara turned to him. "Sit. You and I are going to have a long conversation about how you relate to people, him in particular. And then we are going to take a trip through your past."

"I'm not talking to you," Rasta-Sasuke snorted. "I'm done talking. Where is everybody?"

"Training. And unless you want me to assign you to Fugaku and Mikoto both, you'll sit yourself down and do as I say. I'm trying to help you." Kage-Gaara knew that was a despicable thing to threaten him with, especially since the kid had some kind of psychological trauma regarding his parents, but his patience was at an end. He needed to get through to this bastard and he needed to do it quickly.

Rasta-Sasuke was again struck by how different this Gaara was from the one he knew. He reluctantly sat.


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: I actually have a few things to say here:

1. Remember that scene when Fem-Naruto came and all the other Narutos went wild and the Sasukes had to hold them off? There's a pic of that accessible from my profile under commissioned works. Check it out.

2. This fic will henceforth be updated every Friday. all other fics will be updated on Saturdays. These are my only two days off during the week. Save Me chap 3 is with the beta. If she hasn't gotten it back to me within the next few hours, I'll go ahead and submit the chap tomorrow anyway.

3. This chap is exclusively Rasta-Sasuke. No yaoi, but there is mention of a few cringe-worthy things, so consider yourself warned.

*Standard line about typos applies.

* * *

Chapter 41

Kage-Gaara and Rasta-Sasuke stared hard at each other for a second, each refusing to back down, before Kage-Gaara shifted his gaze and twitched the hem of his tunic. He sniffed. "Let's get a few things straight before you and I begin," he said in his low voice. "I'm well aware of the fact that you don't like me and that you intend to be uncooperative. That is fine. All you really need to bear in mind is that I'm not that grinning jackal you came with. Nor am I someone you can manipulate or lie to and think I won't notice. I will do whatever I have to do in order to accomplish my goal with you. Are you with me thus far?"

Rasta-Sasuke sat with his arms folded, leaning against the trunk of the purple banana tree. By 'grinning jackal' he guessed this asshole meant Chibi-Gaara. He snorted, rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever man. You said you'd help me with the blackouts, that's all I care about. Let's get this over with."

Kaga-Gaara's lips thinned. "Indeed. We will begin with how you see your relationship with Blondie." He fell silent, waiting for Rasta-Sasuke to speak.

"What do you mean, how do I see it? That has nothing to do with the blackouts."

"Humor me."

Rasta-Sasuke met the unflinching green stare, shrugged, and looked off to the side. "I don't know how to describe shit like that."

"Would you say yours is an open relationship, with each of you giving the other what they need emotionally and physically?"

"Oh puh-_lease_!" Rasta-Sasuke groaned, putting his head back against the bark. "Just kill me now. Who the fuck lives like that?"

"How, then, would you describe Blondie?" Kage-Gaara was immune to Rasta-Sasuke's clear disgust with his questioning, relentless in his pursuit of answers.

"A dork. Okay? You happy?" Rasta-Sasuke tightened his arms in annoyance.

"So you think he's stupid."

A pause. "Actually, he's not. He just doesn't know anything."

"Ah, so he's mentally deficient, unable to comprehend simple situations and-"

"_No. _He's not mentally deficient, I never said that-"

"You said he doesn't know anything," Kage-Gaara reminded him, being deliberately obtuse in order to draw Rasta-Sasuke in. "That would mean his mental capacity to learn or retain information is deficient, sub par, inadequate, not equal to-"

"Blondie's not stupid," Rasta-Sasuke flared. "He's just…"

"Yes?"

Rasta-Sasuke took a moment, trying to find the vocabulary to articulate what he meant. He usually spoke with the simplest of terms when in fact he was discussing something very complex. Those around him had no trouble understanding him, but _this _prick needed all the gay terminology that bourgeois fags used. Blondie _was_ a dork. And by that, he meant…what, exactly?

"Blondie's…literal," Rasta-Sasuke said painfully, dragging the word from some hole in the recesses of his mind. "He sees things literally and reacts to things literally. He's square."

"Square?"

"Yes." Rasta-Sasuke struggled to translate this further, frowning furiously down at his lap, really digging through his mind for the right words. "He's…he doesn't joke around, or play, or understand when other people are joking around or not being serious. Something is or it isn't with him. There's never any maybe or middle road for him. All or nothing, yes or no, black or white. He doesn't even know how to play. The only time he laughs is when he's around Gaara. Chibi-Gaara, I mean."

Kage-Gaara was riveted. He had to blink and clear his throat to recall he was playing a role here. "I see. Why do you think he only laughs with Chibi…with him?"

A long silence followed. Kage-Gaara could almost see the gears turning rustily as Rasta-Sasuke strived to express himself. At last, he said, "I don't know. Chibi-Gaara is so fucking annoying sometimes, but even I think his violence is fun. I mean killing is fun, period."

Kage-Gaara decided to circle back to that later. "What sort of things does Blondie think funny and worth laughing at?"

"Laughing at? I've only ever seen him laugh at Chibi-Gaara's toys. Something about how the eyes all stare at him or some shit. And he likes Chibi-Gaara's singing. He'll sit for hours listening to that shit. Chibi-Gaara's actually pretty good too, when he's not singing about that damn mountain. _God, _I hate that song."

"You and I both," Kage-Gaara said feelingly. He'd heard it countless times already, and had come to the conclusion that he would go mad if he had to listen to it even one more time. "So you would describe Blondie as someone out of touch?"

"Fuck yeah."

"Serious?"

"Definitely."

"And literal."

"Bingo."

"That must mean he is an honest, upfront individual when it comes to his feelings."

"Yup."

"He's not coy, and does not hold back when it comes to expressing his love."

"Uh…nope."

"He's a giving person then?"

"I guess."

"Devoted to you?"

"For damn sure."

"Faithful."

"That's Blondie."

"He would never hurt you, either physically or with words."

"Not ever. That's just not him."

"Is it you?" Kage-Gaara asked softly, catching Rasta-Sasuke off-guard.

"Huh?"

"I said do you hurt him."

Rasta-Sasuke blinked, feeling as if he'd walked into a trap, but unable to spot where it had come from. "What, because he said I did?"

"Because you said that's not him," Kage-Gaara evaded neatly. "That implies that it's not how he behaves, but it is how you behave. Is it?"

"Fuck no. I mean, I said some shit to him that night, but-"

"So you wouldn't describe yourself as out of touch?"

Rasta-Sasuke sat up straighter, an inkling of understanding flickering in his mind. This cat played with words; Rasta-Sasuke had to stay sharp. He concentrated, but could see no relation between the latest question and what they'd been discussing. "Out of touch? Man, please, my ass is hip to the ways of the w-"

"So you're not square?"

"No!"

"Serious?"

"Not usually, but-"

"Literal?"

"Almost never, but-"

"Would you describe yourself as honest and upfront about your feelings?"

"Not if I can help it-"

"So you don't express your love freely?"

"Like how, going around saying 'I love you' and like that? That is so gay-"

"Then you're not a giving person?"

"Yo, I give when I get, that's just life."

"Would you describe yourself as devoted?"

"To who?"

"Or faithful?"

"To Blondie?"

"Or maybe you're the one who's a dork, as you so quaintly put it." The green eyes were as hard as gem stones.

Rasta-Sasuke clamped his mouth shut, trying to see how he'd walked into another trap. He could not follow all these words this fuckhead spat out. "Look, say whatever you want. You don't know me. I'll tell you now, though, I ain't stupid."

"No? Let me elucidate for you then. From your own mouth, Blondie is everything to you. He is honest, loving, giving and faithful. He would never hurt you. Yet you are not honest, loving, giving or faithful in return."

"Hey, I never said I wasn't faith-"

"He is not mentally deficient in any way, also by your own admission, and takes things literally. And yet you, who isn't stupid, persist in treating this honest, giving, loving and literal person with dishonestly, selfishness, bitterness and manipulation. You do it with no regard to the fact that he has feelings or that he might, at some point, grow tired of your treatment and pull away from you. As he is doing now. And that," Kage-Gaara said with finality, "is _very _stupid. Very stupid of you indeed."

Rasta-Sasuke blinked in shock. There was no other word for it, he was shocked. Not surprised or awed, but shocked in the true meaning of the word: to witness or experience something unsettling, intense, and/or distressing.

"What makes you doubly stupid is your knowledge of what he's gone through in his life and your failure to connect it to any emotional problems he might have because of it. Problems exacerbated by your callous treatment of him." Here, Kage-Gaara went on to explain, in detail, where Blondie had been for the past week, and the state they'd found him in. Kushina and Minato's mission with Hiroko in Blondie's mind was told, as well as Kage-Gaara's own findings inside Blondie's past. Inner Blondie, whom Kage-Gaara had gotten an account of from Kushina while Minato had been meetings the Narutos, was also explained.

"You are the only person in his entire life that he has ever let breach his defenses," Kage-Gaara said remorselessly. "It makes me sick to see how you treat him, to know that you see nothing whatsoever wrong with how you act toward him. If I didn't fear his response, I'd kill you now myself. With great pleasure. It seems to be all you're good for."

Rasta-Sasuke began shaking, having curtains and veils he'd lived with for too long ripped from his eyes one by one. His hands clutched tightly at the material of his ragged pants. At Kage-Gaara's last statement, he raised his eyes to meet the green ones. Kage-Gaara's eyes were furious, full of contempt and disgust. Rasta-Sasuke licked his dry lips. "That…that sounds like you personally don't like me. What have I ever done to you?" His voice was hoarse, weak, barely audible.

"Me?" Kage-Gaara tilted his head slightly. Even this small gesture was fraught with restrained violence. "Nothing. But how you treat Itachi, my partner, is exactly like how you treat Blondie, and just about everyone, I'd imagine."

Rasta-Sasuke struggled to defend himself, struggled against this new view of himself. What did it matter if he was a shit? He knew he was a shit, so what? But it _did_ matter. Somehow, it mattered. Not what these people thought of him, but Blondie. "I love Blondie. I'm-I'm good to him."

"If by good you mean you allow him to be closer to you than anyone else in your life, then yes. I suppose you are good to him. But that's just it, you _allow _him. Being with you is a privilege, isn't it," Kage-Gaara stated.

"No. No, that's not true, I-"

"Oh? Tell me, who decides things in your relationship?"

Silence.

"As I thought. You decide everything. You probably decide when and where you two are intimate, where you travel, how you live, everything. And the moment, the very _moment _Blondie decided to think for himself you betrayed him."

"Stop it," Rasta-Sasuke said in a small voice. "That's not true, Blondie decides some stuff-"

"No. Nothing significant. He lets you lead and that's the way you like it," Kage-Gaara sneered. "I'll bet anytime he's tried to do something without your permission you instructed him otherwise, didn't you."

"I love him." It was a plea.

"Yes. You do. But you don't know how to show it."

"Fuck you. I show him all the ti-"

"Sex isn't love. You told him you love him, I witnessed that, but you don't _show _him, Rasta-Sasuke. And you don't show him because you don't trust him."

It was getting harder to breathe. How the blazes was this _asshole_ able to see into the darkest regions of his soul? See stuff even he didn't know was there. He tried to hold that baleful green gaze, tried to man up and show he had a pair. "You're wrong. I trust Blondie more than anyone. He's the only one I trust."

"Maybe," Kage-Gaara said. "I can believe you trust him more than anyone…but that doesn't mean you trust him implicitly. It's why you treat him like some lesser being. It's why you always try to control him." Kage-Gaara leaned in, lowering his voice, holding that glassy black gaze. "It's why you hurt him."

Rasta-Sasuke broke.

Moving in for the kill, Kage-Gaara went and sat next to Rasta-Sasuke's huddled form, placing his mouth close to the younger boy's ear in order to be heard over his bitter crying.

"You love him so much, he has power over you," Kage-Gaara whispered. "The power to hurt you. He is everything to you, as you said, and people who mean that much have the power to destroy us, not just hurt us. You know it. Deep down where you refuse to look, you know it, Rasta-Sasuke. You know it because you've lived it, yes? It's happened to you before. So you lie. You lie to him about how much you love him, how much you need him, by hurting him. By being mean and controlling. You don't trust those who have power over you." Kage-Gaara leaned closer, feeling a twinge of pity for how wildly the teen next to him was sobbing. "Am I right, Rasta-Sasuke?"

He was. Rasta-Sasuke had to admit that Kage-Gaara was. He nodded, his head aching, his soul broken and ugly and exactly as Kage-Gaara said. He was everything Kage-Gaara said. Oh god, Blondie…

Kage-Gaara saw the nod and nodded himself. He waited a moment, sitting back and taking a deep breath. Breakthroughs were never easy. He folded his hands over his mouth, leaning his elbows on his crossed legs, letting Rasta-Sasuke have a few moments. The crying showed no signs of abating. He spoke thoughtfully, slowly, so that Rasta-Sasuke would hear him both with his ears and his heart.

"I don't doubt that you're better now that you've met Blondie than you were before you knew him. I know to you this seems like a complete transformation, but relationships change over time, Rasta-Sasuke. Feelings grow, and people grow. By refusing to grow with your feelings for Blondie you will drive him away. As much as he loves you –and you are his world, Rasta-Sasuke, make no mistake about that- he will walk away from you if you continue to hurt him like this. He is growing. Life with you is doing that, don't you see? It's not a bad thing. You've broadened his life, given it meaning, made him whole. He needs you. Rejecting his request for a child, while understandable, nearly drove him mad simply because of how much he loves and needs you. How do you think you'd feel if Blondie said the things to you that you said to him? If he spoke to you the way you always speak to him?"

Rasta-Sasuke moaned miserably, holding his midsection, but his crying was tapering off. It was being replaced with hiccups and sniffles.

"I think you need to understand that his wanting a child isn't him needing someone other than you to love. In fact, it's the opposite. It's him needing _more_ of you to love. The child would be tangible evidence of the love you and he share, of your feelings. Something you'd created together. Having a child love him, a child that was part of you, would be like having more of your own love. And more of you to love." Kage-Gaara looked at Rasta-Sasuke at last. "Do you understand?"

Rasta-Sasuke did. He'd never felt worse in his life. He scrubbed the heels of his palms down his cheeks, taking a shuddery breath. "You think I should make a baby with him."

"No, I don't actually. I don't doubt that he'd love his child unconditionally, but that doesn't mean he is equipped to be a parent. He is entirely too stunted to be a father."

Rasta-Sasuke looked up sharply, ready to defend Blondie. "What's that mean?"

"Square, as you put it. But it's more than that. Children need laughter and displays of emotion. They need understanding and patience, moral boundaries, guidance. Of those things, I think Blondie is only capable of patience. He has little understanding of people, hence his literal ways. He doesn't laugh often or display emotion, or have moral boundaries. I don't think he could guide anyone, since he requires little guidance himself. He has no goals or plans or needs outside of being at your side."

Rasta-Sasuke studied Kage-Gaara's face, realizing he was right.

"Do you know who I think _would_ make an excellent father, though?" the Kazekage asked thoughtfully.

"Who?"

"You."

"Me?" Rasta-Sasuke said tonelessly.

"Yes, you. You understand people, know what it means to laugh and be playful. I think you are capable of displaying emotions, since I've seen you hug Blondie and worry over him. You have moral boundaries which you work at ignoring deliberately. And you know the difference between right and wrong. You simply choose to do wrong because doing right has never benefited you, in your opinion. Or so I imagine. All you lack is patience. Between the two of you, I think a child wouldn't suffer too greatly."

Rasta-Sasuke turned to look at his lap again, wondering what it would be like to have a miniature Blondie trotting around. He didn't want a kid, couldn't see having one, but he didn't avoid the thought as he had been.

Kage-Gaara, having specifically spent the last few minutes discussing children and parenthood, segued smoothly into his reason for doing so. "What was your childhood like?" He voiced the question casually, staring off into the distance at the lip of the crater they sat in.

Rasta-Sasuke, somewhat at ease now that he'd been stripped of most of his defenses, responded at once, honestly, as Kage-Gaara had meant for him to do. "Scary."

Still gazing away at the distance in an unthreatening manner, Kage-Gaara said, "Oh? Beyond the normal fears children have of sleeping in the dark or monsters under the bed?"

"My monsters were real."

"Care to tell of it?"

Rasta-Sasuke told. He gave a full account of the first seven years of his life. He told of a loving mother and father, a comfortable and loving home life. Of an older brother he'd worshipped with all the love and fear one would show a true deity.

And he told of those same loving parents betraying their younger son with smiles on their faces, of setting the stage for his murder with gentle caresses and words of love. He told of a clan of cannibals who'd sacrificed him with love and pride.

Then he told of his brother saving him, Itachi's love for his younger brother giving him the strength to overcome the restraints of several Jounin and an imprisonment in a holding cell. Itachi's love gave him the will and strength to kill his entire clan.

Kage-Gaara was chilled to his bones. He stared at Rasta-Sasuke's profile intently, understanding finally why it was the kid didn't trust love. He began to understand, anyway. Some things were still unclear. "Your brother saved you? Why do you hate Itachi so much? My Itachi said your brother had done certain things. Can you talk about it?"

Rasta-Sasuke needed three tries before he could take a proper breath. He felt like his chest was seizing up. Where had all the air gone? After a minute he nodded, closing his eyes.

"Before…before he killed my clan, he used to come to me at night."

That was where it began. And again, the abuse had stemmed from Itachi's love. How Rasta-Sasuke had overcome that to get involved with Blondie physically was nothing short of miraculous. Kage-Gaara listened without interrupting to the things Itachi used to say to get his brother to allow the abuse to go on as long as it had. "And after? When you'd met him again for the first time in years?"

Rasta-Sasuke shuddered. "I can't talk about that."

"Why not?"

"Please, I can't. Not that."

"Haven't you told Blondie?"

"No. Not everything, not…not the things he made me do. Or the things I saw him do. Please. I can't."

Rasta-Sasuke was panting. It was suddenly warmer, and Kage-Gaara knew he had to tread very carefully here. Rasta-Sasuke had no control over this jutsu he was capable of, but at the same time he had to let go of whatever he was holding so close or he never _would _have control. He took one of Rasta-Sasuke's hands slowly, very slowly, and held it firmly. The hand was cold, despite the heat coming from the rest of him. "Look at me, Rasta-Sasuke."

The eyes were still black, thankfully.

"Tell me. Try. He's gone, he can't hurt you anymore."

"I can't."

"You're safe."

"I can't."

"Trust me."

"I can't."

"Could you tell of it if Blondie was here with you?"

"God, no. He can never know, not ever. He can never know what I did. He can never know how…how bad I really am," Rasta-Sasuke finished in a whisper.

Kage-Gaara felt a sense of déjà vu. This was almost exactly how Asami had felt. She'd been shattered, broken, and had only managed to hold it together by having Akiko and Akane supporting her. Rasta-Sasuke seemed to be holding himself together. He was definitely stronger emotionally than Asami had been, but in order to be so he had to ignore so much else. It explained his behavior, why he was the way he was. All Kage-Gaara needed to know now was what had happened during the days he'd been with Itachi, while Blondie had been with Chibi-Gaara and Killerbee. Something had happened. And whatever it was, it had to do with this jutsu, possibly even the blackouts. How to extract the information without triggering the jutsu?

"You're not bad, Rasta-Sasuke."

"Yes, I am. You even said it, but you don't know the worst."

"I never said you were bad. I said you behave stupidly. However, now that I know some of your history, I can understand why. I'm sorry I said that to you, but I needed you to see yourself. Rasta-Sasuke, I want to help you. Do you want me to help you?"

Two fresh fat tears escaped Rasta-Sasuke's eyes. He kept his gaze on those encouraging green eyes. He nodded.

"Then you have to face what happened, whatever it is. You can tell me. It doesn't make you weaker or give Itachi power over you. You know Sasuke, the one with Demon, had a problem similar to yours. I was able to help him, but only after he stopped keeping what happened to him bottled up inside. He was unable to talk about it at first too, but after I showed him how much power he was giving the memories by staying silent, he opened up. It isn't easy. It's painful and frightening, but afterwards you'll feel better. I promise."

Rasta-Sasuke shook his head. "I can't. _I can't._"

Kage-Gaara squeezed the trembling hand in his grip reassuringly, beginning to sweat from the heat Rasta-Sasuke was putting out. "All right. It's all right. Why don't you tell me how you met Itachi again, then. How did that come about?"

The heat lessened. Rasta-Sasuke took a quavery breath.

They'd been at a shop in a town a few days from the cottage they'd taken from the crone and her daughters. There'd been two men in the shop, a fight.

"And then?" Kage-Gaara asked gently.

He and Blondie had killed them. The guys had turned out to have friends. The friends had attacked. But one had held back…

"What did he say to you?" Kage-Gaara prompted.

Itachi had been happy to see him, but had not liked the way his brother resisted him. He'd cast a Genjutsu.

"He used Genjutsu to control you?" Kage-Gaara asked. "Did you fight it? Could you?"

He hadn't. He couldn't. He hadn't even known what was happening. He only knew Blondie had left him with his brother and his brother had…he had…he'd…

Kage-Gaara held the freezing hand, stared at the vacant black eyes. He stroked the hand in his grasp, reached for the other one and held it as well. "Courage, Rasta-Sasuke. All it takes is courage and you have that. You can tell me."

Rasta-Sasuke spoke almost soundlessly. "He made me. He made me…hurt people. Kids. Girls. B-babies."

The heat was stronger. The eyes were no longer black, holding Sharingan. Kage-Gaara squeezed the hands tighter, making his voice firm to cut through Rasta-Sasuke's trance. "It's all right. You're all right."

Many minutes passed. Many tense, silent minutes, where Rasta-Sasuke cried without voice, seeing a horror that had scarred him. Kage-Gaara hurt just to see the look on his face. Rasta-Sasuke blinked once, and the heat intensified. The scent of ozone was strong in the air, electrons gathering. Rasta-Sasuke whispered, "Rape. He made me rape the girls. The girl babies. It…tore them, killed them…He made me torture them. Skin them alive or blind them with…with hot needles. He made me…eat their livers…made them eat my…my…shit. He made me piss on them after ….then he…one time he…he made me eat one of them. While she was alive."

Kage-Gaara's clothes caught fire. He hastily beat out the flames. More sprang up around them both, but none touched Rasta-Sasuke who was crying, though his face was blank. Lightning sparked off the invisible shield of chakra surrounding him, singeing Kage-Gaara's cheek. His hands were raw, burned, but he reached for Rasta-Sasuke and held him close, hugging him, though the heat and chakra ate through his clothes.

"It wasn't you," he said urgently in Rasta-Sasuke's ear. "Your brother controlled you, made you, as you said. _He made you do it, _do you understand? It wasn't you. And you made sure he paid for what he did. Rasta-Sasuke!" Kage-Gaara shouted frantically. "He is gone."

The fires went out. The sudden absence of chakra felt almost cold against his skin. Kage-Gaara held on to Rasta-Sasuke anyway, repeating the phrase over and over again. "He's gone. It wasn't your fault, what he made you do."

They stayed that way, Kage-Gaara rocking Rasta-Sasuke slowly. He was in pain, but he had to finish this.

Rasta-Sasuke was a long time coming around, but when he did, he found that this Gaara hugging him was exceedingly strange. The only person he let touch him was Blondie. He pushed away from Kage-Gaara, got a good look at his blistered, bleeding skin, and just looked away. It was more than he could take just then, guilt about hurting Kage-Gaara. He stared at the ground by his leg, the memories of what Itachi had done refusing to return to their dark corner and out of sight.

Kage-Gaara felt he could risk continuing. "Do you remember how you killed him? What went through your mind?"

He did. That part was clear now. He didn't know how he'd done it, precisely, but he'd released a bunch of chakra.

"Like you did just now?" Kage-Gaara asked.

"No. More. But there was no fire. There was heat, but no fire. Afterwards, when Itachi was too weak to fight anymore, I stabbed him. I killed him."

"I see. Rasta-Sasuke I want you to think carefully, now. What did you feel when you killed him?"

Rasta-Sasuke scratched a hand in the dirt by his side, leaving grooves in the black grains. "I didn't really think about it right then but it felt like…like I was killing myself."

"Did you release chakra like that at any time between the day you killed your brother and your time here with us?"

"Like that? No. I don't think I could if I'd wanted to."

And now Kage-Gaara had the full picture at last. He was willing to bet Rasta-Sasuke's mind had set up inhibitors to prevent that very thing from happening. To prevent the stress releasing that much chakra put on the body. The only way he could access that much chakra now was through Mangekyo. And being here, the toll being around a version of Itachi put on Rasta-Sasuke, not to mention Blondie's new behavior, all combined to override the control Rasta-Sasuke's mind had over his chakra. What Kage-Gaara didn't know was why Mangekyo caused Rasta-Sasuke to black out or exactly how Rasta-Sasuke was able to put out so much chakra now without suffering the side effects he'd endured the first time.

"You said you suffered memory loss before you'd met Blondie, right?" Kage-Gaara asked.

"Yeah."

"I think that's because you have a tendency to block out anything that's too hurtful. And I think you black out when you perform this jutsu because it's similar to how you killed your brother, which calls up painful memories of what he made you do."

Rasta-Sasuke looked around. "But when I killed him the land didn't look like this. And just now when I was remembering, I could feel that chakra coming out of me, but it wouldn't have done this." He waved a hand at the crater and scorched earth.

"No, you're right about that. What we need to find out is how you do that jutsu. You need to learn to control it so it doesn't come unexpectedly. When do these blackouts occur? When you're scared?"

"I guess. More like when I'm in danger, I think. I killed a pack of some creatures when I was looking for Blondie. And after I found him there was this huge thing that tried to eat me. I killed it too."

"But you were with Blondie."

"Yeah. So?"

"So you didn't kill Blondie while you had your blackout. Consciously or not, you do have _some _control, at least enough not to kill him. Can you call up the chakra now and do the jutsu?"

Rasta-Sasuke snorted. "No."

"Have you tried?"

"I don't want to try."

"All right. I'll let the matter rest for now. How do you feel about you and Blondie?"

Rasta-Sasuke had to switch gears from thoughts of Itachi. He would never have believed it, but he did feel better now that he'd confessed. He felt calmer. Easier in his own skin. Not as dirty. And because of that he could see that he really had been awful to Blondie. Worse since killing Itachi. Much worse. And Blondie had taken it all without a complaint.

"I owe him an apology," he told Kage-Gaara. "And an explanation."

Kage-Gaara nodded. "That's all I wanted you to see. The rest will come in time."

Rasta-Sasuke looked at him, at his burns. "I really fucked you up."

"That you did. I'll heal. And so will you."

Rasta-Sasuke tried to believe that. When he'd said killing people was fun he'd meant it, but the things Itachi had made him do…those babies… He supposed there was a line even he wouldn't cross, and Itachi had made him cross it. He knew he was a bastard, but it was good to know that there were some things he wouldn't do. That also made him feel better. He was bad, but not as bad as he could be.

* * *

Later, when everyone came back to the site of the plateau, he singled Blondie out and drew him aside. He noticed how Blondie avoided looking at him when they were alone and felt deeply sad.

"I need to tell you something," he began. "About my time with Itachi and why I sometimes say things that hurt your feelings. It isn't easy for me to talk like this or say these things, but…I want you to know first and foremost how sorry I am."

Blondie slowly raised his eyes to Sasuke's. "I'm listening."


	42. Chapter 42

A/N: Just wrapping things up and setting the stage for a few things before I start heading towards the conclusion of this story. This chap is short because I had so much to do getting ready for my new job and school and everything. Almost didn't make the deadline. It's 4 am, and I stayed up all night to get it done.

Also, the events regarding Rasta-Sasuke last chap and this can be found in Always You.

*standard line about typos applies.

* * *

Chapter 42

The eradication of the plateau was not received well by those who hadn't known it was gone, but those who had witnessed its absence earlier seemed to take the loss as if seeing the crater for the first time.

"Our tools!" Kenji, Juro and Yukio screeched.

"My guns!" Kit swore.

"The food!" Hiroto and Shouta wailed.

"Our supplies!" Ryota and Wyatt screamed.

"My weapons," Sumiko wept, turning into Udon's chest.

"There goes the rest of the diapers," Lee said as he bounced a hungry and cranky Yo-chan in his arms.

Kaito, a fierce headache from his grandmother's training riding between his eyes, whirled to look around. He spotted Rasta-Sasuke in the distance, talking to Blondie. "It's all that jerk's fault. I've _had _it with him."

There were curt nods of agreement all around.

* * *

Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke heard none of this.

"I guess keeping what my brother did inside was slowly eating away at me," Rasta-Sasuke was saying. "It was like I was sort of waiting for you to turn on me too, which is bullshit because I know you never would."

Blondie nodded, his eyes on Sasuke's face. "I understand. I wish your brother was alive. It would make me happy to tear his lungs out through his mouth. No one, ever, anywhere, will hurt you like that again, I swear it. I should never have left you with him, Sasuke."

"It's not your fault. 'Sides, it's over." He looked down at his feet, scuffed them in the dirt as he idly heard the others exclaiming over the crater. "About having kids, though…"

"Sasuke…"

"No, let me finish. If you'd asked me before I saw my brother again, my answer probably would still have been no, for the reasons I gave you earlier. But something I didn't mention, because I couldn't think about it, is that it also has to do with what Itachi made me do. Having a baby…I'd always be remembering what I did, Blondie. I don't think I can be around babies. I know I'd never hurt one, especially not mine, but…I can't, okay? I'm sorry, I just can't."

"It's all right."

"It is? I know you really want one."

"I do. But I can live without one. I can't live without you, or cause you pain by insisting on having one. I won't bring it up again," Blondie said. "And if you want to leave here, if being around this Itachi is too difficult, then we will leave." He waited expectantly.

Rasta-Sasuke looked up into Blondie's honest face, wondering why he never called him Rasta-Sasuke like everyone else on this jacked up world did. "Take you away from your parents? I can't do that to you, man."

"And I can't watch you suffer. Had I known what Itachi had done to you I would have insisted we leave the moment we arrived. Now that your mother and father are here as well…?"

Rasta-Sasuke considered it briefly. "I can deal. It's cool. They're not my family, and that helps keep me sane. I can stay."

"Are you sure?" Blondie gazed at him intently. His worry soothed Rasta-Sasuke further so that he gave a small half smile.

"I'm sure. You seem tight with your mom and pops. I won't ask you to leave. What's it like for you seeing them, anyway?"

Blondie smiled his rare, beautiful smile. Rasta-Sasuke was dazzled where he stood, the transformation was so complete. "You've never asked me how I felt about something before. To answer, it is like the time I met you. I feel…I just feel. So much."

Rasta-Sasuke had smiled at hearing the words. Now his smile faded. "I am sorry about those things I said to you in the cabin, Blondie. You were scaring me, changing, and-"

Blondie stopped him. "I understand now."

"Okay."

There was a short silence between them, as their bodies went through the pangs of sharp desire for each other that they'd missed for the past week. Blondie licked his chops. Rasta-Sasuke edged toward him. They lunged at each other, mouths locking together fiercely. Rasta-Sasuke moaned.

-oOo-

They were snatched apart by rough hands. Blondie was held by Hiroto and Kage-Naruto, Rasta-Sasuke by Kaito, Akane and Kenji.

Surprisingly, it was Blondie who spoke first. "Let go of him."

Kage-Naruto tightened his hold on Blondie. "Not just yet. We're tired of his sass and this latest stunt is the last straw."

Kaito leaned down into Rasta-Sasuke's face. "I don't care if you've got some jutsu none of us can fight. It's eating time and we got nothing here to eat. We don't have time to hunt, either, not with this new schedule. I say you go and find us some food."

Rasta-Sasuke felt himself settle back into his familiar mindset. His session with Kage-Gaara had left him feeling shaky and soft, but that was over now. Matter of fact, things couldn't be better. He felt like a great weight was finally off his chest, like he could breathe again. He and Blondie were good again, and he was confident he'd be getting nicely fucked in the near future. Yes indeedy, things sure were looking mighty fine of a sudden.

He was _so _back.

He jerked his arms away from Akane and Kenji, and stepped right into to Kaito's face, a grin that felt absolutely _fantastic _slowly spreading across his face. "Well, you know what I say? Hm? I say you go fuck yourself."

Blondie wrenched himself free to rush to Sasuke's aid. Kenji, Kaito and Akane were in the process of jumping him, swearing furiously.

Kage-Naruto halted him by a handful of his shirt. Blondie turned, sent his fist into Kage-Naruto's throat with enough force to crush his windpipe, and merely glanced at Hiroto. Hiroto backed away, hands raised.

Kage-Naruto didn't go down. Blondie turned to face him head on.

* * *

Wyatt dropped his hands. "I'm done."

Kage-Gaara felt his face, his chest. He looked at his hands, turning them over. His skin was whole again, his burns healed. "Astounding. My gratitude is yours, Wyatt."

Kage-Gaara watched him smile and walk away to join Raiden. The teachers came up to him. They stood in a huddle.

"Well?" Minato said as he folded his arms. "Did you have any success?"

"I did."

"And what did you learn?" Kushina asked.

Kage-Gaara gave a brief summary of Rasta-Sasuke. "He's been used and abused too often by those who profess to love him. He's distrustful and-"

Minato held up a hand. "Yes. I don't mean to be curt, but the jutsu. Tell us of the jutsu."

Kage-Gaara inclined his head. "Hokage, I don't know. I don't know if this jutsu is some aberration triggered by the horrors his brother forced on him or if he's always had this ability lurking in him. I'm inclined to believe it's the latter since his clan chose him as an offering to the gods. They must have seen something in him, possibly this very thing."

Fugaku rubbed his chin. "Then it would be visible to any Uchiha with Sharingan. I don't have it, but my wife does."

"You're the only Uchiha here who doesn't have it," Jiraiya pointed out. Fugaku sniffed.

"We need to see it in order to analyze it," Minato said thoughtfully. He looked at Kage-Gaara. "Actually see him performing it without being caught unawares like before. Now that you've had success with him do you think he's closer to controlling it?"

"Doubtful. I think it was a manifestation of his turbulent mindset. A side-effect of the stress he'd been under. His isn't a unique case, but it's uncommon. Fascinating,even. His subconscious takes over, blanketing anything it feels the conscious mind can't deal with, sealing it away. The power that jutsu requires can probably only be accessed when Rasta-Sasuke is in a certain state of mind. He has to be feeling an ungodly amount of fear or rage for the jutsu to be possible. Imminent death has triggered the jutsu, but so has certain other things."

"Like?" Kushina asked.

"Like the sight of Mikoto," Kage-Gaara said. "My point in all this is that Rasta-Sasuke is no longer quite as stressed as he was. The jutsu may never surface again, or if it does, it will need to be triggered. I don't see how we can analyze it."

"We must," Minato said urgently. "I can tell you now from training with the Narutos and Raiden that our repertoire of unbeatable jutsu is very limited. We have Rasenshuriken, which still can be improved. The Death Sphere, and it's many applications. And this Jutsu. Of all of them, this jutsu is the strongest. We _must _find a way to harness it."

There were nods. Kage-Gaara sighed. "I'm sure by now Rasta-Sasuke has accustomed himself to the idea that a version of his parents is here. It will not have the same effect on him as before. I can think of only one way to trigger the jutsu now and I must go on record and say that I do not advise it. We can try and get him to access it some other way, but if we use the method I have in mind it may break him completely."

The teachers became aware of a lot of noise and cursing. They turned and found their charges egging on a fight between four people. They went to investigate.

* * *

It had long been speculated who would win a fight between Blondie and Kage-Naruto. This was being answered in a gory match that Blondie was clearly dominating. Kage-Naruto was ruthless, powerful and bestial in his ferocity, but Blondie was a machine. And he was smart. He strategized more intricately than Kage-Naruto did and he was beyond ruthless. Ruthless was what people with emotions were. Blondie had no emotions unless Rasta-Sasuke was around. Kage-Naruto got angry. Blondie didn't. Kage-Naruto drew on Kyuubi. Blondie didn't. And Blondie was winning.

Kaito was bigger than Rasta-Sasuke but he would never match the younger man in a fight. Perhaps if he'd remained as evil as he'd been in his youth, he would have, but those days were done. Rasta-Sasuke fought dirty and laughed while he was doing it.

Kenji just wasn't much of a fighter. He relied on tags and spent too much time in his workshop. He and Kaito were both down.

Akane was another matter. She and Rasta-Sasuke circled each other, looking for openings, grinning. They wiped blood from their chins in an almost identical move. They leapt at each other.

"Enough!" Jiraiya roared.

The crowd became quiet and still. Kushina stepped forward to discipline them but Minato stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Why?" was all he asked of Rasta-Sasuke and the others who'd been fighting.

Kaito chose to speak for them. "We're sick of him. The food's gone, we're hungry and there isn't time to hunt for more. He's never been anything but a pain in the ass."

"This seems to be coming out of nowhere," Minato said. "You saw the plateau was gone earlier. Do you lose all control when you're hungry like a child?"

Kaito hung his head. Minato looked around at the rest. "If there is nothing to eat then you will go without. Tomorrow we will hunt as we train. The next person to engage in a fight without the command of a teacher will be reprimanded severely. This isn't a game. And we don't have time for petty arguments. You have two hours to rest. Do so."

Ryota raised a hand. "Hokage-sama?" Minato raised a brow. "Our magic supplies are all gone. Wyatt and I just got through practicing magic, but for the 3 pm to midnight session we needed those supplies. How are we to get more?"

Minato looked at Wyatt. "I understand you went to your world to get them last time, correct?"

Wyatt nodded. "But if I go back there, I'll be caught."

"Can you get the supplies from Ryota's mother then?"

Wyatt and Ryota exchanged a glance. "I guess," Ryota shrugged. "We need Raiden or Aimi to get us there, though."

"Take Raiden," Kushina said. "Come back quickly."

Raiden, Wyatt and Ryota walked off a little ways. Raiden Boomed them, his black chakra swirling away.

* * *

Seeing as they only had a two-hour rest period, they took advantage. Their first day with their teachers had been enough to bring tears of exhaustion to their eyes. The younger children sought out their parents. Husbands looked for wives, and others looked for their partners. The cabins were bitterly longed for. Stomachs growled, and tempers simmered just below the surface. Even Chibi-Gaara was irritable.

Minato looked at Kage-Gaara and gave a discreet nod. Kage-Gaara saw and went to Sasuke and Itachi. They, in turn, located Fugaku and Mikoto. Minato led them all to where Rasta-Sasuke reclined with Blondie, 'Bee and Chibi-Gaara.

Kage-Gaara cleared his throat. "Rasta-Sasuke."

Rasta-Sasuke glanced up. "Nuh uh, man, you and I are done. Thanks for your help and everything, but I'm good now."

Kage-Gaara squatted on the balls of his feet, bringing himself down to eye level with Rasta-Sasuke. "There is still the matter of the jutsu."

Rasta-Sasuke was glad Blondie was pressed along his left side. The big, warm feel of him was so very comforting with his mother, father and brother standing there looking down on him. Correction, with _imitations _of his family standing there. He hadn't looked at them directly, but he could feel their eyes on him. He moved a little closer to Blondie, letting his heat warm the chill on his skin. "I told you, I can't just call it up."

Fugaku spoke. "Access your Mangekyo. I'm sure you'll find the jutsu easy to perform then."

Rasta-Sasuke slowly raised his eyes to the man who'd been ready to plunge a knife into his heart. _No, it's not him._

_Oh, yes it is, _another part of Rasta-Sasuke answered. He blinked, forcing himself to meet that gaze. "What the hell is a Mangekyo?"

Silence. Not just the people immediately around Rasta-Sasuke, but everyone in the crater. All eyes turned to Rasta-Sasuke.

Sasuke laughed. It was a discordant sound, one that bounced flatly around the crater in the unnatural silence. "Dude, you showed it your first night here, when you threatened to kill my 'peeps' if Aimi didn't take you back home."

Rasta-Sasuke looked blank. Sasuke frowned. "Wait, you really don't know what it is? It's an evolved form of Sharingan. How can you have it and not know what it is?" Sasuke looked at Itachi.

Itachi took over the explanation. "It comes when one kills the person closest to them. Yours probably came when you killed your brother. It gives the user more power, access to greater techniques."

"And whenever you do the jutsu you access your Mangekyo," Kage-Gaara said.

Rasta-Sasuke sat there thinking. "Well, that doesn't mean I can pull it out now. Or do that jutsu."

"We know," Minato said. "But you have to start training. And that jutsu is invaluable. If you'll come with us, we believe we have a way to help you access both your Mangekyo and the jutsu while you're fully conscious of the acts."

Blondie stood. "I'm coming with him."

-oOo-

They used Shunshin. When they were several miles from the crater, the Uchiha, Kage-Gaara and Minato faced Rasta-Sasuke and Blondie.

Kage-Gaara nodded at Sasuke, who transformed and flew into the air. He hovered far above the small group, beating his wings. Kage-Gaara had his sand swirling slowly around him, as if expecting to have to use it. Blondie noticed that Only Itachi, Mikoto and Fugaku were unprotected, since his father was preparing his teleportation jutsu. But then Mikoto and Fugaku nodded at Itachi before disappearing in opposite directions. Minato likewise took several steps backward. Now only Itachi, Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke stood close together.

Itachi took a few moments to steady his nerves. When Gaara had told him what he wanted him to do, he'd refused. He couldn't possibly do this. But The Fourth had impressed upon him the need for this sacrifice. He raised his head and fixed Rasta-Sasuke's suspicious expression with an apologetic frown. He signaled his mother with a small hand gesture.

Mikoto called out. "Blondie." Blondie looked over at her and found her about four hundred yards away.

At the same time, Itachi stepped to Rasta-Sasuke and said, "I'm so sorry." Then he wrapped his arms around the younger man and kissed his mouth.

* * *

Raiden, Wyatt and Ryota materialized in the basement of the house not far from Halliwell manor, where Raiden usually appeared. They'd stopped off in Willow's world, but Willow, Buffy told them, was currently in another dimension. Ryota grabbed what he could, as did Wyatt, but there were some key ingredients that Wyatt could only get on his world. They debated going, wondering if they could get by on what Ryota had been able to get. They decided that they couldn't. Off to San Francisco they went.

Almost immediately, some kind of magical alarm went off, giving out siren wails and pulses of weird blue light.

"Shit, fold us" Wyatt yelled over the noise. "My mom and aunts set a trap!"

Raiden folded them. They ended up somewhere in a fish market, but almost immediately Wyatt began disappearing in a swarm of glowing white lights. "Raiden!" he screamed. "They're summoning me!" Raiden dived for Wyatt, caught his leg, and pulled both with his body and his mind. Ryota landed on Wyatt's other leg and pulled just as hard.

Ryota concentrated, and recalled a spell in his mother's notebook to combat opposing magic. He didn't have the runes or herbs, but he'd read in another book how magical creatures sometimes could get away with not using the props non-magical creatures needed. He decided to give it a shot.

Raiden heard Ryota muttering, just before a blast of energy shot out of him and knocked the white lights trying to claim Wyatt away. Wyatt fell to the ground hard. Raiden quickly folded them all out of there. This time they ended up in a sewer, beneath a drain in the street. They could look up at the sunlight filtering through the gutter grating and hear cars passing back and forth on the street.

They sat in shallow filthy water, catching their breath. Wyatt lost no time casting a magical barrier around the three of them, one that would cloak them for a short while from any attempts to summon him or detect his presence. Only then did he speak. His voice was shaky.

"Okay. That should by us some time. Man, I knew coming here was a bad idea."

Raiden looked at him. "You said shit."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Let's just get what we came for and get out of here."

Wyatt shook his head. "I can't. I've only cloaked this section of the sewers. If I move, I have to redo the cloaking spell and the use of my magic will tell my family exactly where I am."

"What are we supposed to do then?" Raiden asked.

Wyatt thought for a minute. "You can Pull the stuff to us. We can link telepathically. You can see the items in my mind and Pull them."

"Well he can't see the stuff in my mind," Ryota complained.

"Write your items down and I'll read them," Wyatt said, settling down in a comfortable position. It was hard to find one in the sewers.

They sat in a crude triangle. Raiden and Wyatt closed their eyes, while Ryota managed to conjure paper and pen on the third try.

* * *

It happened. Mangekyo came, the jutsu came, and this time the observers were ready.

What they weren't ready for was Rasta-Sasuke. He was clearly conscious, not having a blackout, and as such, in moderate control of the chakra erupting from him. Instead of it spreading in an all-encompassing circle, it all went straight to Itachi. Kage-Gaara surrounded Itachi and himself in his protective sand.

Rasta-Sasuke screamed invectives, sending his chakra in a wave that he directed with his hands. He hurled every ounce at that sphere of sand, swearing to murder Itachi.

Blondie broke away from Mikoto's powerful Genjutsu. He saw what was happening to the sand sphere and went to Rasta-Sasuke. He tried to touch his arm.

The chakra swung around when Rasta-Sasuke did. It came close to obliterating Blondie, but Rasta-Sasuke caught himself. His Mangekyo faded, but his fury didn't. After everything, after all Kage-Gaara had said, after holding his hand and getting him to bare his soul, he betrayed him. The fucker had betrayed him and he, Rasta-Sasuke, should have known it was coming. _Never _trust anyone. _Ever! _The knowledge that he'd been had made his eyes feel strange. In the back of his mind he registered that he must be wearing Mangekyo, but all he could see was the red of his rage. "I knew it, I knew he was just like him," he ground out between his teeth, glaring at Itachi. "They're all alike, all the Itachi's everywhere." He spat at the sphere.

It was now made completely of glass. Itachi and Kage-Gaara were trapped inside.

"I hope you both fucking rot in there," Rasta-Sasuke breathed. "Because if either of you ever come near me again I'll kill you."

Itachi's face was mask of misery.

Gaara released more sand from his gourd, hardened it, and succeeded in cracking the glass sphere from the inside enough so that it fell away in large pieces.

Sasuke came down to land near his brother. Mikoto and Fugaku approached with Minato. Kage-Gaara did the talking, rushing to speak before another attack could be launched at Itachi.

"We had to do it, Rasta-Sasuke. Believe me, we didn't want to, least of all Itachi, but it was the only way to force you to-"

Rasta-Sasuke held up his hands. "You planned it? After I told you what my brother did to me, you used that against me?"

Kage-Gaara knew he was doing exactly what everyone had ever done to Rasta-Sasuke. He was betraying him. He had to explain. "It was the only way to access the jutsu. To get you to show it again so we could see what you were doing. So we could _help _you. Itachi didn't want to do it, especially knowing what your brother had done, and I most certainly did not want to hurt your further."

Blondie stood waiting to kill whomever Rasta-Sasuke told him to kill. His eyes were red, his body attuned to the pain his man was feeling. All Rasta-Sasuke had to do was give the word.

But Rasta-Sasuke didn't. He stood looking at all the people he hated most in the world, and now Kage-Gaara was right up there with the rest of them.

However.

He understood why they'd done it. He'd never forgive them, not ever, but he understood it. And he thought he could do the jutsu again. He thought maybe he could even call up Mangekyo again. It was like pulling up Sharingan, if you took the process and somehow cubed it.

"Blondie, let's get out of here." He turned his back on Itachi and the rest, disappearing back toward the crater with Blondie at his heels.

-oOo-

Itachi walked away and threw up. Sasuke watched his brother worriedly, before turning to Kage-Gaara. "What you made him do will haunt him. For that I will always hate you."

Kage-Gaara nodded. He hated himself for suggesting it. "Did you see?"

"I saw," Sasuke said brusquely. "And it's actually really simple. He's opening the Gates. I used to see Lee do it when he was teaching Demon, and when we were exiles."

"How many is Rasta-Sasuke opening?" Kage-Gaara asked.

Sasuke hesitated. "All of them. And he's using nature manipulation so that his fire and lightning mix together seamlessly."

Kage-Gaara gazed thoughtfully at the pieces of glass that had been his sand sphere. The sphere had used his special chakra-infused sand. He would need to make more sand to put in his gourd. "I don't understand. He used that amount of chakra to kill his brother, but by his account, it wasn't as destructive as it is now. Yet he nearly died that time. Now he's well enough after using the jutsu three times in one day to run off."

Itachi straightened and wiped his mouth on the hem of his shirt. "He's Uchiha. More, he's one that comes along seldom in the clan. Powerful chakra, powerful body. He has adapted. His body has grown stronger since the first time he's used the technique, and so has his chakra. He probably didn't open all the gates when he killed m-" Itachi paused. "When he killed his brother. And he didn't have Mangekyo yet. That came after the kill. Now that he has it, the jutsu may have undergone a slight transformation as well as gotten stronger. And I'll tell you this," Itachi concluded as he looked in the direction Rasta-Sasuke had gone. "He's a lot stronger than I am. He's possibly the strongest Uchiha here, more so than Psycho-Sasuke who has Eternal Mangekyo. If he ever learned to wield Genjutsu or develop this jutsu he has now…"

Minato shook his head. Such power, and the boy was a novice. "Well, Blondie is definitely the strongest Naruto, though not the most inventive. It's good they have each other. I think we've made progress. Rasta-Sasuke joins training like everyone else from now on." The others were in agreement.

* * *

"Whew, done," Raiden sighed. "Is that everything you and Ryota need? Are you sure?"

Wyatt looked over the stuff crowding the sewers with them carefully. "Yup. This should last us a good long while. You ready?"

Raiden and Ryota nodded.

"Okay, this is going to be tricky," Wyatt said. "I have to lower my cloaking so you can Boom us. If you try to Boom with my magic up, it might knock me out. But Boom us fast, before my family can detect me, okay?"

Raiden nodded. "Got it."

Wyatt blotted his sweaty palms nervously on his pants. He took a deep breath. "Okay…go!"

Raiden had his chakra ready, but it didn't help. When he tried to Boom, he met up with some kind of invisible barrier that sent him rebounding. By then the white lights had surrounded them all and sucked them away. When these dispersed, they found themselves not in Wyatt's home, but in some cloudy place with a bunch of people wearing golden robes.

"Oh, damn," Wyatt squeaked. "It's the Elders."

Raiden and Ryota surmised that this was not good.


	43. Chapter 43

A/N: Something I neglected to mention in last chap's author note: At the end of this fic there will be four yaoi couples pregnant. The reader who guesses them all correctly (not 2 or 3 out of 4, but ALL 4) will receive a giftfic. I should be done existing giftfics by then, so I'll be ready to reward whoever wins that minor challenge.

Now, I don't know who it was that requested the psycho twins receive some scree time, but I told them no. However, I changed my mind and decided to grant that little request since it didn't detract from the fic too much and I hadn't submitted any lemons in awhile. So here you go^^ enjoy.

*Standard line about typos applies.

* * *

Chapter 43

Wyatt had not been Up Here in god knew how long. He had no idea who the Elders were who grouped around him with forbidding expressions now, but he felt Raiden crouched behind him, tensed and ready, and that steadied him. Somewhat. Sort of. Not at all really, not when he thought about the amount of trouble he must be in for the Elders themselves to get involved. He wished desperately then that his dad was still an Elder. That would have gone a long way toward dispelling his crippling fear just then.

But his dad wasn't there. And if he knew anything about the beings who'd dictated much of how his family's life had gone throughout the generations, his parents and aunts probably had no idea he was Up Here. It was just like the Elders to make arbitrary decisions like snatching him and his friends up here for some kind of interrogation.

Wyatt felt his sword on his back jostled as Ryota scooted closer to him. He could hear the boy breathing heavily, probably frightened as badly as he and Raiden were. Wyatt was exhausted from training with the Shinigami, tired in mind, body and spirit. The idea of giving himself up seemed so attractive right then. Eighth grade would be a breeze now. His bed, his room, his clothes and his family…they exuded a seductive pull, much like the sound of his mother's voice had on his last trip here. And Raiden had his grandparents now, surely he didn't really need Wyatt to help him fight?

An Elder with white hair and eyes the color of a mountain lake spoke as if Wyatt wasn't present, her thin red lips barely moving. "So it's true. He does carry Excalibur."

"He is too young yet to wield it," another Elder said just as dispassionately. "Its power will corrupt him as it has corrupted others."

One Elder disagreed. "Only the Ultimate Power on Earth can wield it without being corrupted. As such, Wyatt clearly demonstrates his ability to bend the sword to his will. He would never have been able to call it otherwise." The man's face held the hint of a smile.

The original Elder spoke again, her eyes hard and cold. "It matters not. As I and others have stated time and again, he should never have been born. Such a concentration of power should never have been allowed to come into existence. We should deal with him now, before he contacts his parents or has a chance to grow to maturity. Already his powers grow due to wherever he's been, or do none of you feel it?"

There were murmurs. Wyatt felt fear expand through him painfully. _-Raiden!-_

_**-Wyatt, what do they mean? Are they going to hurt you?- **_

Raiden's thoughts thundered inside Wyatt's head with enough force to make him feel faint, his fear for Wyatt coming through loud and clear. The fear made Raiden's thoughts sharp, as if surrounded by jagged glass. _–They aren't going to let me leave. Save yourself and Ryota, Raiden, you can't take on the Elders.-_

Raiden's eyes moved back and forth. _**–There are only a few of them.-**_

_-More will come!-_

_**- I'm not leaving you. They'll kill you, didn't you hear them?-**_

_-Raiden, you have to go back. I'll call my mom and aunts. The Power of Three has never failed and I'll be fighting with them. They won't let the Elders have me. Raiden, please!.-_

Raiden clutched Wyatt's back. They were staring up at the Elders as this frantic conversation took place between them. _**–Do you want to stay?-**_

_-Raiden…-_

The Elders stirred, cocking their heads. "Look. The demon communicates with him via his thoughts."

One of the robed men protested. "He can't be a demon if he was able to be summoned here."

_**-Do you want to stay here, Wyatt?- **_Raiden mentally screamed, ignoring the argument rising between these Elder people.

_-I'd like to be home. Sometimes I miss it and my family and things I'm familiar with, but…-_

_**-DO YOU WANT TO STAY HERE, WYATT, YES OR NO!-**_

Wyatt winced at how much that thought hurt his brain with its strength, but he answered with the truth. _–No. As much as I miss home, I'd miss you more. I'll never leave you, Raiden. If you think you can do it, then get us the hell out of here.-_

Raiden, who'd been laboring under the belief that he'd been growing weaker, stood up now and squared his shoulders. He called on every ounce of power and chakra he possessed, closing his eyes and transforming in order to gain more of both.

Sometimes, just before the onset of puberty, people grew weaker, or clumsier. Once puberty set in, though, their bodies underwent a growth spurt, both in strength and other physical attributes. Raiden was at the very beginning of puberty, just barely having entered this stage. The power he needed now would have come to him within another few weeks, but his desperation nudged his body's natural progress a bit and the floodgates opened wide. Chakra virtually _exploded _out of him, killing the Elders who'd been so casually discussing 'dealing' with Wyatt. His wings unfolded among the tattered remains of his shirt, flapping slowly, disturbing the cloudy vapor along the floor. A growl escaped him, a roar that would have done Kyuubi proud. It shook the pillars around them, cracking some, and warning away other Elders who were swiftly approaching at the deaths of their kin they'd felt. Raiden Boomed, shattering the barrier the Elders had set up to keep him from doing so before.

-oOo-

They came out on the tranquil world he had visited with his cousins and Wyatt before they'd gone after Akatsuki. For a few moments, Raiden was insensate, his mind struggling to adjust to this new advancement in his abilities. When it had, and he was aware again, he turned and found Wyatt and Ryota huddled against each other inside Wyatt's shield.

"What's wrong, guys?" Raiden's voice was the same, if a little curious.

Wyatt swallowed. "You killed the Elders."

Raiden blinked. "That was an accident. Besides, they would have killed all of you if I hadn't."

"You okay?" Ryota quavered at Raiden. "'Cuz you're really scaring me right now."

Raiden took a look at himself. Chakra was curling off of him in snapping waves. His shirt was completely gone now. His knuckles were large and boney looking, his fingers more talon-like than he'd ever seen them. His licked at his fangs, feeling how they curved all the way down to his chin now. He blinked and consciously transformed back to normal.

Wyatt put his shield down, but the fact that he'd had it up at all really hurt Raiden's feelings. "I'd never hurt you, Wyatt," he said reproachfully.

"I know. Your chakra was sort of burning us," Wyatt explained. "It felt a little different."

"Oh." Raiden's brow cleared.

Before he could say anything else, Wyatt rushed him and nearly knocked him over in a tight hug. "You saved me," Wyatt said harshly. "You could have left me there, _should _have left me since they would have killed you too, but you didn't. You saved me."

Raiden hugged back happily. They so rarely got to touch each other that this hug now nearly blew his head off with happiness. "Of course I saved you. I'll never leave you, remember? I promised."

Wyatt drew back and looked Raiden in the eye. His heart swelled with love, his whole body swelled with it, and he pulled Raiden's head to him by his forelocks and kissed him hard.

Ryota heard Raiden issue a few muffled sounds, maybe words, but then he was kissing Wyatt back. Their hands were everywhere. It looked like they were trying to yank each other to death or something. It was just like watching his uncle Sasuke and Naruto, back before Dad had moved back home with them. It made him feel weird to see boys like himself doing it. Just didn't look right. Gross. Just gross. He turned and occupied himself with inspecting the supplies. He was glad Raiden hadn't forgotten them. Going back to Wyatt's world to get them would have sucked big time. How long were they going to kiss? God.

* * *

Rasta-Sasuke slowed from using Shunshin and just walked for awhile. He walked quickly, his face set in a scowl. Blondie walked at his side, matching the furious pace by lengthening his stride. He felt he should say something.

"I'll kill them if you want me to."

Rasta-Sasuke snorted. "No."

"But they hurt you."

"They did."

"Then let me kill them. You've always said people who hurt us have to die."

"And that rule still stands, but-"

"They can't fight that jutsu. We can kill them all."

Rasta-Sasuke glanced at Blondie. "You'd do that? Kill all of them? Because they hurt me?"

Blondie looked back at him calmly. "In a heart-beat. Wouldn't you…I mean, would you do the same for me?"

Rasta-Sasuke thought about it. "Huh. Well…I guess so. It's weird, because you never need defending. You kill people who cross you before I even get a chance to know what they did, but yeah. I'd end anyone who fucked with you. If you didn't do it first."

Blondie felt a sharp pang of gladness. He nodded, satisfied. "Should we turn back then and do it?"

"No."

"Why not?" Blondie was puzzled.

"It would be wrong."

"Wrong is anything we don't like. Right is anything that makes us happy or serves our purposes," Blondie recited one of Rasta-Sasuke's rules.

"Yeah…" Rasta-Sasuke said. "That's…true." But that was also how his brother had lived. And he'd be damned if he followed his brother in anything.

Fuck Kage-Gaara and his fucking psycho analysis bullshit, Rasta-Sasuke fumed. If the man hadn't brought to his attention that his way of dealing with people stemmed from his family, he'd be fine with at least bloodying the assholes. As it was, though, now he felt like it was giving his dead family the upper hand if he kept doing that. _But I like doing that! _he raged inwardly. _It's who I am! I'm not giving that up just because Butch Gaara got inside my head and fucked me over! Shit!_

Why didn't he want them killed? Really, what reason did he have? He thought about it seriously. When it came to him, he stopped walking and turned to Blondie.

"I want them to die. I feel like they _should_ die. It would certainly make me feel good to kill them. But we can't. I don't know…it just feels like what I did to those babies, you know? Those babies hadn't done anything to me, and Kage-Gaara… Well, they did what they did to help me. That, and only that, is the reason they'll live another day. Even though how they did it sucks, I can't deny that if I can control this thing, then I'm stronger. I won't have to worry about killing you accidentally. I can look out for you for a change, instead of you always protecting me. And -you ready for this?- when we get back home, we'll be completely unbeatable. We can do whatever we want, have whatever we want."

Blondie considered this. "Weren't we doing whatever we want before?"

"Well…yeah, but we couldn't just go balls out. There were some situations we had to leave alone. Think of it, Blondie, we could take over Konoha! I can't _wait _to get the nobles back."

"I thought we did that already."

"Blondie, they ran us out of our rightful home. As long as they live, justice will never be served."

Blondie smiled in response to Sasuke's grin. "I like the cottage we have."

"Yeah, me too. But the possibilities!"

Going back to Sasuke's reason for not killing Kage-Gaara and those with him, Blondie said, "Does this mean we won't kill others who cross us anymore?"

"Woah, woah, woah. No one said anything about not killing those who cross us. It's just that this is a special case."

"I see."

"From now on we'll be dealing with people who are actually crossing us, is all. No more killing people because we don't like the way they look at us."

"Understood." Then, when they'd walked on for another mile, "Do it now."

"What?"

"The jutsu. See if you can do it."

"I have to do the Mangekyo thing first." Sasuke blinked his eyes hard. He looked at Blondie. "Am I doing it?"

"No, it's Sharingan."

Rasta-Sasuke tried again. "How 'bout now?"

"Still Sharingan."

"Now?"

"No."

"Damnit. Okay, now?"

"No." Blondie watched Sasuke grunting and trying for several minutes before he stopped walking again. Rasta-Sasuke stopped too, muttering to himself. Blondie waited until he had his attention. "I want to have gay sex."

Rasta-Sasuke chuckled. "What, out here in the middle of nowhere?"

Blondie looked left, then right. "We are miles from the crater and the ones we just left."

"True," Rasta-Sasuke drew out the word as he sashayed over to Blondie. "And I _am _horny as fuck." He rubbed his face in Blondie's chest, nibbling through his shirt.

Blondie cupped Sasuke's head, remembering the talk he and Sasuke had had, wherein the latter had apologized for his behavior. Sasuke had also said he wouldn't take Blondie for granted anymore or dictate what he could and couldn't do. He decided to make a request. "Sasuke."

"Hm?" Sasuke stood on his toes to lick at Blondie's chin.

"I want you to mount me this time."

Rasta-Sasuke dropped back to his heels. "Huh?"

"I want you to-"

"Yeah, I heard that," Rasta-Sasuke waved his hand. "Why? I mean…_why_?"

Blondie shrugged. "I've always wanted to try it."

Rasta-Sasuke frowned uncomfortably. "So why didn't you mention it before?"

"I didn't think you would allow it. Will you?"

It was a numbing thought. Literally. Rasta-Sasuke felt a cold shiver snake through him, but this only emphasized how controlling he'd been. He'd naturally taken control because he was better suited to deal with situations, not being as out of touch as Blondie, but somewhere down the line he'd taken it too far. Blondie didn't even voice simple wants or curiosities anymore? That made him feel like shit on a shoe. "Yeah. I mean, I'll…try…" Rasta-Sasuke's mouth dried up.

Blondie was in the process of pushing down his pants, and turning around. His ass looked hard and impenetrable in the bright sunlight, with its hollow sides and small dimples above it. A fortress. A bastion of rock-hard muscle, one Rasta-Sasuke didn't think he had the wherewithal to breach. He swallowed, feeling his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth. Blondie stretched out in the parched grass, ass up, and waited.

Rasta-Sasuke reluctantly dropped his pants.

-oOo-

Several silent, awkward, inadequate, regrettable, and acutely embarrassing minutes later Blondie sat up as Rasta-Sasuke rolled off his back. They didn't speak.

A bird cawed somewhere in the distance, perhaps sighting prey.

Face red and burning, Rasta-Sasuke finally cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. That was… I don't think I did it right."

Blondie was forced to concur. "It wasn't as satisfying as usual."

"I sort of prefer the other way around."

"Me too."

"Let's do that."

Blondie pounced, a small yipping whine escaping him. Rasta-Sasuke yelled out a laugh, holding up his arms in mock defense of himself. Blondie knocked his hands away, lowering his face to the slim throat and sinking his enlarged canines into it. He stopped just short of breaking the skin. "Sasuke," Blondie rumbled. He lapped at Sasuke's rapidly beating pulse, the fluttering quality of it abruptly sending his senses reeling. Here was Sasuke's love for him manifested. As long as he had this, he could live without a child.

Sasuke felt like as many times as they'd screwed each other, he would never get tired of it. Blondie just _robbed _him of everything that made him who he was, until there was nothing left but this puddle of goop that covered Blondie with wild kisses and excited touches and demanded in a breathless screech that Blondie take him now, now, now.

But Blondie took his time. He peeled off Sasuke's clothes an item at a time, pausing to nuzzle each body part as it was exposed. When his Sasuke was nude and quivering in the short grass, he rolled him to his stomach and lowered his head.

Rasta-Sasuke beat the earth with flailing fists as that mouth nipped and sucked down the expanse of his back, over his buttocks and between his lower cheeks. His hips were dragged upward so that his ass was in the air. A pair of large, hot hands spread him and then that equally hot tongue was making him howl in greedy demands for more. "_Yes,_" he keened. "Eat me, Blondie, oh my god! Eat my ass!"

That sinuous, sexy tongue sucked briefly on his sac, Blondie's teeth nipping this sensitive pouch. Sasuke screamed…then heat began baking off of him in fluctuating waves. Blondie bit his scrotum again, worrying it gently in his teeth, before making his tongue flat and licking from these jewels, up along Sasuke's crevice. He dragged his tongue downward again and finally settled on the pulsing pucker that seemed to be gasping as it contracted and released.

Rasta-Sasuke had his face turned aside in the ground, eyes half-closed, panting shallowly. That tongue entered him deeply, licking wet fire at his inner walls, and he felt his chakra reacting, felt the beginning stages of his jutsu taking place. His dick stood stiffly, pointing at the ground as it began leaking. "Blondie…"

Blondie sucked hard enough to hollow his cheeks.

"Aiiiiishit!" His chakra twisted higher and Rasta-Sasuke dimly saw the grass around him beginning to wilt, to wither. He fought for control, but that tongue…that mouth_…_he couldn't even _think_. Yet even so he moaned, "Harder!"

Sasuke was baking, Blondie saw. He himself was sweating at the amount of heat suddenly around Sasuke, sweating profusely. His own chakra sprang up, protecting him as he rolled Sasuke to his back at last, having eaten his fill of the musky cavern he loved.

Blondie crouched over Sasuke, pants undone, stroking his steely cock. He held Sasuke down with one hand, watching him with steady eyes. The heat did not lessen, but intensified when he punched into Sasuke's body without stretching him first. He kept Sasuke pinned to the ground as he barreled his way into his rectum, stretching that small opening into a wide circle around his girth.

Sasuke's scream and the spike in heat were simultaneous. He clawed at Blondie's chest, but Blondie held his hands away from him.

Hot. Blondie growled long and low at how unbelievably _hot _Sasuke was now. His penis was being boiled alive in that heat, and Kyuubi leaked out of him even more. He breathed heavily, staring down at Sasuke as he assessed him with his red eyes.

There as no Mangekyo. Not even Sharingan. Just that scorching, sizzling heat that would have blistered his skin right off of him if he wasn't surrounded by Kyuubi chakra. Blondie considered himself safe. He pulled Sasuke up, stood up himself, and braced his legs far apart. He turned Sasuke on his turgid cock without slipping out of him, making Sasuke sob at the rotating sensation inside him. He had Sasuke stand and bend over, leaning his hands on his knees.

Blondie loved to have sex with Sasuke. It brought on a savage, senseless pleasure to hammer that tight tunnel of heat with his dick. He drew back his hips and slammed them forward now over and over, not checking the force of them in the slightest. He never did. He always pounded with all his considerable strength into Sasuke when they were joined. He held the slim hips steady, digging his fingers into the pale flesh as Sasuke's rising heat and the first few tendrils of lightning forced one Kyuubi tail out of him.

_He's gonna kill me this time,_ Sasuke thought in blinding ecstasy. He reached behind himself and held onto Blondie's wrists. His chakra surrounded him, clashing with the Kyuubi's that surrounded Blondie, so that the feel of the two chakras warring made both their heads spin with pain and awareness of each other. Sasuke's knees went weak. Drool dripped steadily from his gaping mouth as he shrieked and moaned and cursed without pause. He cursed Blondie while begging him. All he got were growls and grunts and that cock splitting him in two in response. The thing was literally harder than a rock, crashing into him until his teeth were nearly knocked loose from his head.

When they came, Sasuke's chakra snapped from his flimsy control, spiraling out of him even as his seed arced high into the air in white ribbons. This forced Blondie into a Three-Tailed state, which effectively shielded him from the blast. Both chakras were so destructive, yet they canceled each other out so that when it finally dissipated, Blondie and Sasuke were shown to be unharmed at the bottom of another crater, trembling, and somewhat frightened. Blondie was quite naked, his clothes having been blown off of him and crisped to ash.

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke lay beneath Blondie, still filled with him. Blondie rolled weakly to his side, pulled out of Sasuke, and sat up. He looked around. Rasta-Sasuke managed to drag himself to a sitting position and look around as well, slumped against Blondie's arm. It hurt like fuck to sit just then, his ass flaring in agony in the aftermath of Blondie's lovemaking, but he remained in this position.

"When we get back home," Sasuke croaked hoarsely. "Let's keep our fucking away from the cottage."

Blondie looked at the dark head pillowed on his shoulder. He nodded in agreement. "That's a wise suggestion. Until you can control your jutsu." He looked around again and came to a decision. "I definitely prefer when I do the mounting."

* * *

Back at the original crater, mostly everyone was asleep. They'd have to get right back up again in less than two hours, but this hadn't stopped the students from dropping off almost immediately. Only the teachers remained awake. Kushina was recovered from her chakra drain that morning. She stood with her arms folded, absently listening to Jiraiya try to flirt with Yoruichi as she wondered what could be keeping her grandson from bringing Wyatt and Ryota back. She sincerely hoped they hadn't gone to Wyatt's world, not after the boy had said they'd be caught.

Two others were also awake amongst the sleeping bodies. Psycho-Naruto got up to leave the crater and answer a call of nature. Psycho-Sasuke, who'd been resting with his eyes closed, felt him leaving. He opened his eyes now and slipped out of the crater after him.

-oOo-

Psycho-Naruto ran until he reached a small copse of trees about a mile from the crater. The trees were thin, standing on a tiny patch of yellowish grass. The trees themselves wouldn't hide him from anyone, thin as they were, but it was better than just going out in the open, he decided. The alternative was to run the two hours to that huge forest.

He didn't actually feel a need to go to the bathroom, but he figured he better get it out of the way. There wouldn't be time to go during training later on. He swiftly undid his pants and stepped closer to one of the scrawny trees.

"You must have read my mind," a voice drawled behind him.

Psycho-Naruto whirled with a hiss, fumbling for the waist of his pants. "Sasuke, what are you- stop following me!"

Psycho-Sasuke let his eyes rest on the length of flesh that was being shoved out of his sight. He felt his mouth water.

They hadn't been together often, but he'd made sure to capitalize on each time by exploring as much of Naruto's body as he possibly could. One of the things he'd found most enjoyable was sucking that brown cock. Another flood of saliva filled his mouth as it was finally put away. He kept his eyes on the faint bulge it made in the orange pants, feeling his heart slowly pick up pace. He rested a hand on one of the thin, straight trees, blocking Naruto in.

Psycho-Naruto held his ground. Or tried to. Sasuke was staring at his crotch. Like, _really _boring holes through his pants, staring at his dick. A little smile curved up one side of Sasuke's mouth in a knowing smirk as Naruto's dick began responding. It made a growing lump in the front of his pants. "Damnit, Sasuke." He attempted to shove past Sasuke and go back to camp. "Just leave me alone."

Sasuke snagged Naruto's hand as he passed and held it. Not even very tightly either. He just held that hand, not looking at him, and waited.

Naruto stopped. His heart fluttered at the touch of Sasuke's hand. He closed his eyes, willing himself to pull away. _Just go, _he told himself. _Just go, run, keep running and don't look back. You CANNOT keep giving in to the bastard. It only makes him think he can keep doing this. Go! Now! _

He backed up a step.

It was all the encouragement Sasuke needed. He bustled Naruto back into the small stand of trees, dropped to his knees, and grabbed Naruto around the hips. He pressed his face into Naruto's crotch and inhaled deeply, one long indrawn breath of possession.

Naruto grimaced downward, staring at that spiky black head pressed against his sensitive prick. The contact made him ball his fists at his side, feeling excitement ripple through his belly. It was going to happen. Sasuke was going to do things to him again and he wanted it. He hated wanting it, hated wanting him, but he did. He was in love with his friend, who was his enemy, who did unspeakable things to him, which made him feel amazing, but which also made him feel ashamed. If Sasuke would just say that he cared about him, just a little, he wouldn't fight so hard to resist him. He'd give in, give him his kid, give him anything he wanted. If only Sasuke loved him. It would go a long way toward dispelling his sense of wrongness about his own feelings. Then it would be them against the world instead of just him, alone and confused and privately craving Sasuke's hated touch.

Sasuke yanked the pants down roughly, taking the swirl-patterned boxers with it. The erect cock sprang free, surrounded by downy blond hair, and offering a pearl of precum to Sasuke's eager lips.

He swallowed that salty cock whole, letting it slide into the back of his throat.

Naruto made a desperate sound of surprise and pleasure, stumbling backward until he was caught by one of the trees. The thin bole creaked and tilted at his weight, but held. He reached up and grabbed onto one of the skinny branches protruding from the tree above his head, his other hand burying itself in Sasuke's thick hair.

Sasuke let Naruto ooze down his throat for a few seconds, feeling the large vein on the underside of Naruto's cock beat sensuously against his tongue. It was like holding Naruto's soul in his mouth. He felt incredibly close to Naruto whenever he had his cock in his mouth, and it never failed to drive him wild with desire for him.

Desire. Something he'd never felt until coming to this world. Here, with his brother, and now his mother and father, all his capacity to hate and kill and hurt had been diverted to a new obsession: Naruto and the siren call of his body. Sex. Sex with Naruto, who always fought him and always succumbed, and always, _always _drove Sasuke to the brink of madness with his mewls of pleasure and gruff cries of delight. The times when Naruto screamed his name in release, his voice full of the love he refused to admit, Sasuke thought he would have to kill the blond for sure; it could not possibly be healthy or wise to have someone walking around whom he loved so strongly. God help him, it was even more than he loved his brother and parents.

This desire burst free now and Sasuke sucked with all the power at his command. He sucked Naruto's dick with such force that Naruto's hips came away from the protesting tree jerkily. His hand tightened in Sasuke's hair painfully, tugging until some came free of his scalp, but Sasuke didn't stop. Instead, he inhaled through his nose, filling his lungs, then let it out in a loud, bone-rattling growl on Naruto's cock.

The sensation had Naruto screaming so hard that it was soundless, a tiny shriek as his eyes screwed shut. He tore the branch free of the tree and nearly stabbed Sasuke's neck with it. His cum splashed the back of Sasuke's throat, riding up to come out of his nose before he could swallow it all. And still he sucked Naruto dry, intensifying his orgasm until Naruto slid down his tree on strengthless legs. Only then did Sasuke release Naruto's cock. He licked his lips greedily, wiped cum from his nose and sucked his fingers clean with loud smacking sounds. Naruto lay shaking in a heap. Sasuke pulled off the orange pants completely and bent to lick up stray drops of cum around Naruto's organ.

-oOo-

Sight returned first. A series of odd green shapes resolved themselves into leaves. Naruto realized he was looking up at the tops of the trees and then he felt Sasuke lapping at his cock, his balls, and the hair around them. He groaned weakly. Sasuke raised his head and met his eyes.

They stared at each other. With their silence, they said all they could never say with actual words. Naruto heard loud and clear how much Sasuke wanted him. He just wished Sasuke would vocalize it too. Confirm it.

Sasuke, for his part, heard Naruto's plea. He'd lost too much in his life to risk saying what Naruto wanted to hear, though. Everyone he'd loved had died and left him. He wouldn't lose Naruto too. Not now that he had him. He tried to show him in other ways how much he loved him.

Sasuke's hands were marvels that Naruto found captivating. They were capable of so much destruction, but when he touched Naruto with them, it was like…like…like something he couldn't describe. Holy almost. He touched Naruto now and Naruto sighed in peace.

Those hands rubbed under Naruto's jacket, over his seal, in small concentrated circles. They unzipped the jacket and spread it, lifted the shirt so that Sasuke could kiss the seal markings with his warm lips. He pulled the shirt back down and kissed Naruto's chest through the material, kissed his arms, his hands, his fingers. He then moved up and kissed Naruto's whiskers, and his chin. His neck, his shoulders through his jacket, his hair. He kissed a path down the bridge of Naruto's nose and finally hovered an inch over Naruto's handsome mouth. His gazed down into wide blue eyes, quietly waiting for nothing, for everything, feeling Naruto's body rise and fall with his breaths. _You have my heart, Naruto. You have it now, not my vengeance._

Naruto blinked, as if he'd heard this thought. The spell was broken and Sasuke lowered his head slowly to that mouth that was waiting for him.

It was love, the way Sasuke's tongue stroked Naruto's palate. Love, the way he suckled Naruto's own tongue tenderly. And it was love the way he slanted his head and deepened the kiss, gathering Naruto close and holding him pressed to his body. _Just tell me, _Naruto thought as his heart stuttered in his chest from the kiss. _Tell me you love me, Sasuke._

Sasuke's hand wandered down the back of Naruto's body until it cupped one hard ass cheek. He kneaded it in his palm, feeling Naruto take his sword from his back and lay it aside. He felt Naruto undoing his belt, opening his shirt to rest his hand on Sasuke's chest. The hand moved lower, unfastening Sasuke's pants. _Give me what I want, _these gestures said. Sasuke sucked Naruto's bottom lip, the familiar rush of excitement creeping back as Naruto held his cock, thumbed his slit.

Not yet. Soon. First, he left off kissing Naruto to see his face as he sucked two fingers deliberately. Naruto's breath caught, knowing what was coming. He spread his legs, still cuddled against Sasuke's side.

Sasuke moistened Naruto's entrance, wetting his fingers with his saliva several times until he could slip them inside. Naruto squeezed around the intrusion briefly, but he was relaxed. He breathed deeply, his eyes on Sasuke's face as Sasuke at first only fucked him with his fingers, moving them lazily in and out, looking down into Naruto's eyes the entire time. He was propped on an elbow to do this.

Naruto sighed, smiling at the pleasure radiating from Sasuke's ministrations. He closed his eyes as he turned his face into Sasuke's chest. He murmured wordlessly, his body tensing periodically as the pleasure rose and fell in little waves in him.

Sasuke kept that up for a long while, pausing sometimes to lean down and kiss Naruto. Naruto would twine his hands in Sasuke's hair, holding his head for the kiss, whimpering through it whenever Sasuke moved his fingers in him again

Naruto was almost falling asleep when Sasuke tilted his wrist, angling his fingers until he found that place in Naruto that was the seat of his greatest pleasure. He stroked it briskly, without warning, working Naruto to a state of quaking agitation. The blue eyes flew open as Naruto shouted in swiftly climbing torrents of bliss bordering on pain. "Sasuke!"

He continued to watch Naruto's face, monitoring the shockwaves of pleasure that broke across those features. He worked his hand vigorously; the more Naruto's control slipped the harder he frigged his ass. Sasuke was sweating, panting in excitement as he shifted to give himself leverage. "Hold your legs up," he ordered Naruto.

Naruto was too enslaved by then to do anything other than snatch his legs up under the knees and hold himself spread open for Sasuke's assault. He rambled hysterical, incoherent words, his back arching off the ground as his climax built like a tsunami. Sasuke watched him closely, waiting for just the right moment to replace his hand with his painfully engorged cock.

Bright lights were going off behind Naruto's lids. His breath hitched and caught as he prepared to scream. He was hurtling toward the precipice of his release, Sasuke pumping his prostate in bruising strokes. Just as he was coming, Sasuke pulled his hand out and entered him hard, stabbing at his sensitive prostate so that Naruto's cum flew out in a shower that fell on them both.

Sasuke held Naruto's legs to prevent himself from getting kicked in the face; the blond was mindless, undulating and yelling wildly as Sasuke fucked him quickly. He wailed Sasuke's name over and over, chanting it as he kept coming, and coming, and coming. All for Sasuke.

Sasuke whispered a few words during his own heart-stopping orgasm a few strokes later, something Naruto would have dearly liked to hear. Naruto was too busy yowling in pleasure to hear anything, though, which was fine with Sasuke.

* * *

The end of their first month on this world was coming up. The teachers had been with them for a few days now, Kushina more than a week. Everyone had settled into the routine. Each group was responsible for hunting on days that had been assigned to them. Adjustments had been made in the routine so that during the last session Sasuke also trained with Raiden, strengthening his transformed state. Rasta-Sasuke trained with Aimi and Lee during the 10am-1pm session, gaining mastery of the Gates. Kushina had expressed a desire for Kage-Gaara to act as councilor to anyone who needed it. She didn't want anyone distracted with personal issues they may or may not be expressing. Kage-Gaara agreed to allow one person to come to him during lunch each day.

After the day Rasta-Sasuke and Blondie had walked into camp naked, it was decided that clothes needed to be procured. For all of them, since any spare clothing they'd brought had gone the way of the plateau. Through the arduous training everyone went through, their existing clothing became tattered. It wasn't long before they were all wearing animal hides. The men and boys went about in breeches made of the tanned leather, torsos bare. The women fashioned tops and knee-length pants. Lee managed to train Yo-chan to only eliminate when placed over a hollowed-out gourd he'd fashioned for this purpose since diapers were a luxury they no longer had. He likewise made a small tunic for the baby to wear. Yo-chan toddled after Lee everywhere, attached to the Jounin by a length of rawhide Lee had tied to his waist and Yo-chan's.

By the time the first month was over, training was well under way and progress was being made by everyone.


	44. Chapter 44

A/N: I wonder if any of you have been checking your inboxes for this. Doubtful, but as it's 3 am here I'm well aware that I nearly missed the deadline. Sorry.

A few things: Regarding last chap's note, the couples who will be pregnant shouldn't be that hard to guess. I only have so many yaoi couples, after all. I've already hinted strongly at one earlier in this tale, but I won't be giving out hints. Some of you have guessed some, but not all the couples. I won't say who got which ones right and which ones wrong. I feel like that's giving away the answer. I don't expect anyone to take this seriously...it was just some added fun, but I will honor my promise to deliver a giftfic to the winner. Speaking of which, there's a little note about giftfics on my profile.

*Standard line about typos applies. Especially since I'm cross-eyed with fatigue just now.

* * *

Chapter 44

Month Two

"No, Kono-chan, _please. _Just let me sleep." Hiroko turned over, giving Konohamaru her back as she indeed appeared fall into a deep sleep.

Konohamaru sat on his haunches and ran a hand through his hair. Minato-sensei had been right in predicting they'd all learn to tell time with no instruments. He put the time now at 2:30 am, halfway through their short sleep period. Like a lot of other couples, he and Hiroko found some place away from the crater to bed down, so that they could have sex. Sex cut into their precious rest time, but no sex at all was intolerable. After twenty heinous hours of hellish training, they needed something to relieve the tension.

"Why agree to come with me out here tonight if you weren't going to put out," Konohamaru complained to her smooth shoulder. "I need it, 'Ko."

Hiroko roused herself grudgingly to sit up. "But I'm exhausted. And I told you, it hurts."

"We're all hurting," Konohamaru cooed. He scooted closer to her, her scantily clad voluptuousness positively begging to be touched. He hefted one of her heavy breasts in his palm, bent to kiss it, then sucked the berry-like nipple into the back of his throat.

"Ouch!" she shrieked. She slapped at his head. "That hurts! I told you they're tender, Konohamaru." She cupped her abused nipple protectively as she pushed him away. He gaped at her.

"Baby, everything I do hurts you now. What am I supposed to do?" He tried even now to kiss her. She turned her head away fretfully. Her hair made a pale curtain that shielded her face completely. Her voice drifted out, small and miserable, from behind this curtain.

"You're suppose to let me sleep."

Konohamaru touched her bare shoulder, marveling at the smooth texture. How was she able to remain so soft and alluring out on this world? He remembered the many lotions and hair products she had at her home in the Uchiha compound. She had none of those things here, yet she only grew more beautiful to him with each passing week. "'Ko, darling. I have needs too. I'll be gentle, okay?"

Hiroko sniffed, but turned into his solid chest. She did want to sleep, and sex was uncomfortable these days, but it felt good too. And she liked succumbing to him at the end of a long day of her grandmother's strict training. She could stop being a ruthless killer, stop competing with Aimi, her father, and Psycho-Sasuke as the Genjutsu expert, and just be soft and helpless and loved in her husband's arms.

The air was starting to turn cold and his kisses, his mouth, warmed her up wonderfully. His lips were soft and firm and tasted faintly salty from his sweat. His tongue filled her mouth with his masculine taste and she moaned. Now the slightest caress of his callused hands sent her sore nipples tightening. It made the flesh between her legs swell, pouty and sensitive and leaking her budding arousal. Konohamaru's hand dipped low, sampled her core with two rough fingers, and dragged the moisture upward, rasping past her clit to leave a trail up toward her navel.

That brief slide over her clit had her coming sharply, quickly. She came halfway, her mouth gasping against his lips. Still shivering, she was lowered to the grass, spread, and eaten as if she were a feast.

His rough tongue abraded her quivering folds and sent her overly sensitive body bowing upward as she came again. He held her open, preventing her legs from closing as he continued to suck her clean, lapping up every spurt of juicy cream she eked out. Her smell was all over his face as he hummed and murmured in total enjoyment. Only when she lay weak and limp did he cover her with his body and sheathe himself to the hilt in a single, unstoppable thrust.

She mewled at the depth, writhing at the force he used. "Kono-chan…"

"I'm almost there, Sweetness," he groaned. He glided deliciously in the hot fist of her heat, the way her inner walls massaged his length nearly undoing him before he was ready. She came again, and the way her muscles clamped down on him, how they rippled then locked around his cock so that he could barely move, drove him to empty richly inside her, sighing her name weakly. He collapsed on her pillowy breasts. "Jesus, woman."

She was already asleep, burrowing into his side as he slipped out of her. He rested for a few moments. His body was exhausted beyond the mere definition of the word to describe. And now that he was relaxed enough, he could finally just sleep. He'd get less than an hour before they had to be up and at training again, but it was better than nothing.

He scooped up his softly snoring wife and used the last of his energy to speed him towards the crater.

* * *

At 4 am, the teachers could be heard rousing comatose students with curses, boisterous admonishments not to be sloths, or quiet commands to wake themselves and be ready. Kushina was one of the ones cursing, the other being Mikoto.

As they lived and breathed, the students all hated those two women with a passion that kept them nice and toasty on this chilly morning. It was true that the Uchiha loved Mikoto, and the Narutos loved Kushina (Kage-Naruto was still on the fence regarding the woman), but there were times, like now, when that love switched smoothly to hate.

Rasta-Sasuke was the only one who hated them both equally, all of the time, and without cessation. As such, he made sure to snap himself awake the second he heard the sound of their voices. He didn't want to give either of them, especially Mikoto, a reason to tell him twice. He didn't want them to speak to him more than necessary. He was one of the only ones standing straight and alert as the teachers walked or stalked (as in the case of the Bitch Duo) among the protesting students. Rasta-Sasuke recalled a book he'd read as a child, about some stupid cat that had invaded the home of two kids. There had been two creatures without names called Thing One and Thing Two. He thought of the Bitch Duo as Bitch One and Bitch Two separately.

Mikoto eyed Rasta-Sasuke's stony stare as she swept past. She understood what he'd gone through, and so did not try to speak to him or treat him any differently. She empathized with him, but he was so negative to everyone now that it was easy to ignore him for the most part.

-oOo-

All of them were awake and standing now, separating into their initial groups for the first session. The only one still sleeping was Hiroko. The students and teachers regarded her where she lay curled on her side, wrapped in her hair.

Konohamaru bent to her in embarrassment. He called her, shook her, all to no effect. She only murmured and pushed his hands away. Konohamaru stood uncertainly and shrugged his shoulders at Mikoto.

Mikoto was partial to this granddaughter. Such promise. She and Aimi were the true legacy of the clan. Her sons had done well in rebuilding it. She bent and snatched a fistful of Hiroko's sunny locks, opting not to put her in a Genjutsu that would leave her a vegetable for the rest of her life. "Rise and shine, girl." She slapped lightly at Hiroko's sleep-reddened face. "Time to begin."

Hiroko woke with difficulty, swaying where she sat as if she were drugged. The teachers spoke with each other, going over that day's lessons, as they waited for her to get up completely. Some of the students were falling back asleep where they stood.

When Hiroko abruptly coughed and brought up a small amount of yellowish fluid from her mouth, everyone stilled. The teachers looked at her. Konohamaru bent over her in concern. Hiroko looked up at him with heavy-lidded eyes. "I don't feel well."

Kushina swore violently. Mikoto's eyes went dangerously red. Demon, Sasuke, Fem-Naruto and Kaito all exchanged knowing looks.

"How could you be so stupid?" Kushina barked at Hiroko.

"How dismally careless of you," Mikoto chimed in. She and Kushina took turns berating a now weeping Hiroko as they advanced on her.

"We are at war-"

"You lack the sense of a gnat-"

"Why do you think the cabins were done away with?"

"Of all the-"

"Back off," Konohamaru yelled at the two older women. "She's sick, how is that a crime? My god, show a little sympathy!"

Both women looked him up and down.

"As if you're blameless in this," Mikoto sneered. "You should have showed better judgment."

Kushina contributed her thoughts. "Instead of thinking with your loins."

"_What _are you _talking _about?" Konohamaru nearly screamed. "She's _sick_ I told you. She hasn't been feeling well the past couple of weeks. You guys are working her too hard, she's not built to take this kind of treatment. She needs a break."

"She's Uchiha," Mikoto said with bland confidence. "She'll take whatever is given to her without complaint. Asami?"

Asami walked over to her sister, thoroughly disgusted with her colossal stupidity. The crater was silent as she held the first two fingers of her right hand on Hiroko's abdomen, but it was just a formality. She already knew what she'd find.

"Preggers," Asami announced. The word hung in the air.

Konohamaru shook his head suddenly. "What? Pregnant? But…that…_huh?_"

Asami ignored him to fold her arms and glare down at her sister. "Why aren't you on birth control?"

Hiroko groaned at learning of her condition, just before she leaned forward and vomited another mouthful of yellow fluid between her legs. "I…I didn't know…"

"That's because you're an idiot," Akane walked up and snapped. "I'm on it. Akiko's on it. I bet every woman here is practicing birth control of some sort. What, did you think a virile stud like your husband would fail to get you preggy with the sex you two have been having? God, 'Ko. Just _god." _She turned away with a sniff and a flip of her long brown ponytail.

Fugaku, who was a largely silent man, came and bent to his granddaughter. He wasn't emotional or friendly or approachable in the slightest, but if she was carrying the next generation of Uchiha…"You have to be sent back to Konoha," he said quietly. "You can't remain here and train. You'll endanger the child."

Itachi was suddenly at Hiroko's other side, having overcome his shock at learning his child was breeding right beneath his nose. "Hiroko, daughter, he's right. You can't continue to put the child in danger." He laid a protective palm on her stomach, already wondering if he would get a grandson at last. An Uchiha from this particular daughter would no doubt be a wielder of Sharingan and Genjutsu to rival its mother. His eyes were shining at the prospect.

"She could always abort it," Kushina stated. "She's a good fighter, we need her."

"There will be no Uchiha aborted while I breathe," Itachi said with quiet menace.

"I'm sure Konohamaru will be able to put another in her," Jiraiya offered. "She looks ripe and fertile."

Asami tilted her head, considering. "I don't have the supplies to help her should it go badly, but I've aborted a few fetuses. She's barely six weeks along. I'm sure I could pull it off without a hitch."

Itachi moved to stand in front of Hiroko. "The person who tries will be going through me."

Asami backed away immediately. Mikoto eyed her son, trying to find an argument that would sway him. The clan was important, true, but so was the outcome of the coming battle. And Hiroko would undeniably be one who could swing the outcome in their favor. "Itachi-"

Konohamaru stepped in at this point. His wife looked scared and confused, and he himself felt that this should be a private moment. He lifted and carried her off some distance, which effectively ended the argument.

Jiraiya clapped his hands briskly. "The day's a-wasting!"

-oOo-

"Sage Mode," Minato commanded. When his sons had complied, he pointed toward the sky. "Endurance training today. Release Rasenshuriken, in a controlled burst as we learned, as many times as you are able. You can stop when you've lost consciousness."

"Even me?" Raiden piped up.

"You included. And don't hold back," Minato reminded the boy.

They were using a mountain range Raiden had folded them to, hundreds of miles away from the crater that had become home to them. Minato had analyzed Rasenshuriken, looking for flaws and ways to improve it, before showing his sons and Raiden how it could be controlled instead of simply letting the jutsu expand on its own. He himself had needed ten days to learn how to do it. The drain on chakra was enormous, not to mention how it damaged the user. He knew he had neither the chakra nor the healing capabilities to use the jutsu effectively; he'd only learned it to be better able to instruct his pupils.

They would fire them into the sky, where they should do relatively little harm. "Begin," he shouted.

He watched them, frowning at Psycho-Naruto's continued reliance on clones to help him. Nor could the boy perform Rasengan on his own, not yet. But he was getting there. The limit for the Narutos seemed to be between five and nine blasts. When pushed to ten, they either couldn't complete it or dropped from chakra drain. Psycho-Naruto managed four. Five was his ultimate limit. Kit was still working on the first stage of Rasengan.

Raiden had come back from his mission to retrieve magic supplies with a serious boost in his power. He fired off one Rasenshuriken after another, shooting them into the sky with the regularity of a metronome. When he'd done fifty, Minato stopped him. "How do you feel?"

"Fine." Raiden had the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed look of someone teeming with power and eager to use it. "Could do another fifty easy."

Minato shook his head before he beckoned him closer, choosing to focus on him while the Narutos recovered. Kushina would be along when this first session was halfway done to teach them Fuuinjutsu. "You're still using wind chakra, correct? See if you can use one of your other types to create a different version of Rasenshuriken."

"What, you mean like earth or water?" Raiden asked. He was intrigued.

"I was thinking more like fire," Minato said thoughtfully. "Can you?"

Raiden had always had mastery of his chakra types. Using one in a new way in an A-rank jutsu posed no difficulty. It required a bit of concentration, was all. The thing he shot into the air sent a wave of scorching heat washing over them. The fiery disc spun off into the atmosphere, wide and crackling.

Minato had shielded his face along with the Narutos. He squinted up at where the jutsu dissipated. "Well done. Now, take wind and fire together and combine them with the Rasenshiriken."

Raiden's mouth dropped open. The Narutos who'd been close to passing out suddenly scrambled to their feet, eyes wide. Raiden stammered, "B-but Gramps…wind will amp the fire up to-"

"I know, Raiden." Minato smiled down at him. "Do it."

Raiden trusted his grandfather. He held his palms a few inches apart. It took him awhile to line up the procedure in his mind. It was ridiculously complicated to get Rasenshuriken going, then insert two different chakra types into it and have the fire, wind and rotation of Rasengan going all at once. He needed nearly ten minutes to accomplish it, but it would have been flat impossible for anyone else, period. The shrieking tempest of fire and wind glowed bright yellow in Raiden's hands, blistering his skin. The heat it put out had Minato and the Narutos backing away, and Raiden's clothes beginning to ignite in a spontaneous combustion. He hastilly shielded himself with his chakra.

"Fire it into the air!" Minato called desperately. Raiden did.

Once released, it was out of Raiden's control. It bloomed in the air, its heat felt far, far away, but by then Minato and his students were no longer around. "Run!" he'd bellowed when Raiden had released it. Run they had, pelting madly in any direction to escape that furnace. Why, it was even worse than Rasta-Sasuke's jutsu.

Later, when they'd regrouped and were together again, Demon went to his son and cupped the side of his neck, looking into his eyes. "My boy," he said wonderingly. "My boy." It was all he was capable of.

Minato was able to say a bit more. "Did it tax you, Raiden?"

"It was tricky to get started, and it does hurt to construct it," Raiden answered as he looked at his healed hands. He raised his head and fixed his grandfather with a brilliant smile. "But nah, it didn't tax me too much."

"How many could you do, if given the chance?"

"I don't know…maybe a dozen?"

"Tomorrow we will locate someplace with ice and test that theory."

Raiden did a little hop. "It was wicked cool, neh?"

"I'll say," Minato agreed. "You will call that move Kagutsuchi, after the god of fire." He then turned to the rest of his students. "Attend me," he said. His sons and grandson gathered round. "I will teach you the Hiraishin no Jutsu now. You've all progressed enough, I think, to be able to handle it." He hesitated. "I've never taught it to another, and I'm not sure you can learn, but as I don't think I will be present for the battle itself, you must all try to master it. Understood?"

The Narutos gave tight nods, eyes on their father.

* * *

Mikoto stood back with the rest, squinting against the abrasive atmosphere of two released Susanoo, belonging to Itachi and Psycho-Sasuke. She watched closely as they battled, knowing the physical cost to each. Psycho-Sasuke was bearing up well with his Eternal Mangekyo, but her son, Itachi, was laboring. She knew his eyes were feeling the strain, that his sight was weaker since beginning training on this world. Soon she would ask Wyatt if he could heal him, but not yet.

She turned her gaze toward where Rasta-Sasuke was struggling to learn simple Genjutsu from Kenta. Kenta was one of the few who tolerated Rasta-Sasuke's withering hatred toward everyone.

The boy was an embarrassment to the name Uchiha. He couldn't do Genjutsu, fought with crude and blunt Taijutsu, and did not seem able to learn how to improve. He did as bidden by her, followed her instructions with his cold hatred glaring bitterly from his black eyes, but he was little better than when he'd started. The only improvement he could boast was that to his original jutsu.

He had no name for it, but now he could aim and fire it at will. He could shape it so that it took the form of a sphere, or a bar of energy, depending on his target. He could and did get through seven small manifestations of the jutsu, and could do four of the large, crater-forming versions. So far this was his daily limit.

Itachi had instructed him on how to call forth Mangekyo, a talk delivered to Rasta-Sasuke's stiff profile. Anytime Itachi spoke to him he acted as if no one was there, but Itachi kept at it, kept trying to show the boy that he wasn't the brother he'd killed.

Rasta-Sasuke had earned the reciprocating hatred of nearly everyone in the crater. After Kage-Gaara and Itachi had performed their final betrayal, he'd retreated further within himself, unable to speak to anyone without insulting them, if he spoke to anyone at all. The only one he was happy with was Blondie. Chibi-Gaara and 'Bee, as his friends, were treated slightly better, but the truth was that they were more Blondie's friends than his. Hiroko and Queenie seemed to be the only other exceptions, the ones who bothered to see him as someone to be pitied. Rasta-Sasuke ignored them.

Itachi went out of his way to seek him out, to speak to him. He talked about training, about himself…anything, really. He refused to give up, determined to earn Rasta-Sasuke's forgiveness. The boy's threats to kill him where he stood were always ignored. Itachi was not someone easily deterred when he set his mind to something, and he'd set his mind on getting Rasta-Sasuke to see him as someone other than a murdering, traitorous bastard.

Mikoto heard Kenta chide Rasta-Sasuke for forgetting a technique he'd learned only the day before. "Focus," Kenta said. "Try again." Mikoto turned to the one real disappointment in her students.

Queenie. Though she looked hard, she could find no trace of Uchiha in him whatsoever, either in his behavior or his personality. He held only a vague resemblance to her son and the other Sasukes. He looked more like Akiko, with his feminine face, and glossy hair. He was worse even than Rasta-Sasuke. No Sharingan, no strength, no will to fight or ability to learn jutsu. He was hopeless. He had not the chakra of an ant. The only thing he had was a ready smile and a wealth of gossip about various members of the crater.

* * *

Wyatt fought off Yumichika, Hitsugaya, and Ikkaku all at once, Excalibur whirling in his hands as he executed intricate footwork to meet them all. The four blades clashed and clanged as sweat flew. His hair was tied back at his neck, his upper body bronzed and glistening in the sun.

The trick was knowing each one's fighting style, Wyatt thought briefly as he monitored the way Mr. Byakuya and Mr. Urahara were sneaking up on him from opposite directions. Mr. Yumichika was a sly fighter. He waited for openings or unprotected spots in Wyatt's defenses before he attacked. Mr. Hitsugaya was more of a technical fighter, relying on precision and moves calculated to undermine Wyatt's strategy. Ikkaku was just a beast with his weapon. The power he used on Wyatt was nothing short of frightening.

But Wyatt was equal to him. He was equal to all of them.

Before he'd gone back to his world, he'd thought that the owner of Excalibur would be made into the Ultimate Power by having the sword. Hearing the Elders say that only the Ultimate Power could wield Excalibur had set him straight. He didn't need the sword to make him powerful. He was already powerful, so powerful that the Elders had tried to kill him. He seemed to recall from his youth that others had tried to kill him for the same reason. All this had gone a long way toward instilling him with confidence. He'd come back to this world with renewed resolve. The Shinigami had been quite pleased and impressed with the swiftness of his improvement. Wyatt was coming into his own very quickly. He was being shaped into a combat machine. Lee-sensei would have been proud.

Urahara and Byakuya launched Kido spells simultaneously at Wyatt. Wyatt paused for a fraction of a second in his fight to shout a single counter-spell that deflected them both. He cast binding spells, of his own devising, at both men. He then spun around in time to block Ikkaku's downward blow and kick out at Hitsugaya. Yumichika ran at his back, spotting an opening.

Yoruichi, Kenpachi and Tessai watched from removed positions. Yoruichi smiled a particular smile. "Soon he'll be ready to take us on instead. I can't wait."

"Neither can I," Kenpachi grinned. "He'll never be Shinigami, but he is one crazy-talented kid."

Tessai personally couldn't wait to test his own formidable skill with Kido against the powerful magic Wyatt used. He sat and watched patiently. He adjusted his glasses as Hitsugaya-Taicho could be heard telling Wyatt that he was ready to take on his and Ikkaku's Bankai.

* * *

Kage-Gaara watched Psycho-Naruto walk off to get what rest he could. Psycho-Sasuke passed him on his way to Kage-Gaara and caught the blond's fingers in his own. He leaned in to whisper to Psycho-Naruto and Kage-Gaara saw how he flinched.

Psycho-Sasuke sat down in front of the Kazekage and proceeded to stare at him with a look of calm, unmoving watchfulness. He spoke before Kage-Gaara could.

"I'm only here because my mother made me. I don't have a problem. I'd like to get some rest." This last was voiced as a question.

Having spent the first of the two hours allotted to rest and food with Psycho-Naruto, Kage-Gaara begged to differ. "It seems there's a conflict between you and Psycho-Naruto. What are your thoughts on it?"

"What conflict? I see nothing wrong with either of us."

_Which is why you're here, _Kage-Gaara thought. "To put it bluntly, he feels you are using him. That you don't care about him, or if you do, you refuse to acknowledge it, and thereby him. You make demands of him physically that he doesn't like and is afraid to deny you for fear you'd fly into a rage and harm someone."

Psycho-Sasuke spoke with his almost-bored indifference. It was his trademark way of speaking unless speaking to Itachi or his parents. "He likes what we do."

Kage-Gaara noted the lack of a denial regarding hurting people if Naruto refused him. "He's young. His body enjoys these first tastes of physical love. And his emotions are tangled with yours, but he is quite clear on what he does and doesn't want. Why do you force him?"

"He's mine."

"No, he isn't," Kage-Gaara frowned. _No denial on forcing him either_. "What makes you think you have a right to claim him? If you can't tell him of your feelings, you have no right to his affections, favors, or anything else."

"He loves me. He's agreed to give me a child. He wants me, or he wouldn't have chased me so hard. He'll never leave me. He's mine," Psycho-Sasuke said again.

"I'd heard he'd changed his mind about the child."

"He'll give it to me."

"Don't you want to consider his feelings in this?"

"He's chased me for years. Now he finally has me, I think I know very well what his feelings are."

Kage-Gaara felt like he was talking to a wall. No matter what proof or evidence he could provide to the contrary, Psycho-Sasuke would have a counter argument for it, he was sure of it. Worst of all, there would be no breakthrough. Psycho-Sasuke had said much with his few words, more than he realized, but it was the session with Psycho-Naruto that provided him with his diagnosis now: Psycho-Sasuke really was unbalanced. Finding his brother here, only to learn it wasn't him, then having his parents restored, had all combined to drive the boy over the edge of reason and reality and into madness. It was clear in the way he spoke of his family as if they were really the ones he'd lost. It was also clear by how he continuously tuned out Psycho-Naruto's protests until all the boy could do was give in to him. That Naruto loved him was true, yes, and he did come to surrender to Psycho-Sasuke's touch, but it was little better than rape, when you got down to it. And the boy sat here calmly rationalizing his actions.

How far into madness Psycho-Sasuke was, Kage-Gaara was unable to determine. If he had more time to speak with the kid, perhaps he could find out. He would venture to say that he wasn't very far gone. Just enough off-kilter to be a concern, not enough to be a real problem to anyone yet. As long as Psycho-Naruto stayed with him, that is. It was a regrettable situation, but one he was unable to rectify given the limited time he had.

* * *

Sasuke trained a few hours with Raiden that evening. He flew far and wide with him, while getting the boy to practice using jutsu while doing so. Daily, the boy's wings grew in strength, able to carry him for longer periods without rest. After, Sasuke dropped Raiden off with Aimi and Kushina, and went to go practice with the Shinigami.

-oOo-

Kushina had Raiden and Aimi sit cross-legged before her. She indicated a small pile of stones in front of each of them. "Let us work today on your folding ability. Raiden," she chose first. "Fold one of these stones to your lap."

Raiden held out his hand, made a 'come here' gesture with his fingers, and the stone vanished from its pile to reappear in his lap.

Kushina nodded. "Now do it without the hand movement."

"What?" Raiden said in surprise. "I…can't."

"Which is why you will learn. Do it. Ami, I hope you're watching since you're next."

"But why?" Raiden's face showed honest surprise at spending time learning such a seemingly unimportant thing.

This earned him a stinging slap to his cheek. When he'd flexed his jaw and turned back to his grandmother, she gave her reasons. "Because no matter how powerful you are, Raiden, there will always be someone stronger. Because holding out your hand tells an enemy what you plan to do. Because any advantage you can gain is one worth learning. Do it again, as I instructed."

Raiden dropped his eyes to the pile of stones. With growing horror and wonder he realized that even focusing, he could not do it. "I can't."

"You can," Kushina countered. While Raiden tried to prove her right, she turned to Aimi and gave her the same command.

All in all, it was near midnight before Raiden or Aimi could fold a rock without hand gestures. She had them fold rocks to and away from themselves several times before she considered herself satisfied.

"Can we have an early break today?" Aimi whimpered.

Kushina loved her granddaughter quite a lot, but she could not stand the child's meekness and reticence when training or fighting. She knew that this particular child could be fearsome, deadly and more ruthless than Akatsuki, but she was so insufferably _hesitant_ when pushed. Worse, she'd caught the girl trying to sneak off to hang around Kenpachi, for which Kushina and Mikoto both had been forced to give an object lesson in obedience. She fixed Aimi now with gimlet eyes. "For that you will train an extra hour. You've mastered folding without signaling the enemy of your intent. Good. Now do it with your eyes closed."

Raiden and Aimi groaned.

* * *

Konohamaru and Hiroko spoke seriously of abortion for hours, but Hiroko hugged her midsection and hung her head. "I know everyone needs me and that I should remain here, but I can't." She sobbed softly, as she had been doing for most of the day. Everyone was returning to the crater now for their four hours of sleep. They settled down around them as the teachers stood and waited to hear what Hiroko and Konohamaru had decided. "I can't kill our baby," Hiroko said again. "Please don't make me."

"Shhh." Konohamaru drew her head to his shoulder, relieved. He had to swallow the lump in his throat, though. Lord, he would miss her. "I'm behind you all the way, 'Ko. Take care of our son, neh? I love you."

Hiroko jerked her head up. "They won't make me leave now, will they? Oh, not yet!"

But that was indeed the case. The teachers walked forward with Itachi and Aimi. Hiroko was to be sent back immediately. "And send Queenie back to his world," Mikoto added. "He's useless and we don't have time for useless people."

Kit, who'd been rolling over to go to sleep, sat up quickly. He looked at where Queenie sat next to him, equally stunned. "We're going back?" Kit asked. He jumped to his feet.

"Just Queenie," Mikoto stated. "Minato says you're weak, but still useful enough to stay."

"Kit," Queenie moaned, a hand going to his mouth.

"I'm going with him," Kit said. It was noted that he held his gun in a threatening manner.

"Aimi," Kushina replied.

Displaying her mastery of her new lesson, Aimi folded the Super Shorty out of Kit's grasp with no telltale sign. Kit then grabbed Queenie, but he too was folded to Aimi's side and held there telepathically. Queenie screamed shrilly. "_Kit!_"

Itachi extracted Hiroko from Konohamaru's arms as gently as he could. She clung to her husband and he to her. Itachi was forced to pry her fingers from his as he walked her to where Aimi stood placidly and Queenie stood shrieking. Demon and Sasuke held a snarling, swearing Kit back by his arms.

"Go," Kushina bade Aimi.

"Not just yet." Kage-Gaara stepped up with Yanagi and left her with Aimi to take Itachi aside. There were a few gasps as the meaning for this settled on a few people.

Itachi himself held his man's gaze as he felt his insides turn over. "So soon?" he asked quietly.

"I said I'd come for a few weeks. My village needs me, Itachi."

Words failed them. Conscious of the eyes on them, and of Itachi's preference for privacy, Kage-Gaara nonetheless pulled him into a hard embrace. Queenie's screams, Kit's curses and Hiroko's crying punctuated the moment with grief. That, and how Itachi clung to him. Kage-Gaara glanced in Rasta-Sasuke's direction, found the teen ensconced in Blondie's arms, and murmured, "Don't give up on him." Then he was walking toward Aimi.

-oOo-

A Boom of lavender chakra and they were gone. Kit sagged to his knees. Konohamaru watched the place where his wife had stood with blurry eyes, but he didn't cry. His muscles were tight with the effort, but he kept his head. Itachi only swallowed.

Minato caught the stares leveled at himself and his fellow teachers, saw the pitying looks given to Kit, Itachi and Konohamaru. "We are at war, as it was mentioned earlier today." That was the only explanation he gave. He turned to find some corner of the crater to share with his wife.

The night ended on that somber note.


	45. Chapter 45

A/N: I think I made it before midnight. Honestly, this happens every Friday. I keep telling myself all week to get the chapter done so I don't need to pull these all-nighters, and still it comes down to this -.- Wll this time I had an excuse. Was sick as a dog this week as well as working overtime.

* You know the drill about typos.

* * *

Chapter 45

Month Three

Progress was steady. Slowly but surely a change came over everyone, teachers and students alike. The urge to talk and be social, or reminisce about life prior to training, was gone. Sex breaks away from the crater and affectionate interactions between couples all dwindled until they were nonexistent. These urges and desires were swallowed by fatigue and the need to be ever harder and more ruthless as the training demanded. Hiroko and Konohamaru's mistake also played a part in their new attitudes. It served to remind everyone that they weren't home in their villages but shortly to face a fight the likes of which they'd never encountered. They couldn't let their guard down at any time, ever. Hiroko had and look where it had gotten her.

All play time was over.

The Sasukes with swords were currently going against the Shinigami. Kenpachi, with his shark-like grin, bombarded Stud-Sasuke with his Zanpaktuo, driving him backward. "Weak still, pretty boy? Huh? There! There, there, there!" He punctuated each word with a stroke of his blade.

Stud-Sasuke pivoted at the last blow and sliced upward, nearly severing Kenpachi's arm at the shoulder. Blood flew in a wide spray that had the captain laughing wildly.

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke could now do his jutsu from both hands. He'd finally settled on the name Fiery Unbeatable Coolest Kickass Embodiment of Rage, or F.U.C.K.E.R for short. He'd mastered shape manipulation of Fucker, as well as nature manipulation so that he could have the technique laced with more lightning or fire, depending on what result he wanted. He no longer needed Mangekyo to access Fucker. He only needed it if he was going to the higher stages of the move. For minor executions, Sharingan sufficed.

Just now he was going up against Tessai and his Kido. It was a draw. They could each block what the other did, but Tessai was definitely more versatile. Rasta-Sasuke saw him bend and touch the ground with the fingertips of one hand. A moment later, a cage of interlocking steel bars sprang up around Rasta-Sasuke that Fucker was powerless to break him out of. He rolled his shoulders, accessing his Mangekyo. Lee's lessons with the gates were dead useful. He opened five now and let fly again, and this time the cage melted, but Tessai was coming at him with a glowing white sphere of some thing. "Well alrighty then," Rasta-Sasuke widened his stance. "Let's do this shit!"

-oOo-

Kushina sat with Aimi while Raiden was working on the assignment she'd set him.

"You can not do Ninjutsu," she was saying to her attentive granddaughter. "But you can do anything else. Look at those mountains there."

Aimi looked where Kushina pointed. The mountain range was leagues and leagues away, misty with distance. There were many such mountain ranges on this world. This one was snow-capped and one of the larger ones. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to make them move. Create an army of mountain men, controlled by you."

Aimi looked from her grandmother to the mountains. She smiled. "This will be fun."

Raiden was sweating, his head throbbing with a sick headache…but the item he'd been trying to retrieve materialized at his feet. Kushina came to inspect the photo of her son, Sasuke, and their two children. "Excellent," she intoned. "Now that you can Pull items from another world, we will work on you Booming things off-planet. Your sister is ahead of you there. You have some catching up to do."

-oOo-

And on the training went, the third month nearing its end.

The children improved as well. Emiko and Etsuko were too young to use Genjutsu and could perform only the basic Ninjutsu, but they did learn to release impressive fireballs. Fugaku saw to that. For the rest, he concentrated on the girls' phenomenal strength and speed. They learned some Taijutsu, which they were superb at, and some weaponry.

Jinta and Ururu were sometimes joined by Urahara, who was better able to train their abilities. Sometimes Ururu was pit against Aimi, both trading blows that were nearly as loud as thunder, their strength making onlookers wince. Sometimes Jinta was paired with Raiden or Wyatt, with interesting results.

The triplets were put through a day of near torturous stress and fear by Itachi himself, so that he might see if they had Sharingan. Masaru manifested his, as did Kei. Masaru was currently away from camp, along with the twins and Jinta. He was on a mission to locate and control the nest of large insects he and his family had encountered on their arrival to this world.

Ryota apparently had no Sharingan, but then he had so much else. He'd mastered control of the elements around him, conjuring, twisting realities and perceptions and a host of other things, all using magic. Now he was working on one thing only. How to separate Akatsuki from their Bijuu. For that he needed to know how a Bijuu was sealed. In that, Kushina and Minato proved to be knowledgeable. Ryota listened in on a few of the Fuuinjutsu lessons Raiden had with Kushina, and was able to come up with alternate magical ways of sealing. All he needed to do now was find a way to reverse the process. He couldn't exactly practice on any of the Jinchuuriki present, so it was difficult, to say the least. He kept running into the problem of the sheer power he would need to accomplish the task. He could perhaps do Akatsuki one by one, if he ever devised a proper spell, but that wouldn't work; he needed to unseal their Bijuu all at once, in one strike, or one of them might stop him while he was picking off their Bijuu one at a time.

Sometimes Sasuke and Demon practiced their combo moves. They hadn't done these in ages, not since before Sasuke had died. It felt strange and childish to hold hands while performing a jutsu, but they couldn't deny that they were stronger together. Ryota watched their enormous tornadoes of fire, or other wind and fire combinations, and got an idea.

-oOo-

Try as he might, Wyatt could come up with no magical variant to Shunpo. He was training against Ms. Yoruichi and no matter how much his hand-to-hand had improved, or how well he fended off her use of Kido, he could not get past the fact that she could appear behind him and slit his throat whenever she wished. The only solution was to surround himself in his shield, but that was a crutch he was trying to wean himself off of.

He'd long since created a spell that imitated Raiden's folding ability. He could fold space and move through it that way, thus winking out and appearing in another location, but it was imprecise at best, and completely useless when Shunpo landed Ms. Yoruichi at his side whenever he reappeared anywhere. He couldn't outrun her and he couldn't catch her. Her speed was too great. None of the captains he trained with had used it with him.

Wyatt considered it a blind spot, a weakness, and one he intended to find a way around.

He'd progressed from fighting Mr. Hitsugaya, Mr. Ikkaku and Mr. Yumichika, to learning from Mr. Byakuya and Mr. Urahara. Mr. Urahara was a fun but absolutely ruthless teacher. Wyatt had been sucked in by his smile, but soon learned that the lessons would kill him if he let his guard down like that. He did not let his guard down again. He would need everything he was learning from his teachers if he was to survive Mr. Kenpachi. Mr. Kenpachi was the final teacher who'd train him. Before he got to him, he'd need to go up against Yachiru, though. He wasn't looking forward to that at all. Not to either of them.

When he wasn't with the Shinigami, he was practicing magic with Ryota. Raiden being able to Pull things from off-planet now was dead convenient. They were able to have all the magic supplies they needed without undertaking any more chancy missions to actually retrieve them. He'd created his own little Book of Shadows, with countless dozens of spells he'd devised himself. There was one major one he was working on, one to augment his power by calling on that of his ancestors. It was a familiar spell, one his mother and aunts had used on a few occasions, but never to the degree that he intended to use it, and never from another dimension. He was confident he would eventually be successful. His progress with the Shinigami had proved that he could do anything he set his mind to.

* * *

Sometimes the teachers organized a sort of scrimmage between all the students. This they held in the forest of huge trees. Usually a student was given a partner with abilities completely different from their own, and each team had to try and reach the same goal. Once it had been a beehive dripping with honey. Another time it had been the egg of one of those tall creatures that had chased the original group on their first night.

This time it was Yo-chan.

Stud-Sasuke and Fem-Naruto had protested at this, but had been overruled. Worse, their son didn't even protest when Lee set him down in a hand-woven basket and hung him from a tree. The kid barely let his own parents hold him anymore. He tolerated their hugs and kisses, and still remembered them, but he definitely preferred Lee's overly attentive, thoroughly devoted presence to that of his parents. "Lee's spoiling him rotten," Stud-Sasuke had complained once. "Look at my boy, he's used to being held and fawned over and rocked to sleep every night. We'll have hell correcting him of all that once this mess is over."

Fem-Naruto had nodded. "But if we don't make it, at least we know our son will be taken care of. That he's in good hands."

That had sobered Stud-Sasuke. "You're right. Hadn't thought of that. And the twins?"

"They'll go where he goes. I've already spoken to them. They know to stay with Yo-chan and Lee if something happens to us. Lee accepted them as his god children. He said he would be honored to raise them with Sakura if it turned out that you and I…well, if things went badly for us."

"You spoke to Lee about this without consulting me?"

"I believe you were off training. Do you disagree?"

Stud-Sasuke had to admit that he could find no fault with his man's actions. He just didn't like having it brought home to him that they would eventually be off this world and into the real fight itself.

-oOo-

Yo-chan was set in the middle of the forest and left with two protectors. Ururu and Kei were selected as the child's guardians. The teachers were stationed five miles away from Yo-chan in a circular pattern, perhaps two miles between each teacher. All of the students were folded to the outer edges of the forest by either Raiden or Aimi.

As with the other scrimmages, each pair of students had to try to get to the prize first. They were to incapacitate any other teams they came across, while battling the natural inhabitants of the forest. They began at dawn. Deadline was noon. Once everyone was in position, Jiraiya shot a large katon into the air, visible over the forest for miles around. The students, in their various positions, saw this signal to begin and got to it.

Raiden was paired with Chibi-Gaara. He was under strict orders not to fold directly to Yo-chan, but he knew better than to cheat. Getting through the forest was no problem for him. It was the other teams he was worried about, namely running into his sis. Bitch was hella strong. He kept his seventh sense on her location, many miles away, monitoring her to make sure she wasn't sneaking up on him.

* * *

Kaito was paired with Aimi this time. He knew she was keeping track of Raiden, but he thought he'd lucked out. With such a strong partner they were sure to win. Last time he'd been partnered with one of those twin girls.

They were creeping through the underbrush, listening intently for danger, Sharingan on, when a shiver went across Kaito's scalp and down his spine. A cramp of pain hit his chest. He straightened from his crouch, looked behind him in puzzlement, and then suddenly knew that Hanabi needed him.

"Kaito? Do you see someone coming?" Aimi asked. She peered from behind him, trying to see whatever he was staring at.

He could almost hear Hanabi, almost feel her pain. He'd thought of her a lot during the first month away from her, missed her unbearably, but he was ashamed to realize he hadn't thought of her or the girls in weeks. His entire life in Konoha was pushed aside as he struggled to meet the demands of his teachers here.

But now his bond to his wife came roaring back and he knew he had to get to her. Something was wrong, he could feel it. "I need to get to Konoha," he said, looking down at his cousin. "Right now."

"But we're doing-"

"Hanabi needs me."

"I don't think I'm supposed to go off planet without permission."

"I'll accept responsibility for everything, just get me there!"

"I can Boom you without going myself," Aimi suddenly remembered. She prepared to do just that.

"No, I need you there in case the sitch is more than I can handle."

"But my grandmother-"

"Aimi, now!"

Aimi usually obeyed commands given to her. She was a naturally obedient person, and Kaito was older than her, an adult. Adults knew best. And he'd said he'd accept responsibility. What else could she do?

They left.

-oOo-

Raiden, keeping tabs on his sister the way he was, pulled up short. "What, you see trouble?" Chibi-Gaara asked.

"No. My sis is gone." Raiden had no trouble being disobedient, but he'd learned not to be. Instead of just hopping after Aimi now, he took the time to tell Chibi-Gaara to give a message to his parents and grandmother, saying Aimi had suddenly vanished from the world and that he was going to investigate why. He folded Chibi-Gaara to his grandmother just before he Boomed.

* * *

Aimi boomed them to a supply closet. Once they'd untangled themselves from the brooms, mops and cleaning agents, Kaito exited the closet and saw why she'd chosen that location.

They were in Konoha Hospital.

Fear had Kaito spinning around, looking for someone, anyone, who could tell him if his wife was here. He couldn't imagine what catastrophe might have occurred to land her in the-

The baby. She had to be having the baby.

Kaito silently cursed himself for forgetting this too. He snagged a passing medic-nin and asked urgently which floor was labor and delivery. He'd had four kids yet somehow could never remember this detail.

He ran, taking the stairs, as another sensation of foreboding seemed to cool his skin another few degrees. Hanabi had always breezed through her deliveries. His girls had slipped free of her body easily, without complications. He'd heard Sakura and Ino, and even Asami, comment that Hanabi's children seemed to birth themselves.

He came to the labor and delivery ward and stopped. A woman somewhere was screaming. A blood-curdling scream that Kaito abruptly realized was his name. The scream tapered off, fading as the strength behind it left. Kaito felt his insides shrivel.

-oOo-

"We're losing her," Sakura barked. "Ino, keep feeding chakra to mother and fetus, while I prep her for surgery. How this baby was able to turn from being head down to being transverse after the thirty-eighth week is beyond me, but stranger things have happened. Her blood pressure is sky high to boot. Who monitored her while you and I were on that mission the Hokage gave us?"

Kakashi had sent them, as his chief Jounin physicians, to play nursemaid to the Tsuchikage. The man had fallen ill with some sickness his own medics had been unable to treat. As Kakashi was busy recruiting the other four Kage and their villages to fight with Konoha, he'd needed Sakura and Ino to make sure he survived. A new Tsuchikage now might not be sympathetic to the sensitive information Kakashi had imparted: That Akatsuki would be coming back stronger than ever.

"I believe it was one of the interns," Ino answered now, noting the fluctuations in both mother and child. "With Asami gone, there's really no one to handle the really serious complications. Sakura, the baby is going into distress."

"You," Sakura skewered a nurse in the room with her eyes. "Put her under. Quick!" She had no time to transfer Hanabi to the operating room. Surgery would have to be done here.

The young woman scurried to obey, placing two fingers on Hanabi's clammy brow.

The door crashed open behind them to reveal Kaito. He took one look at his wife, at the amount of blood she'd already hemorrhaged, and he was at her side instantly. He brushed Sakura aside, and gathered Hanabi in his arms, calling her name frantically.

Sakura looked to the doorway and saw Aimi standing there calmly. Even as she watched, her brother Raiden came running up behind her, which apparently startled the girl.

-oOo-

Hanabi had been in and out of consciousness. She'd called for Kaito in some of her delirious moments, she knew, but to see him here, actually with her, drove home the truth; She was dying. Kaito wasn't really there, he couldn't be. It was her dying mind trying to grant her final wish.

But his hands felt so real, and he smelled so horrible…"Kaito?"

Kaito nearly sobbed at how weak her voice sounded. "Oh god, love. I'm here. I'm right here."

Sakura had had enough. "If we don't get that baby out of her now they'll both die. Move."

"I'm not leaving her," Kaito ground out. Hanabi smiled weakly at hearing this, her eyes fluttering closed.

"She needs surgery," Ino said kindly. "She and the baby are both fading."

"Then do what you have to do, but I'm not leaving her side." Kaito laid his unconscious wife gently on the bed. "I won't interfere."

Sakura and Ino, and their team of assistants, set to work immediately. Kaito stood in a corner and watched anxiously.

-oOo-

Aimi and Raiden were shooed out of the room, and the door closed in their faces. Raiden looked around. "Guess we should stay until this is over?"

"Guess so," Aimi nodded. "What should we do now?" She saw Hinata and Shino sitting in the waiting room. Hinata looked worried.

Shino spotted them and came over. "Raiden. Aimi. You are well?"

They nodded.

Hinata came over too. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be-" she bent closer to them, lowering her voice as she looked around. "Training on another world?" she finished in a whisper.

"We are," Aimi confirmed. "But Kaito sensed Hanabi needed him so I brought him here."

"Kaito's here now with my sister?" Hinata asked in shock. At Aimi's nod, she sagged against Shino. "Oh, thank god! This last trimester has been hell on her. She was constantly worried about him. She made herself sick, made her blood pressure high and everything."

"She's in surgery," Raiden supplied helpfully. "I think she and the baby are doing poorly, but Sakura and Ino are working to save them.

That shut Hinata up. Shino stepped in. "Why don't you and Aimi come home with me? Hinata will remain here with her sister. I will see to our other children. Kaito will come and inform you when he's ready to go back to training, correct?"

Raiden and Aimi shrugged. "I guess so," Aimi said. Going to the Aburame's sure beat waiting around the hospital.

* * *

At the Aburame complex, Shino ushered his guests into his apartments. Hinata's children from Kiba were with them this weekend, and talking with his own daughter, Amaya. They looked up at seeing Raiden and Aimi, squealed (or shouted, in Hiroshi's case) and made a mad dash for them. Shino looked on with interest.

"Dude, look at you!" Hiroshi hissed in furious awe. He walked all the way around Raiden, taking in the changes. "You look like some barbarian from an uncivilized land. And you grew!"

Raiden, wearing nothing but deer hide breeches and his hair tied back with a length of rawhide, looked down at himself. He had moccasins on his feet of the same material as his pants. "Yeah? Don't really think about it much."

Hisa had calmed down considerably from her wild ways with the onset of puberty. She was still aggressive, still very much like her grandmother Tsume, but now she looked at her crush and was quiet, instead of bombarding him with conversation. She took in the changes, too.

Raiden was taller and broader, his hair lighter and longer, and his skin was tanned brown. This made his eyes seem to glow with power and vitality. She saw that his hands were dirty, callused. His voice cracked on every other word. He'd glanced at her when he'd come in, likely remembering the last time he'd seen her, but he was totally engrossed in Hiroshi's account of his own training with cousin Neji.

Hisa felt her breasts suddenly tighten and begin to ache. The last time she'd seen Raiden, she'd tried to kiss him. She scented him now, his smell overpoweringly male and alpha. He was going through physical changes as well, she could tell, changing from boy to man. His scent made her mouth water. She wanted him for her mate. Her grandmother had told her that she was likely to go into her first heat soon and that when she did, she'd feel an urge to mate with someone strong and dominating. Kiba was to keep a close eye on his daughter to watch for this very thing. Hisa would need to be confined at the Inuzuka compound when this happened, and remain under the watchful eye of her aunt and grandmother.

But Kiba wasn't here. Hisa was slowly going up in flames, the longer she watched Raiden. Kaminari, perched on her wild hair, whined in awareness of her escalating discomfort.

-oOo-

Aimi looked around, marveling at the walls, the carpet, the smell of the room…all things absent on the other world. Everything here looked so breakable, so delicate. Lamps, couches, vases, small plants…all so different. She took a glass of water Amaya handed her and the thing shattered in her grip the moment she touched it. Life on the other world, with her grandmothers and grandfathers, required she be at her strongest at all times. She looked around at the soft living here as Amaya swept up the shards and thought, _We would have lost for sure if w hadn't gone away to train. _

"Let's go to my room," Amaya piped up. "We can do each other's hair."

Aimi looked at Amaya's clean, shiny black hair, at the way her untroubled grey-green eyes sparkled, and suddenly wanted to be pampered. She went with the younger girl.

Hiroshi's attention was diverted by their departure. "Aimi?"

Aimi turned around.

"Wow, you look…" His Hyuuga eyes ran up and down her body as his mind adjusted to the changes in her.

Aimi looked down at herself and grimaced. "Filthy, I know."

"Actually, I was going to say hot," Hiroshi corrected her. He came closer, inspecting her from head to toe.

Aimi had slimmed down considerably, but she was still a very solid girl. Her hair was down to her ass now, in a snarled and dirty mass of tangles. She had the beginning's of a waist as her own encounter with puberty approached. Her previously flat chest was now emerging as the beginnings of what would come to be an impressive bosom. Her face was slightly narrower. She was a bit taller too, but her eyes remained the same. Shy and watchful and surrounded by long black lashes.

Her deerskin top was a sleeveless vest, laced down the front. Her pants and footwear were the same as Raiden's. She looked primitive and wild. Hiroshi hadn't forgotten his crush on her. In fact, it came rushing back to him now as she looked at him from beneath her lashes, chin lowered in her trademark self-consciousness.

"Yeah, you definitely look hot, Aimi. Want to see my room?" At thirteen, Hiroshi thought about girls a lot.

Raiden, also thirteen now, hadn't thought about girls but he didn't like the gleam in his friend's pale eyes. He stood to say something, but Hisa also stood. She blocked his path with a subtle placement of her body. He blinked at seeing her lick her chops.

Was that a growl coming from her?

* * *

After four healthy daughters, Hanabi was delivered of a strapping son. It was touch and go for several long, tense minutes after Kaito had been handed his goo-covered baby boy, but Sakura and Ino were very skilled and very determined. Hanabi was stitched, given a blood transfusion and attended to meticulously through her first hour after delivery. Only then did Sakura step back and wipe sweat off her brow with the back of one wrist. "She's stable," she announced tiredly. "But she needs to remain in the hospital for a few days at least so I can observe her."

Kaito nodded numbly, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. What he'd seen his small wife go through during the past few hours had made his blood run cold. Ino left Hanabi sleeping soundly, ushering the nurses and other assisting medic-nin out of the room. Kaito was left alone with her and their baby.

He'd received the swaddled bundle of his son absently during the flurry of activity to save Hanabi's life. He'd glanced down once, seen a red face, before returning all his attention to what Sakura and Ino were doing. Alone now, with Hanabi on the mend, he took the time to study the warm baby in his arms.

There was a thatch of dark brown hair, still wet from the washing one of the nurses had just given him. He was large and plump and possessed of fat, rosy cheeks. Kaito jostled him a bit, bouncing him very gently, and the baby's eyes opened briefly before closing again.

Hyuuga eyes.

Kaito stared down at his sleeping son. All his girls had normal eyes, either black or grey. This was the first child to truly take after Hanabi. He seemed to recall that Hinata had a son who also had Hyuuga traits. He wondered if, when the Hyuuga blood was mixed with another clan's, these traits only showed up in males. It would seem so. Undoubtedly it had something to do with dominant and recessive genes, but Kaito couldn't have cared less. Nor did he mind siring a Hyuuga child. His boy was healthy, his wife would live, and he was here with his family. He touched a finger to his son's button nose. "Hey there, big guy," he whispered.

The baby yawned and made small mewling sounds, gnawing on his fist.

Kaito knew he should be getting back to training, should probably look to see where Raiden and Aimi were, but he couldn't make himself leave. Not with his enchanting son in his arms. He sat by Hanabi's bedside and waited for her to wake up, rocking his boy against his bare chest. A smile broke across his face as he leaned down and inhaled the light powdery scent coming from the babe.

* * *

The scrimmage had been called off when Kushina and the other teachers learned that three of their students were gone. Yo-chan was retrieved and now lay sleeping on Lee's back.

"They have until sundown to get back here," Kushina announced. "In the meantime, it's Uzumaki versus Uchiha. Winning clan earns an entire day of rest. I and the rest of the teachers will be the judges. Children are exempt. Shinigami are not to intrude."

The Narutos squared off against the Uchiha and realized that they were grossly outnumbered. Then they remembered that they were Jinchuuriki and grinned. Chibi-Gaara and Bee joined the Uzumaki group. Konohamaru, Udon and Ibiki joined the Uchiha group, seeing as they were married to Uchiha. Disloyalty would have been more trouble than it was worth. Konohamaru shrugged an apology to Demon with a sheepish half-smile.

"Begin," Jiraiya shouted.

Both clans rushed each other.


	46. Chapter 46

A/N: I didn't pull an all-nighter, but this took a long time to write, and a long time to read through for typos. It's long...but everything mentioned is relevant, no filler.

I'd like to take the time to mention a truly thought-provoking fic by **WhiteDevilWings**. Check it out from their profile...there's only one story by this author so far, but I found it to be wonderful.

And to **Kanazerosukenaru**...Thank you.

Some character info: most of the kids mentioned here can be found in chap 2 of this fic. Kaito's kids are mentioned in chap 1.

*I probably missed a few typos...

* * *

Chapter 46

Aimi declined Hiroshi's offer.

Amaya led Aimi into her own pretty room and stopped, glancing from her guest to her surroundings. Her room was always spotless. Aimi was a blot on its perfection; there was mud caked on her moccasins, dirt crusted on other parts of her. Amaya detoured to her bathroom and beckoned her friend. "How about a bath first?"

"A bath?" Aimi said in bewilderment. It actually took her a moment to recall what that was. Tub. Soap. Running water. A small smile graced her lips. "Oh, yes please."

The tub was filled with hot water. While the faucet ran, Amaya dumped bath beads, bath oil, bath salts and every other thing she could think of into it. At seeing Aimi's nude body, covered in grime, she added an entire bottle of bubble bath. The suds rose high and thick, two feet above the rim of the full tub. Aimi got in when she shut off the water and made a rumbling sound that vibrated the entire tub and the water in it.

Amaya went happily to her knees and inspected Aimi's hair. There were lice and other critters present. Amaya took the opportunity to coat her hand with chakra and commune with these insects, as her father had taught her. Caught in her web of chakra, the bugs were done away with in short order. She then picked up a small ceramic jug and dipped it in the tub. She brought up some of the sudsy water.

"Tell me what the other world is like," she said as she poured the water carefully over Aimi's hair, flattening it slightly. "Do you like training with everyone?"

Aimi had been silent until now. She focused on the feel of the water, on the smooth porcelain of the tub, and the smell of the fragrances with intense concentration. She wanted to be able to remember all this when she went back. Back to training. Like it? Was that what Amaya had just asked? "I hate it so much."

Another jugful of warm water. Dirt and muck were sluiced from Aimi's hair, turning the water brown. "Why? I always enjoy training with my father."

_But you probably only train for a couple of hours a day, if that, _Aimi thought, but didn't say. Amaya was in a nice, safe environment, with regular meals and soft clothes. She had a bed to lie down in. She could go out at night without being attacked by wild things, and could sit around and do nothing if she chose to. And her mother and father were here, taking care of her, not off training. She wasn't pushed to her limits hour after hour, day after day, week after week. She wasn't pushed beyond those limits once she'd achieved an unattainable goal. Best of all, she didn't have a war brewing because of her and her brother. She had nothing more troublesome to worry about than passing an academy exam or maybe cleaning her room. She didn't know what she had, or how it felt to live somewhere so dangerous all the time. She probably couldn't even imagine it and wouldn't believe Aimi if she told her. Of course she wanted to know why Aimi hated it there. "I just do," she said quietly.

Amaya accepted this. She set about washing Aimi's hair.

-oOo-

Hiroshi watched Aimi leave thoughtfully, then turned to Raiden. "Man, everyone is going to want to see you. Wait here, I'm going to go get them." He was out the door a moment later, yelling to his stepfather that he'd be back in a few.

Raiden scarcely noticed. Hisa had his undivided attention. He recalled his vow to punch her fangs in the next time he saw her and placed his own body in a position to defend himself as casually as she'd taken up her own stance.

She didn't attack. She didn't talk at him. She wasn't even approaching. She only stood there, a book in one hand, and a low growl coming from deep in her throat.

Well, good then. As long as she wasn't attacking him, things would be fine, Raiden thought. But her silence was unnatural. And she was starting to make him nervous with her unblinking stare. He could barely see her eyes from beneath her shaggy bangs, but he knew she was still looking at him. What was her problem? He actually looked down himself again, trying to see if anything was amiss.

When he looked back up, she was closer. Close enough for him to smell her. He hadn't even heard her walk up to him and-

Her smell. He couldn't remember what she'd smelled like before, but right now she smelled-

_Female_

-really good. It wasn't a smell he could ever remember coming across. And it wasn't similar to other smells he liked, such as cookies or pine trees. It was a musky sort of odor, dull and slight…a smell that somehow put him in mind of _fullness, _and _submission. _A sense of readiness was laced through that scent. Expectancy. Raiden, confused and suddenly inhaling deeply in order to figure out that smell, stepped closer to her. She backed away a step. He stopped and she stopped. He tried to approach her again, and again she retreated slightly. He was actually leaning forward at the waist, sniffing at her, not even hiding it. He smelled her dog, and he smelled _her. _

-O-_  
_

Hisa felt her mind slip into a state of consciousness that Inuzuka only adopted when training with their companions. She didn't go all the way under, not yet, but she slipped a little. It was necessary to become more beast-like in order to successfully sync with the ninja hounds. This was an ability that came easily and naturally to most, if not all, Inuzuka. A few men and women of the clan were more beastly than others, but generally animal traits and abilities were kept separate from normal behavior. Once an Inuzuka reached mating age, certain aspects of the animal traits were explained to them. Hisa had yet to receive this conversation in its entirety, so she didn't know that she was unconsciously initiating the preliminary steps to ancient courting rituals of the clan. She behaved instinctively.

Her chosen's eyes were fixed on her, it pleased her to see. She'd let him scent her deliberately, making known her willingness to allow him to give chase. He seemed confused, unable to interpret her scent correctly. She'd retreated when he advanced, showing him that he must chase and subdue her, as was correct, but he didn't. She fed him more of her scent. His fangs lengthened, a sight she'd never seen before, and her body quailed in need. She wanted to bare her neck for his mark, too hungry for him to wait for him to hunt and conquer her. She wanted to submit now, but her rebellious nature demanded he hunt her properly, that he prove himself worthy of her submission.

-O-

Raiden blinked. He seemed to see Hisa clearly for the first time in several moments. What had just happened? It was fuzzy in his mind…had he wanted to bite her?

He recalled biting Wyatt. The memory of Wyatt cleared his mind further, and he abruptly had the notion that Hisa was up to her old tricks again. "Stay away from me," he told her roughly. "I'm not putting up with your shit this time, bitch."

He shoved roughly past her, on his way to wait for Hiroshi in his room.

-oOo-

Shino, who'd watched from the next room, adjusted his sunglasses thoughtfully. He'd been on a team with Kiba. He knew much about the Inuzuka clan, but not much about their mating habits. He had, however, clearly detected the pheromones his stepdaughter was giving off. He'd seen them elicit a strange reaction in Raiden, almost as if the boy had been hypnotized. He remembered clearly how strong the boy had been in his pre-school days, when they'd taken on Danzo to rescue Naruto and Sai. He could not imagine how much stronger the boy was now. He'd feel much better if one or the other of his parents was around.

In the meantime, he watched as Hisa went slowly to a couch and sat down. She held her book absently, rubbed behind Kaminari's ears, and stared into space. Shino thought that maybe it would be wise to locate Kiba.

* * *

Hiroshi was successful in rounding up Asuma, Naruto and Choukichi. At hearing that Raiden and Aimi were back, they were ecstatic. They made a loud dash for the Aburame compound. Choukichi said he would catch up as he ran home to get something.

Hiroshi barged into his mom's spacious apartment and was brought up short. "Where's Raiden?" The others behind him shoved him forward, looking to get inside.

Hisa only looked at him silently. Hiroshi grimaced. His twin had been getting very strange lately. Quieter, yet somehow more violent. He could see with his Byakugan that her chakra was usually in disarray these days. The pathways around her reproductive organs and around certain areas of her brain were stressed, powered with more chakra than other parts of her body. He knew she was going through puberty, just as he was…but she was so moody and unpredictable now. He barely recognized her anymore.

Asuma heard Raiden moving around in Hiroshi's room and hopped off in that direction. Naruto followed and, after a moment, so did Hiroshi.

-oOo-

Raiden turned when they entered, took in their appearance, then grinned. There was a brief hesitation before they all threw themselves into a group brawl. They shrieked and bellowed and generally shook the room in their happiness at being reunited.

Raiden was playfully held down by Asuma, his best friend after Wyatt, while Hiroshi and Naruto pounded him with their fists as hard as they could. Raiden cackled wildly, kicking out with his legs. Then they all sat back, the greetings over with.

Asuma dragged a handful of slightly melted chocolate bars from a back pocket and tossed them around. Raiden moaned longingly at his and whisked the wrapper off as he bit into it. He chewed and pretended to faint. "My god. I haven't had chocolate in fucking _months, _man." The others sniggered. Raiden sat up again and fixed his gaze on them. "You guys have changed too, you know?"

Asuma for instance. He'd had a major growth spurt. He was the oldest of the boys present, at fourteen. He was starting to get broad in the shoulders, but his voice had already changed and deepened. His red eyes and dark hair set off his fair skin in such a way that even Raiden thought was attractive. It was curly, like his mom's, and a little long on top, short in the back. He looked a lot like old pictures of his father, Asuma Sr., even if his coloring was that of Kurenai.

Naruto, named after Raiden's own father, looked nothing like Neji. His hair was brown like his father's, but his eyes and smooth features were that of Ino. He even had his hair in a long ponytail like hers, one lock falling over his eye. He'd gotten a bit taller, but at twelve, he was still shorter than Raiden and the rest.

They wanted to hear about the monsters on the other world. Raiden happily obliged, leaving out the fact that his dead grandparents were training with him, along with a few versions of his fathers. Some things were just too weird to mention. Besides, he had an idea that the information was supposed to be confidential.

He forgot completely about Hisa and the strange episode he'd experienced.

* * *

Choukichi had remained in the main room when the other boys skipped off to see Raiden. He liked Raiden a lot, was good friends with him, but he'd really come over to see Aimi. Hisa got up and went to her room after a few moments, leaving him alone with the things he'd brought. He heard Amaya's voice and followed the sound to her room. He considered knocking respectfully on the door.

He sat down to wait instead.

-oOo-

Amaya quite liked Aimi. She'd been her closest friend in Konoha, despite being two years younger than Aimi. She was calm and self-possessed, much like her father Shino. She knew when to be loud and have fun, and when to be silent. Now was such a time. After asking Aimi how long she'd be in the village and hearing that she didn't know, she decided to respect Aimi's unspoken wish to be left to her thoughts.

Aimi was grateful. She wasn't actually thinking about too much. The switch in worlds and environments was still working on her. When she'd brought Uncle Gaara and Hiroko back she'd barely stayed a minute. Now she might be here for days. Long enough to breathe, anyway.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she was supposed to be doing something. There wasn't so much as a minute of idle time on the other world. Even their break time was used for eating or resting – rest that was sorely needed to recharge. Since most of the two-hour break was given to eating their one and only meal, they didn't get much rest during the day. And the four hours allotted to them at night barely scratched the surface of their fatigue. So yes, she felt horribly guilty for sitting in the tub of warm bubbles for nearly two hours. It felt wrong to have Amaya carefully cream scented lotion into her skin afterward. The silver kimono of pure silk that Amaya helped her don, a garment similar to what all Aburame's wore when home, made her feel almost ashamed. It was just so soft and beautiful. And the way Amaya smoothed leave-in conditioner onto her hair, then blow-dried it until it was straight and shiny as a mirror, was not to be contemplated.

But she didn't refuse any of it. She only sat on Amaya's thick and cushiony bed spread and let her hair be styled into a fat bun with silver hair ornaments. She was clean for the first time in months. She didn't itch. And no one expected her to do anything. She was so comfortable that she could scarcely think at all. She was in a stupor of contentment. She docilely let Amaya settle in front of her and pick up one of her rough hands in preparation of giving a manicure.

Amaya turned the hand over in her own, inspecting the rock-hard calluses that were somewhat softened from the time in the tub. Aimi's nails were chipped and ragged. Her cousin Neji had taught her proper grooming habits well. He would be proud of the work she was doing now.

-oOo-

Choukichi grew tired of waiting. He balanced his packages on his hands and stood to knock on Amaya's door at last. It opened before he could do so. Amaya smiled at seeing him, but he had eyes only for Aimi. She looked up and saw him, but just then Hiroshi's door opened too, and the boys poured out, heading to the kitchen. As one they spotted Aimi and swerved in her direction.

"Woo, Aimi, you've sure grown," Asuma purred huskily. He had his eyes on her budding breasts. There were girls his age who chased him, who were prettier and slimmer, but Aimi was so unattainable as to make her the prize most boys sought. He was no exception.

"You should come over to our house sometime," Naruto interrupted. "We can play mind wars like we used to. My grandfather taught me this super cool mind-rape technique I _know _you won't be able to break."

"Like she wants to be raped," Hiroshi snorted in annoyance. "Get lost, cousin." He maneuvered himself so that he was directly in front of Aimi. He ran a hand over his long dark hair, preening shamelessly for her. "You look even better clean, Aimi." He added a wide smile for good measure, willing his Hyuuga charm to soften her to his attentions.

Choukichi's face fell. He'd always had feelings for Aimi, though he'd never made them known. He usually masked them with friendship. He couldn't compete with his good-looking comrades. He'd gained four inches and another twenty pounds since Aimi had left with her family to train. He looked down at the food he'd brought for her sadly, turning to leave. She'd never see him with the others clustered around her.

-oOo-

Aimi smelled food.

She was so accustomed to being hungry, to starving, that she'd grown used to ignoring the feeling. But that was yummy fried goodness she was smelling now. Refined sugar and processed white flour products. Cheese. Soy sauce. Cake, by god. She could actually smell cake and her eyes turned yellow as she knocked Amaya and the boys over like bowling pins. She made a beeline for the large, surprised boy by the door.

Choukichi was twice as broad as any of the other boys and topped even Asuma by an inch. He didn't budge when Aimi slammed into him. He'd seen her coming and braced himself. He'd even had the presence of mind to jostle the many food dishes so that he was able to present her with the large bowl of fried shrimp first. It was her favorite.

Aimi snatched it, ripped the foil off, and let out a tiny screech of pure greed. She sank to her knees right there, wolfing the food down without a thought to how she looked.

Choukichi lowered himself beside her and hastily opened the other parcels and set them in front of her, much like a buffet. He then backed away, letting her appease her monstrous appetite. She looked like training had reduced her to skin and bone. Of _course_ she needed to eat.

-oOo-

Raiden had been mildly indignant at the way his friends had dropped him for his sister. He liked the way she'd scared them with her yellow eyes and the way she'd shoved them. They all watched her eating for a moment, before collectively deciding that it would be wise to leave her with Akimichi for the time being. They made their way to the kitchen, as originally planned. Raiden and Amaya went with them.

* * *

Kaito waited with his increasingly hungry son for Hanabi to wake up. By the time she opened her eyes, well after sunset, he was roaring his displeasure, filling the hospital room with his noise. Kaito had been given a bottle of formula by one of the sympathetic nurses, but his boy had gagged on the taste of the rubber nipple in his mouth. No surprise there, since none of Hanabi's children had ever taken a bottle.

As soon as he saw that she was awake, Kaito dropped his squalling infant at her breast. He'd walked with him, shushed him, and bounced him for hours, all to no avail. He was happy to turn him over to her.

Hanabi smiled sleepily, already exposing one leaking teat for the rooting baby. Her new son latched on angrily, making furious mewling sounds as he suckled. She winced slightly, but turned bright eyes up to Kaito. "It wasn't a dream. You're really here." Her face was radiant.

Kaito stared down at her happy face, wondering how he'd stayed away from her for so long. "I felt you. Couldn't let you squeeze this guy out without me, could I?" He brushed his knuckles against her hair line, his eyes locked to hers. He planted a lingering kiss on her soft lips.

Hanabi's eyes swam with her overwhelming love. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," she said when Kaito straightened up. "It's been so hard without you…" She bit her lip, searching his eyes. "How long can you stay? Have you seen the girls yet?"

"Not yet. Where are they?"

"I think Hinata said she left them with Neji. She was here earlier…I can't remember when. I've been here for three days, Kaito…this kid just didn't want to be born."

He listened to how difficult her labor had been before he'd come, to what had gone on in her life while he'd been away. He stroked her hair, cupped his son's downy head when he'd been nursed into a coma of repletion. Hanabi handed the unconscious baby to his father. Kaito, experienced, gently burped him and settled him in the crook of his arm. He could hold his heavy baby indefinitely, so long as he wasn't screaming. Hanabi was still recovering and already tired again.

"Kaito? You didn't answer me about how long you can be with us."

"I'm not going back."

Hanabi tilted her head on the pillow, trying to ignore the leap of hope in her chest. "You're not? But-"

"My family needs me," Kaito said harshly, whispering so as not to wake his son. "You could have died while I was gone. Don't try and talk me out of it, my mind is made up."

Hanabi was quiet. Her eyes roved over him hungrily, noting how tanned he was, how much more muscular he'd become. His hair was in a long, ratty tail down his back, matted with crud, and his hands were black with dirt. It didn't bother her that his dirty finger touched her son's plump cheek or that the white blanket he was wrapped in was grey where it made contact with Kaito's filthy chest and arms. Kaito's stench filled the room with its acrid odor, but her husband was here. He was home. She closed her eyes, relieved to have him shoulder all the burdens again. "See to the girls," she murmured as she fell asleep. "They've been so bad while you were gone…"

She was snoring. Kaito set his son down in the small bed provided for him and stood up. Hinata had been in earlier, after the surgery, to see her sister and new nephew, but she'd left hours ago to tend to her Hyuuga duties. She'd said she would be back later that night.

-oOo-

Kaito made his way out of the hospital and just stood outside a moment. People, lights, a perfectly ordinary night. People saw him and greeted him, asking where all his siblings were. He called back absently, answering what he could, ignoring what he couldn't. It was so strange to be around villagers and buildings…He pointed himself in the direction of the Hyuuga estate.

Neji answered when he'd pressed the bell. He took one long look at Kaito and ushered him inside without a word. He led him to a guest room, pointed to the adjoining bathroom, and handed him some spare clothing. "We'll talk after you've bathed. I think my nose hairs are singed from your smell."

Kaito took the clothes. "You don't seem surprised to see me."

"Hinata told us you were here. She left to go sit with Hanabi tonight. The girls are dying to see you. Clean up, then come on down to the main room. We'll catch up."

Once clean, Kaito did make his way to the main room, toweling his hair dry. He felt ten pounds lighter. The decision to stay had lifted a weight of stress off his shoulders; he'd been operating under the knowledge that he'd have to go back to training at some point, but now he didn't have to and he felt buoyant. His girls spotted him and shrieked in welcome, stampeding toward him.

His youngest daughter reached him first. Mai had grown. She climbed up his body, hugging him around his neck so tightly that she shook like a leaf. "Daddy!" she screamed, planting a wet kiss on his neck. He bent and scooped up his other girls, spinning with them until they were all dizzy and wailing in glee. He tossed them one by one into the air, caught them, swung them around by their arms or legs, and threw them each to Neji, who caught them with a curse of shock.

Neji had been watching in sick dread at the way Kaito handled his girls. No wonder they were such terrors. Neither he nor Hinata had any control over them whatsoever. Hanabi didn't even bother to try. The only one the girls seemed to fear at all was Shino, but he was usually too busy to watch them. With their father, though, Neji had an idea that they were probably very different. He set each girl down after he'd caught her and made it clear that he'd be catching them no more.

"Daddy, look, lookit what I can do," Miki hollered. She ran to the middle of the marble floor and stuck her arms out to either side of her thin body. "Are you watching, Daddy?"

Kaito paused in nuzzling Momo's neck. "Yes, precious, I'm watching."

Miki concentrated. A _whoosh_ of orange sprang up around her as she whirled around fast. The orange formed a sphere of heat around her, leaving scorch marks on the floor.

Kaito's eyes widened. He stared from where Miki was slowing down, to Neji, and back. "What…what was _that?_"

Neji was already approaching the scorch marks with a rag. "That," he said as he bent down and began rubbing the marks away, "was Kaiten performed with your daughter's fire based chakra."

"You're joking." Kaito was in flat disbelief. "She's fucking six years old!"

"Nope, not joking." Neji sat back and inspected the floor. "Apparently, mixing the two bloodline limits of the two most powerful families in Konoha in one person results in the youngest person to ever perform Kaiten…with a mutation of the technique to boot. She doesn't even need Byakugan, which is what Kaiten is designed to supplement. Miki, haven't I told you not to do that in the house?"

Miki bounced on her toes. "Thorry, Neji. Daddy, was it good? Huh? Was it?"

Kaito said that it was. He came over, sat on the floor, and held his arms out for his girls. He spent several hours listening to them chatter away happily. Later, when they were sleeping soundly on one part of him or another, he listened to Neji speak of the training the villagers were going through and progress the Hokage had made in recruiting the other kage for the upcoming war.

* * *

The Uchiha and Uzumaki lay sprawled or prostrate wherever they'd fallen. Not a single one was standing. Thank god the battle had taken place many miles from their crater. The land was in ruins for miles in every direction. Much of that was due to the chakra blasts the various Kyuubi had coughed out, but quite a bit had been done by Fucker.

It had been a draw.

The teachers walked idly among the bodies, Wyatt with them as he healed injuries. Kushina nodded, announced, "A tie. Tomorrow you all will have the day to rest. Training resumes the following morning, same time as always. You have done well."

They were too tired to celebrate. Kushina watched them drop off to sleep where they lay, lost in thought.

Minato came up to her, touched her hair. "Raiden and Aimi aren't back. I would have Demon contact Raiden, but he's out of it. I know you're worried."

"Angry," Kushina corrected him. "They should inform us of their status, the reason for their absence. I'm confident that they can handle themselves, but what is keeping them from giving a status report?" She sighed shortly, looked aside. "You're right. I am worried. When they get back here, they'd better have a good explanation for this defection." She turned to walk away.

Minato stopped her by the hand in her hair. He gently tugged on the end of her ponytail. She looked at him over one shoulder, her eyes widening in outrage as he calmly reeled her in. He wrapped the strands around his wrist, drawing her closer and closer, until she was flush against his long body. He tilted her head back so that he could stare down into her face. Her lips parted to give him a blazing set down. He pressed his fingertips to her mouth, cutting her off before she started.

"Do you realize," he said softly, "That you and I have been resurrected for months now and have not once taken the time to reunite properly?"

Kushina's eyes sharpened. Nerve endings in her body suddenly tingled. She tightened her muscles in defense, in resistance. "There is no time for this fooli-"

"The way I see it," Minato hummed as his eyes dropped to her lips, "We do have time. An entire night. And then all of tomorrow. And the following night. Tell me, wife," Minato gave a small tug on the hair in his fist. "Has your body changed along with your personality, or do you still go soft when I do this?" He nibbled one of her delicate earlobes.

Kushina sank weakly against him, her knees traitorously strengthless of a sudden. Damn him.

"Ah," Minato whispered hotly. "I thought so. However, it _has _been awhile, hasn't it? I'll need hours just to reacquaint myself with your body. Perhaps I should get started?"

Kushina managed a small, humiliated nod, both disgusted and excited at the pooling of moisture between her thighs. That he could reduce her to this with just his lips on her ear…but she had lived thirteen years without him. She suddenly turned and clawed at him, ravenous, all the years without him catching up to her. Her perpetual anger and need to be hard transformed into devastating desire for the man she loved so much and had needed so desperately.

Minato, ready for her and equal to her raging need, caught her and teleported them away.

-oOo-

Fugaku had seen the entire exchange from where he sat next to his own wife. He'd tried to approach her on several occasions. Unlike Kushina, she wasn't hard and merciless when around her husband. No, she kept away from him out of guilt and shame for how she'd acted after his death.

"I debased your memory," she'd told him a few nights after they'd been resurrected. "I drank, and whored myself for more drink. I neglected our son, gave up on life. How can you stand to look at me? I've dishonored you, Fugaku."

He'd held her close, whispering into her hair that he forgave her. He hadn't been part of the factions in the Uchiha clan plotting against the village, but he'd fought when the time had come. He remembered the killing blow dealt to him, Mikoto's screams. She'd fought as well, likely the only reason she'd survived. That, and the fact that Itachi had been there. He remembered those things, and the blackness of death. Having faced all that, hearing his wife's anguished confessions paled in comparison. He tried to tell her this, that she was still the pure woman he'd married so many years ago, but she couldn't bear his forgiveness.

Still, he tried. He reached for her hand now and she didn't pull away. After a moment, he stood with her and she allowed herself to be led out of the crater.

-oOo-

Jiraiya grunted in approval, before turning his eyes to Yoruichi. She was sitting with the rest of the Shinigami. He'd tried every trick he knew to woo her but she froze him each and every time. She seemed interested in the Eight-Tails, for which Jiraiya knew bitter jealousy. Still, he wasn't young. He didn't hold to his jealousy for long. He was unlikely to get laid during his brief stint with the living. He accepted this and the fact that he'd be using his own hand again tonight.

-oOo-

Byakuya addressed the other captains where they sat in a circle. "Urahara has been working on contacting Soul Society. He believes he's devised a Kido spell strong enough to carry outside this dimension, but it will require us linking together. Oddly enough, that child Ryota gave him the idea. We will do so now and request that 12th division get to work immediately on a way to bring us home."

"What if a way can't be found before this war comes?" Kenpachi asked hopefully.

Byakuya stared at him with half-closed eyes, masking his dislike. "Meaning?"

"Meaning if we manage to get a hold of the Commander, we should ask him to have our limiters lifted. It's a real possibility that we'll be throwing down with these people when the shit hits the fan. I don't intend to be caught at less than full strength."

There were nods to this. Byakuya considered it. The barbarian spoke sense. "It will be mentioned." He then nodded at where Urahara sat. The man's hat had long since been destroyed. His broad upper body was loathe to tan, unlike the rest of them. Even Yachiru, asleep on Kenpachi's knee, had tanned. Urahara's hair had only lightened to nearly white.

Urahara recited the long incantation he'd come up with and placed his hands on the ground, in the center of the circle. The others linked hands. Yumichika and Tessai, at the ends of the circle, placed their hands on Urahara's back, channeling the accumulation of reiatsu from the others. Urahara shaped it and launched, powering his spell so that a runic design burned pathways into the ground around his hands. Light sprang up from this etching, blowing around them. The scent of Soul Society was around them as a portal of communication with their home began forming.

* * *

Raiden and the boys eventually left the Aburame compound, stuffed to the gills and in search of night time fun with more friends. Amaya was sent to bed by her mother, who stopped at home briefly to pick up a few things for Hanabi and the new baby. The Head Hyuuga had said a brief hello to Aimi, who was still eating, before sweeping out the door.

Choukichi enjoyed watching Aimi eat. At the academy, they'd always had a little corner to themselves during lunch break, sharing and exchanging lunches. As the quietest among their coterie of friends, they'd each preferred each other's company on several occasions. They could be just as noisy and boisterous as the rest, but sometimes, especially when food was involved, they went off by themselves and talked quietly.

Aimi didn't speak now. She methodically emptied each dish of its contents, licking them clean afterward, before moving on to the next dish. At one point, Choukichi had gotten up and retrieved a pitcher of fresh melon juice from the kitchen for her. She drained it directly from the pitcher, not bothering with the glass he held out to her.

Finally, she was done. Choukichi stacked the empty containers to one side with the jug. "Thank you," Aimi said as she burped into her palm. "I could kiss you for that. That was the most delicious food I've ever eaten."

Choukichi blushed. "It was nothing. You seemed to need it. You've lost so much weight…don't you eat on the other world?" He, like the other boys, had long since been told by his parents where the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans had disappeared to.

"We eat only once a day," Aimi nodded. "But there's never enough to fill my belly and it's always the same kind of food, stuff we hunt or gather ourselves. There isn't even any salt to season the food with. All we drink is stream water."

Choukichi was horrified. "But that's awful!"

"Yes. It is." Aimi's voice was low, her eyes roaming around the pretty living room. "I can't stand it there, or how much we have to train. There's never any real break." She fingered her kimono, looking at him shyly. "That food was really good. How'd you know I'd be starving?"

"I didn't," Choukichi smiled. "I just wanted to bring you some food. You're the only one I know who loves it as much as I do." Then, when Aimi continued to look at him, "Would you like to go for a walk with me, Aimi?"

"I'd like that."

-oOo-

Raiden and the boys went to Asuma's house to collect his younger brother Sakumo, and then to the Hyuuga estate to get Naruto's younger brother Seiji. They strolled through the village, sampling vendors' wares and enjoying the fall festival that was under way. Along the way, they ran in to Shikamaru's daughter Kumiko and her younger brother To-chan. Kumiko skipped to Raiden and gave him a lengthy hug. She made a giggling comment about hugging a topless boy. Raiden laughed with them all, wishing Wyatt was there to complete the picture.

Hisa came walking up about an hour later, finding them at a hay ride. Raiden felt his skin shiver in awareness of her. He saw how Hisa eyed Kumiko, and suddenly Hisa's strange new scent intensified.

"Dude, what the heck is up with you?" Sakumo cocked an eyebrow at Raiden's fangs and the way he stared intently at Hisa.

Raiden shook his head slightly, clearing it. Hisa kept sneaking peeks at him. Something, some silent form of communication, was going on between him and her, Raiden concluded…if only he knew what it was or what it meant. He looked at Sakumo now.

His grey hair was an exact replica of his father, Kakashi. His red eyes were very much like Asuma's. Cocky, loud, tactless kid that he was, Sakumo usually annoyed the living shit out of most people. Raiden was his idol, a fact Raiden was very aware of. He ignored Sakumo's question as the hay-filled wagon pulled up. The people on it got off, and the boys and girls with Raiden clambered aboard, settling themselves in the springy, fragrant hay. The cart lurched into its circuit around the village.

Raiden found himself pressed next to Hisa. He didn't move away.

* * *

Gaara, though back in his village a month, still had not caught up completely with the paperwork and correspondence that had accumulated in his absence. He sat reading a letter from his ambassador to the Mizukage. His office door opened and Yanagi came in, freshly bathed and dressed for bed. He set the report down and sat back, opening his arms wide for her nightly kiss and hug goodnight.

Yanagi climbed into his lap and settled down, her head pillowed on his chest. Her daddy always begun their nightly ritual once she was cuddled in his arms.

"Teeth brushed?" Gaara asked in mock severity.

"Yup!" Yanagi giggled.

"Posterior washed?"

"Yup!"

"Behind your ears?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Between your toes?"

"Yup!"

"Behind your neck?"

"Yes, Daddy!"

"Ah. Since my daughter is clean, then I can kiss her," Gaara declared importantly. And he bent to kiss her cheeks, her eyes, and her small nose. He ended by pressing a kiss to her sweet-smelling hair and holding her close. "I love you Yanagi."

Feeling safe and warm and cherished, Yanagi kissed her father's solid chest. "I love you too, Daddy."

"Bedtime story?"

"Queenie already read me one."

"Excellent." Gaara gave his daughter a parting pat and sent her off to bed. "Sweet dreams then, love." He washed her skip out of his office, her furry bunny slippers whispering on the floor.

He swiveled in his chair, thinking about how Queenie was adjusting to life in his palace.

-oOo-

The man had been terrified to live alone in his apartment without Kit. He'd wailed pitifully about how he'd go mad worrying about his husband, while he was all alone in their penthouse, surrounded by Kit's things. Seeing as Queenie's world had been the first stop, and Gaara and Hiroko had been present, Hiroko had thrown herself at Queenie and sobbed with him. She wept about not wanting to be alone in the Uchiha compound without Konohamaru. They'd both turned huge, glassy eyes on Gaara.

Seeing as he'd helped raise Hiroko, Gaara felt like a father to her. For all intents and purposes he _was _another father to her, since he was Itachi's partner, and sometimes he was her mother as well. He said she was more than welcome to live with him in her old room in Suna. At her exaggerated look at Queenie, Gaara took the hint and invited him to come as well. Queenie had dried his tears immediately to go pack.

That had been quite the enterprise. Connoisseur of grooming products that he was, Gaara had been highly interested in Queenie's vanity table and the many bottles and tubes there. Why, Queenie had filled one entire suitcase with nothing but lotions, creams, hair products and cleansers. He'd kept up a running stream of chatter with Gaara and Hiroko, both avid users of similar products, about how heinously the other world had ruined his skin and hair. Hiroko and Gaara had been forced to agree, bemoaning the damage to their own normally fastidious persons. Gaara announced that he was dying for his masseuse, at which point Queenie had asked if anyone in his palace performed alpha-hydroxy facials. Gaara said he was unfamiliar with the term, but that he had several other facials that Queenie might be interested in.

They'd arrived at the palace once Queenie was completely packed and the first thing Gaara had done was order his huge tub filled with steaming, perfumed water. Hiroko, Gaara and Queenie had sunk into this piece of heaven with orgasmic groans of delight. They remained thus, soaking and talking, for nigh on three hours, the jets in the tub keeping the water hot. Afterwards, Gaara had requested a feast be sent up to his rooms. Hiroko, Queenie and Gaara had eaten until full, sat back and continued their conversation that hadn't abated once, only to resume eating again.

Queenie was invited to share Hiroko's room, which he accepted graciously. There were plenty of free rooms in the palace, but those two were quite close. They wanted to share their misery and mourn the separation from their mates. Frequently, Gaara would enter Hiroko's room and find both of them perched on her king-sized bed, Queenie brushing out Hiroko's long hair. They gave each other manicures and pedicures, and usually slept in Hiroko's bed, Queenie wrapped around her lush curves. Gaara understood that they were like sisters, though Queenie was a man, but the sight of those two snuggled under the blanket, peacefully sleeping in each other's arms, always had him shaking his head. Such a strange pair, those two.

Gaara left off musing about those two to finish reading his report.

* * *

Kaito shifted a sleeping Mai to one arm as he opened the door to his house, letting his other girls in. The place was musty. Hanabi and the children hadn't lived there since he'd left to go train. She'd been staying with Hinata or Neji. He flicked on the lights, leading the way upstairs to set Mai in the room she shared with Momo. He turned to tuck Momo in as well, but the girl had run off to Miki and Mari's room. He switched on the nightlight before heading after her.

Miki, Mari and Momo were screeching at the top of their lungs, leaping back and forth, from one twin-sized bed to the other, using their small amount of chakra to give power to their jumps.

"Bed time," Kaito announced. He hunted in their dresser for pajamas.

"Neji and Hinata let uth go to bed whenever we want," Miki challenged. She was jumping up and down on her bed now, doing back flips.

"Well, I'm not Neji or Hinata," Kaito said as he closed the dresser drawer with a snap. "I'm your father and I say time for bed."

They ignored him. He stood there, watching them laugh and leap, aware that they'd never disobeyed him before. He was tired. He was sore from training, hungry, and in no mood for bullshit.

He grabbed Mari as she sailed from one bed to the other. She screamed immediately, throwing a tantrum the likes of which he'd never seen from her. His girls never bucked his authority like this, not when given direct commands. Kaito guessed he knew now why they'd been able to walk all over Hinata and Neji. Especially since Hanabi was normally very lenient with them. All she had to do was threaten to tell their father of their behavior and they fell in line.

Mari was turned over his arm and spanked smartly. She had the nerve to twist and bite him, months of getting her own way imbuing her with a sense of outrage. Kaito walked to her bed, sat, threw her face down across his knees and whacked her squirming bottom repeatedly, without pause. She screamed in earnest, all the fight gone from her, but he did not let up. Not until she was hoarse and had vomited from her hysterical crying. Only then did he stand her on her feet.

Miki and Momo regarded him with wide eyes. He strode to Miki, she who had been the first to defy him, and snatched her to her toes by pinching her cheek. She squealed as he leaned down into her face. "You do as I say, when I say, as I say I want it done. No more bullshit, you understand me?"

"OOOOWWWWW!" Miki howled, her cheek on fire.

Kaito shook her head by her cheek, dragging her up another inch. "If you don't answer me…"

"Yeth, Daddy, I underthtand!"

He released her. Her cheek was scarlet. His glance at Momo had her running with a terrified whimper to her room. He threw the pajamas to Miki and Mari, now sniffling pitifully, and left to make sure Momo was in bed.

* * *

It was Shino who located Hiroshi and Hisa, and with them Raiden. It was after one in the morning by the time he got them home. Hinata was staying with Hanabi at the hospital tonight. Shino asked Raiden and Aimi if they wanted to go spend the night with Kaito, since he was their relative and they'd come with him. They said no.

Aimi bunked in Amaya's room with her, Raiden with Hiroshi. Hisa left to go to her room, but Shino stopped her. "Are you feeling all right, Hisa?"

She yawned, blinking sleepily. "Yes. Why?"

"You seem on edge. I've looked for your father, but he's away on a mission, I'm told. Would you like me to send you to your grandmother or your aunt?"

Hisa actually lived in the Inuzuka compound and didn't relish the idea of going back so soon. "Did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble?"

Shino adjusted his glasses, frowning slightly. "No…but I'm not sure you and Raiden are getting along."

Hisa scooped Kaminari from her head and held him to her chest. It was a posture she adopted whenever she felt unsure or insecure. "I don't understand."

Shino studied her open expression and saw that she really didn't. He was left to wonder if her earlier interaction with the boy had been deliberate or unconscious. He didn't know. In the morning he would see about contacting Tsume or Hana. For now, he sent Hisa off to bed. He would be glad when Hinata came home so that she could speak with her daughter.

* * *

It was a long night.

Choukichi spent the hours in his bed gazing up at his shadowy ceiling. He relived every moment with Aimi, replayed every quiet word she'd uttered. Halfway through their walk around the village, her bun had come undone, spilling her hair around her. The chill breeze had brought him the smell of spearmint from her hair and he'd drooled from this, as much as from how the strands tossed gently around her face.

-oOo-

Kaito, though exhausted, spent a couple of hours scrubbing his stale house from top to bottom. Working through killing fatigue was one of the things he'd learned to do quite well while on the other world. He usually had to do some mind-numbingly difficult exercise, or some brain-splitting Genjutsu while physically exhausted. Cleaning his house was a breeze. He would have it ready for when Hanabi came home.

-oOo-

Demon considered contacting Raiden to see if he and Aimi were all right. He decided to trust the kid for once, trust that he wouldn't fuck up or be getting into trouble.

He'd woken up from a delicious nap to find Sasuke with an arm around him, also coming awake. He'd demonstrated his knew knowledge of teleportation his father had taught him and whisked himself and Sasuke away. They'd basked in each other's arms awhile. Then Sasuke rolled over and nibbled his ear, going directly for the one place that always had Demon going weak as a kitten.

-oOo-

Far away, his parents were engaged in the same activity. At least, that was the plan. Kushina clawed and growled, fought and bit. Minato fended her off, while trying to pull her to him. Quite suddenly, she was fighting him seriously, hurling curses and threats, screaming at him. Screaming and crying and trying to scratch his eyes out.

"You left me!" she screamed. "My god, you left me, I was dying and you left me with our son! I needed you, you bastard." She was sobbing now. "_I needed you!_"

_No wonder she's avoided any intimacy with me, _Minato thought. _She's still grieving. _He'd only caught a glimpse of what she'd gone through raising their son. She'd kept Demon's persecution to a minimum, but she'd needed to be strong and present for him. She'd kept herself alive through sheer will and the strong life force of her clan, no doubt, but she'd never truly been allowed to mourn. He knew if he'd had to face life without her he'd have been crushed beyond repair. They'd loved so deeply…and they'd ended so suddenly.

He spun her around and pinned her flailing hands against her chest, her back to his front. She bucked and writhed, crying and struggling to be free. He held her. He held her until she sagged in defeat. Her heartbroken grief sounded like a lost, wounded child in the night. Her legs gave out, and he sank to the grass with her in his lap.

Abruptly her appetite for him came back and she twisted in his arms to kiss him, kiss him fiercely. She bit him, digging her nails into his cheeks as she tried to suck him dry.

"Shhh," he murmured into her face. "Stop, love. Stop. Stop fighting, stop being so hard. Just accept that I'm here. I'm here. You can lean on me. You can stop fighting. Shhh. I've got you now."

She calmed slowly, gentled by his tone, by the way he rubbed his hands over her in soothing circles. His hands. She'd missed his talented hands. She took them now and kissed them passionately. They bore the marks of her recent attack. She kissed these lovingly, ashamed. Her husband, whom she'd respected as well as loved, did not deserve such behavior from her. He'd saved their son that awful night she'd lost him. Saved him and brought him back to her when she'd been sure their boy had been gone forever. He'd saved the village, given his life so that others might live. He deserved nothing but honor and humility from her. She raised tearful, apologetic eyes to his.

He kissed her, accepting her silent remorse, telling her he understood, that she never had to be sorry. He brushed her tears away with his capable hands, kissed her, spoke wordlessly against her lips. She shifted, sitting fully in his lap, rising up on her knees so that she was slightly above him. His hand undid the leather thong she used to gather her hair. He drew the heavy mass around them both as he tipped his face up for her deep kisses. She made tight, urgent riding motions in his lap, pulling him to her as she tried to eat him alive.

Hungry for her now, Minato got to his own knees and undid his breeches. The rawhide laces to her vest were undone, her own breeches pulled down as she panted for him to hurry. He fastened his mouth to one nipple, drawing on it hard as he sheathed himself in her body to the hilt in one fierce downward pull on her hips. She arched, which allowed him to take more of her breast. He bit it, rolled it on his tongue, pressed it to the roof of his mouth as he applied strong suction. She tightened her inner walls around his length in sweet, mounting pleasure, sighing his name. He lifted her hips slightly and brought her down again hard. She quaked in his arms, curling around his head and he slammed her down again, then again, and once more as she climaxed suddenly and powerfully in his lap, drenching them both in her juices. Even then he continued to surge upward into her, rolling her eventually to the grass as she clamped her legs around his mobile hips. His face never left hers, her hands never left his hair. He was with her at last, a dream, a prayer answered, and she couldn't bear to have him away from her again. "Oh god," she keened as she came again. "Minato…"

"Kushina. My heart…"

-oOo-

Byakuya spent every night alone. He did not bed down in the crater, or with the other captains. He routinely sought some lonely spot, usually green and leafy, and took his rest there. Tonight was no different. He found a place near a small waterfall. It emptied into a tiny pool surrounded by such lush, verdant grass that it was almost softer than his bed at home.

He would be very happy to go home.

Still, this wasn't too bad. The Commander had agreed to release their limiters if for no other reason than to ensure that they survived so that they could be properly punished whenever they did make it back.

And right now he had a soothing place to sleep, a bit of peace, and the prospect of uninterrupted solitude for the next twenty-four hours. Yes, he was most content.

"You sure gave me the devil of a chase," Kenpachi said gruffly. Byakuya turned his head, gazing up at him in disbelief and annoyance. "Why use the height of your speed when there's nothing to run from?" Kenpachi set his sword against one of the many trees surrounding the pool. He ran a hand over the back of his neck, staring at the water thoughtfully.

Byakuya, who was sitting cross-legged in preparation to meditate, waited. When some time had passed he was finally reduced to asking, "What do you want?" The man had never sought him out before.

Kenpachi was uncharacteristically mannerly, casting an oddly dignified look down at Byakuya. He dipped his head, meeting the large, clear eyes with his own one eye. "The Green Light. Fifty years ago."

Byakuya began to frown and froze. His face froze, his body froze…both in movement and temperature. His lips, parted to speak, formed a thin line as he got slowly to his feet. "How dare you," he hissed. "You were never to mention that bar, and what happened behind it, ever again. On pain of death."

Still speaking deferentially, Kenpachi said, "And I haven't."

Senbonzakura was slid from its scabbard and held toward the ground. Kenpachi glanced at it, back at the face set in lines of bitter disapproval. "Think you can take me?"

"You will regret coming here, I will see to that."

"You certainly took me that night, didn't you." A statement. Kenpachi held the quietly furious stare.

"I was in mourning," Byakuya bit out at length. "Grieving. Drunk. I-"

"Could have fought me off. I wouldn't have pressed. But," Kenpachi said as he pushed off from the tree he'd been leaning on, "I seem to recall you begging for it that night. You remember that? The way you let me take you against the back wall in that alley behind the bar? Where were we, Rukongai? Somewhere around there? You were looking for Rukia, right? And I was there, raising some kind of hell or the other, bored."

Byakuya turned his head aside in shame. "Get out of my sight."

Brought from contemplation of the past, Kenpachi glanced at the frigid profile, lit by the bright moon. "Think you'll ever beg again?" he asked curiously. "You can't tell me you haven't thought about that night since. I know you're like me, able to swing both ways, just like I know there hasn't been anyone for you since. I'm not looking to form a relationship, here. Just need some relief. Help a fellow out, neh?"

Silence. The faint burble and whisper of the small waterfall. Byakuya kept his face averted, his body stiff. Kenpachi felt encouraged. He took a step. "Come any closer and I will end you," Byakuya said.

Kenpachi assessed the threat in the tone. He held his position for a long time, debating on whether or not to force the issue. He decided against it and turned to leave.

Byakuya was suddenly standing in front of him, blocking his path. He really was an expert with that flash step. Yet even now, he didn't meet Kenpachi's eyes. His blade was absent, left on the grass, but there was still a wealth of violence come from him.

"I guess I won't be mentioning this either, on pain of death?" Kenpachi spoke as he stepped slowly to where Byakuya stood.

He was rigid, where Kenpachi grasped his arm through his sleeve. Muscles tensed. He stared at a point to the left of Kenpachi's left shoulder. Even when the taller captain stepped right up close to him, nearly touching his nose with his chest, Byakuya wouldn't look at him.

Kenpachi lowered his head questioningly, staring at those long lashes. He closed the distance between their faces until their mouths were half an inch apart. Only then did Byakuya raise his eyes and meet his gaze. He was very proud, refusing to give in, but so alone. So alone and lonely, and Kenpachi knew this. And when Kuchiki Byakuya pulled him roughly by the back of his neck, he went with it. He allowed the searing kiss, aware that Byakuya would spend years after this night convincing himself that none of this had happened. Just like last time.

The kiss was hard.

Byakuya made a low sound, one signaling the absence of his ever-present and ironclad control. Kenpachi heard, lifted the other man by his arms, and slammed him against a tree without breaking the kiss. The tree shattered. Byakuya didn't.

* * *

Morning saw the Uchiha and Uzumaki gathering in the crater. The teachers were absent. The Shinigami were absent. Wyatt looked around, didn't see Raiden and began to get worried. So did Demon, but he was still trying to trust his son. The boy had to learn some time. If only he wasn't off fucking up somewhere…

-oOo-

Raiden wasn't. He was trying to wake Aimi. The Aburame household was already up and about. Hiroshi had training with Neji. Amaya had training with her father. Hisa was awake and in the kitchen, Raiden knew.

Aimi was dead to the world.

He gave up and went to the kitchen to find food. Sooner or later his sis would have to get up. They needed to find Kaito and get back. He'd heard that Hanabi had given birth to a boy. To his mind, that settled that and they could go back to training. He sat at the kitchen table and enjoyed a bowl of cereal, something else he'd missed. Hisa sat across from him, shoving eggs in her mouth.

What was it about her that had him so curious? He saw her peeking at him through her wild bangs and stopped chewing. For a moment, the smell of her had swelled, becoming noticeably stronger. Now it faded again. He'd woken a few times during the night, aware that she was tossing and turning. He'd been visited by an urge to go to her and see what was wrong. He hadn't, though.

He really wanted to ask what had changed, why she was so quiet now, yet so much more focused on him. And why couldn't he stop sensing her? Why did something in his gut twist, against his will, whenever she looked at him? He didn't like her. Never had. But somehow her forceful ways appealed to him now. At least, he found her aggression acceptable now, instead of irritating. He wondered why she didn't try to kiss him. Maybe she didn't like him anymore? He should be so lucky.

Still, when she got up and left the table with a parting glance at his face, his eyes followed her.

-oOo-

Kaito brought the girls to the hospital to see their mother and new brother. He and Hanabi had decided to call him Taro. Hanabi saw that her daughters were suspiciously subdued, saw the bruise on Miki's cheek. Mari walked gingerly, and refused to sit on the bed next to her. She turned knowing eyes up to Kaito and was again glad that he was home. Her girls had run all over her while she'd been ill with the baby. One night of their father and they were angels again. God, how she'd missed him!

Later, Sakura pronounced that Hanabi was healing unusually well. She would be able to go home in a day or two. The baby was fine and healthy, and already being spoiled by his doting sisters. Sakura took Kaito aside and asked how Lee was, and breathed easier at hearing that he was fine. She smiled wistfully, fondling her wedding ring.

-oOo-

Tsume listened to Shino grimly. When Hisa showed up an hour later for training, she took the girl aside and told her that she wasn't to leave the Inuzuka compound again until she was 'safe'. She began the lengthy explanation on females of their clan, and not before time. As the day progressed, Hisa worsened.

There would be a full moon that night, Tsume knew. Already Hisa lay panting in misery in the confinement rooms, though it was only midday. Her symptoms were escalating rapidly – Shino had gotten to Tsume with his information in the nick of time. An hour later and the girl would have been looking to rut with this Raiden. Tsume made sure to lock her granddaughter in securely. Something told her the girl would suffer her first heat with difficulty.

-oOo-

Raiden listened in stone cold disbelief as Kaito stated emphatically that he wasn't going back to train. He wasn't going anywhere, but up to the hospital in a few days to bring Hanabi home. Where he would be remaining to take care of his family. "You and Aimi go on back without me. Tell my dad he has a grandson."

"But…" Raiden couldn't think of anything to say.

Aimi was still sleeping when he went back to the Aburame's. Amaya was home with Hiroshi, eating lunch. Raiden recalled eating breakfast with Hisa and asked where she was. Hiroshi shrugged.

Bored, Raiden declared he was heading out to get some fresh air. Hiroshi said he'd come along, and Amaya went with them; Aimi was no fun while she was asleep.

* * *

Late that evening, Aimi stretched, yawned, and sat up to find herself alone in the apartment. She didn't mind. She'd had a wonderfully long sleep, replenishing her rest-deprived body. Choukichi had fed her steadily yesterday and she felt restored to her normal self. She felt wonderful. Free. Happy. She suddenly grinned at the empty room, and bounced out of the bed.

There was no food in the kitchen, nothing of note, anyway. Aimi went back to Amaya's room and located a tunic and short pants that fit her. She put her hair in a braid, marveling at how such an ordinary thing as using a brush could bring her such enjoyment.

When the doorbell rang, she answered it while humming a tune. Choukichi stood there, smiling bashfully, filling the doorway with his bulk. "I was waiting for you," she said.

Knowing her, and that she was probably hungry, he laughed. "I know." He gestured behind him to where several clones were carrying a ton of food. "May I come in?"

-oOo-

Choukichi dispersed his clones when they'd covered the couch with their array of goodies. Aimi reached for the closest dish, but he stopped her. "I want you to try this first," he said. He held out a small scalloped bowl, filled with a lemony pastry and topped with a mound of whipped cream. "I made it myself, just for you."

Aimi took it and stared at the frothy white dollop. Such a delicate thing, something she would never have when she went back. She would have none of this when she went back. Her chest cramped in dread.

"What's wrong?" Choukichi touched her shoulder. "You look so sad."

"Sometimes I think about killing everyone," Aimi said abruptly, softly. She still stared at the lemony pastry. "Just so I don't have to hurt and be hungry and train. I think about killing them all so that there could be peace. So I can just be left alone to live my life and do what I want. I just want to be a kid and love my daddies and my brother and eat when I'm hungry and sleep when I'm tired, or when I'm not, and not have to push myself. Always pushing myself, nothing I do is ever good enough."

Choukichi did not seem shocked. He only waited for more, peering intently at her face.

"I can't even complain. If you complain then the thing you complained about gets turned into some kind of torture. I don't complain. I just do what I'm told and make myself stronger and harder. Raiden is all gung-ho about it. My dads are really into it. Everyone is. And if you're not, you get sent away like Hiroko and Queenie. Do you know I sleep on the ground? That things crawl on me in the night? I go to bed hungry and wake up hungry, and use the bathroom on myself sometimes because to ask for a break would be too much trouble."

Aimi had been staring into Choukichi's light tan eyes. Now she looked down at the pastry dish in her hands. "But I come here and you feed me heaven and listen to me and are so nice to me. Nothing is nice there. Nothing. I like whipped cream."

The change in subjects made Choukichi blink. He watched her lift the dish to smell the whipped cream. Some stuck to the tip of her nose and he reached up a hand to wipe it off.

Aimi watched him with her dark blue eyes. "And I like you, 'Kichi."

Choukichi took the pastry from Aimi's hands. Her face was so trusting...and she liked him. He bent and shyly kissed her cheek.

Aimi ducked her head and blushed. Her first kiss. She risked a glance up through her hair and found Choukichi looking at her with bright eyes, just as shy, but brave enough to steal another kiss, this time on her nose. Aimi scrunched her nose in embarrassment…but held her ground.

He gave her a close-lipped kiss on her mouth.

Aimi's cheeks burned crimson.

She'd had a violent crush on Kenpachi that had been neatly and thoroughly incised by her stern grandmothers and the relentless struggle to survive on that world. Thoughts of Kenpachi were burned out of her through training, beatings, threats and deprivation. Kenpachi himself wasn't around, working with his group, or Wyatt, or doing any number of other things. Her feelings, such as they had been, had been bright and hot for a short time, and then were gone. She was a child. Love to her was anything she currently wanted. Hiroko had been right, Aimi knew nothing of love. She knew want and need and similar notions.

But here was someone she'd known since her first memories. Choukichi was a part of her life, not some novelty from another world. And he was here providing her with things she wanted and needed. He was here when her own brother was off god knew where, making sure she was fed. His kissed warmed her, embarrassed her, but she liked them. She liked him. She suddenly liked him a lot.

She let him kiss her many times. And when, after the last breathless kiss on her closed mouth, he asked if she might consider staying in Konoha, Aimi looked around at the food, at her clothes, at the large beefy thirteen-year-old boy that promised to be there for her and nodded her head yes. She would stay. She didn't want to go back. No one would make her go back to that hell. She would wait for her daddies here. Raiden and Kaito could go back without her.

Choukichi, overjoyed, reached for the pastry and fed her a spoonful.

* * *

Raiden was bored. Alone and bored. All his friends had been rounded up by parents or cousins and whisked off home. Hiroshi had been cornered by Neji and told to get his ass to the estate. Apparently he was to have gone back right after lunch, not spend the day hanging out with Raiden. They weren't done training. Neji had taken Naruto and Seiji as well.

He wandered, visiting old haunts, places that held memories for him. Shino had asked him to be home before midnight. Raiden had said he would spend the night At Kaito's and come get Aimi in the morning. He wasn't really planning on sleeping at Kaito's, but he couldn't take another night at the Aburame compound either. And if he told Shino he planned on sleeping outside, the man would feel responsible and insist he sleep where it was safe.

Village life felt soft after the harsh environment of the other world. The food left him feeling sluggish; too much sugar and starch. A can of 7-Up had given him diarrhea. His body was unused to junk food now, and rejected it. He'd been unable to sleep well in Hiroshi's room last night, and this morning, he'd felt keenly the amount of time he was wasting. His body clocked the hours, reminding him which teacher or group he was supposed to be with at a given point during the day.

-oOo-

The village had pretty much settled down for the night by the time Raiden found himself outside the Inuzuka complex. He stared up at it, not really surprised. Sometime during the day, he'd suddenly become more aware of Hisa, wherever she was. He knew she was in need. He knew he could provide what she needed. He had no idea what that was, or even thought about it consciously. But it had been there, in the back of his mind, while he'd laughed and played with his friends.

This close, he could smell her. It confused him; he wasn't in the habit of using his sense of smell to identify people…or anything, for that matter. His nose was just a nose. He had more power now, more strength…maybe this was a side effect of that? He didn't know. All he knew was that she pulled him with her smell, which had to have gotten stronger during the day for him to be able to smell it from outside the complex.

He was up and over the wall without a sound.

* * *

She could smell him. She'd smelled him all day, his unique aroma whipping her discomfort to unbearable levels. She was swollen and wet in places that were unmentionable. Now he was here, and the swelling increased, wetting the crotch of her pants. She moaned in pain, twisting against the chains her grandmother had been forced to put on her wrists.

She knew what mating was. In her normal frame of mind, she couldn't imagine doing it, or wanting to do it. Boys were a pain in the ass to her. But now, her mind mostly gone and her inner beast striving to be free, it was all she _could _think about. Her mind had descended completely to bestiality. Adults of the clan could be in this state, while maintaining human thoughts, but she was too young to have mastered this duality yet. She tugged on her chains as Raiden's scent grew stronger. A whine of anticipation came from her throat.

* * *

Raiden took a moment to mask his chakra and scent as he crept through the sleeping halls of the underground rooms. He sensed people, women, behind some of the doors. They all smelled more or less as Hisa did at the moment. The same smell of readiness. He paused outside one door, sniffing. Intriguing. But Hisa's smell was stronger. Sharper. Out of control and calling to him.

A door at the end of the last hall. Steel. Reinforced with Chakra. Hisa was behind this door, he could feel. He looked at the lock, and sent a Death Sphere right through the entire mechanism, leaving a large, neat hole. A brief thrill of opposing chakra from the steel sang up his arm, then he was pushing the door open.

Hisa stood naked and bleeding, from where she'd clawed at her own skin in a fever to appease the fearful itch in her body. Her chains dangled heavily to an iron ring bolted to the floor.

Her blood, her smell, her sex drew him. He walked forward in a trance, completely unaware of where he was or who he was now. He hadn't really been aware since leaping over the complex wall.

Something in him rose up, took over, made him take hold of one thick chain and yank it from the ring it was bolted to with a display of strength that had Hisa snarling in approval. He bent her manacles apart, freeing her wrists. He reached for her, but she slipped out of his grasp, her fangs bared. She retreated.

This time, the thing in Raiden was fully awake. It knew to give chase, and chase he did. Hisa ran.

-oOo-

They were young and fast, caught in the grip of things beyond their control. They slipped out of the village, Raiden streaking after Hisa. It seemed he knew of a faster way to travel, a way to fold himself through space, but this new thing in him would not hear of it. The female must be hunted and caught with his own power or she would never submit to him. He had to prove himself.

Her blood and the smell of her heat drew him on, making him close the distance little by little, until he finally tackled her somewhere in the forests outside the village. They rolled, and Hisa fought tooth and nail, growling.

Raiden was strong. He held her down, held her immobile. His body was hot and tingling and throbbing in response to her. He lowered his head and smelled, snuffling along her skin, over her breasts, on his way to the dripping place between her legs that exuded the smell he'd been powerless to resist since the moment he'd seen her yesterday. It was overwhelming now, right in his face as he buried his nose in her crotch.

She kicked him.

Snarling, Raiden leapt for her, but this was what she wanted. She shook her hair aside, becoming still in submission.

Raiden's fangs extended, lengthened. He felt chakra gathering in his mouth, in his fangs, and knew what he was supposed to do. It was what he wanted. Caught in a mindless maelstrom of darkness, Raiden snatched Hisa to him and sank his teeth deeply into her neck, in the hollow that joined her neck to her shoulder. His chakra entered her, linked with hers, marked her.

And then she was biting his neck in turn, inserting her chakra into him, binding him to her.

Raiden roared in anger, rearing back. She'd marked him! It was not her place to mark him. She was to submit to him. Transformed now, and livid, Raiden set about showing the female who was master. She would be a worthy mate, strong and fierce, but she must submit to him.

It was a black, mindless battle for dominance between to young, wild creatures. The hour they spent snarling and tearing at each other would have far-reaching consequences, but neither of them would remember it clearly when it was over, since neither of them were in their right minds.

* * *

When morning came, Raiden found himself in the dappled light of the forest with no memory of how he'd gotten there. He tasted blood in his mouth and sat up. A moan to his left revealed Hisa, covered in leaves and bite marks, asleep. He frowned. What…?

_Oh god. _

Bits and pieces came to him, fragmented memories. Even now her smell nearly drugged his mind again. He couldn't understand why he'd been so drawn to her, why he'd bitten her, but he could feel her presence within him. He could feel her restless dreams, the poke from a sharp twig against her leg…worst of all, he could feel how much she wanted him, even in sleep. She was in his head, under his skin, linked by their chakra, and dear god he was in so much trouble.

_Did I have sex with her?_

No. That much he knew. An image of Wyatt suddenly rose in his mind, of kisses they'd shared, words of love. To his knowledge he hadn't kissed Hisa once, but the bites seemed somehow more intimate than that. More intimate than sex. A crushing sense of guilt accompanied his confusion.

He heard hounds in the distance. Probably Hisa's family out looking for her, drawing closer with their own sense of smell. His scent would be all over her.

Afraid, Raiden folded himself directly to Aimi's side.

-oOo-

She was in bed, sleeping, Amaya across the room and also snoring. He shook his sister roughly. "Aimi. Aimi we have to go. Aimi!"

She came around slowly. "Leave me al-"

Raiden dragged her out of bed, prepared to Boom right then and there. Aimi, awake now, and sensing what he was about to do, pulled away from him. "What are you doing," Raiden hissed. "We need to go back, right now. Kaito isn't coming with us."

"I'm not going either," Aimi informed him. "I'm staying here. Tell Papa and Daddy that I'll wait for them here. I'll go live with Kaito or Uncle Gaara and I'll be safe. They don't have to worry."

"You little-" Raiden spluttered in shock.

"And if you try to take me I'll put you in a Genjutsu you'll never break out of. If you try to Boom me there or go there and Pull me, I will open all the gates and no one will get away. Don't make me, Raiden. I'll do it."

Raiden couldn't believe the nerve of her. And yet he could. He'd seen how happy she was here, how miserable she was on the other world. And his sis, while ordinarily a gentle soul, had depths of darkness in her that, quite frankly, scared him shitless sometimes. She would kill. Not her parents or him, but the others. Maybe even her grandparents.

But he was in trouble, and afraid, and sure that showing up on the other world alone would be a very bad thing to do. "Sis, _please_."

Aimi shook her head. "I'm sorry, Raiden. I love you, but I'm not going back." She folded him away.

* * *

Raiden looked around. He was in the dessert surrounding Suna. He bowed his head a moment, swallowing his tears. Miles away, he felt Hisa wake up. He Boomed.

-oOo-

The teachers, everyone actually, stood around him as he gave a report on why he was alone. Aimi's threats were given due consideration. Kushina swore viciously. Mikoto shook her head, mouth tight. Sasuke and Demon looked at each other, looked at their son. Raiden avoided Wyatt's eyes. The mark Hisa had given him tingled even now. Thankfully, he couldn't sense her. He didn't mention her or what he'd done with her.

"Training resumes as normal," Kushina bit out. By the look in her eye, and the displeased expression on the faces of the other teachers, it was sure to be worse than usual.


	47. Chapter 47

A/N: These deadlines are great for keeping me on schedule, but somehow, even though I'm adhering to the original storyline in my mind, and taking more time to write the chaps instead of rushing, I feel something is missing. :S I will work on discovering what that is. For now, can I just say this chapter is a tease...things will be seen in more detail next chap.

LOL, I knew most of you would shit about the Raiden sitch, and I'm sorry, but it has to happen. It ties in with the ending of this fic and Raiden and Wyatt's own fic, set 6-7 years from now.

Also. I've commissioned a piece of artwork with everyone on the training world! Update sketches will be posted on the facebook page (see my profile) every weekend, hopefully. Yay for yummy, topless, muscle-men! Also, i'd love to hear from you on there, where I can address many of you at once^^

* Typos...evil.

* * *

Chapter 47

Month Four

Near midnight.

Most everyone had returned to the crater by now in preparation for sleeping. It was Ryota's time to practice magic with Wyatt. Wyatt was indeed standing by, but he was looking off to the distance, where Raiden was trading blows with Sasuke, each in his transformed state. A last bit of training before turning in. Ryota didn't complain to Wyatt about his lack of attention. He needed Masaru and Kei for this little experiment, anyway.

He'd been turning the idea over in his mind for a couple of weeks now. He knew the Shinigami had performed a version of his theory, but he'd yet to try it himself. Now was the time. He and his two brothers sat in a triangle, with him at one point facing away from them. They formed the other two points, facing his back. Essentially, they were all facing east. Ryota took a deep breath.

He held his palms out cupped together, and called up an energy ball. The same spell he'd done in his room when Gaara had discovered them. He put all his strength behind it and had a sphere several feet in diameter hovering above his hands. He raised his arms so that the ball was over his head. His first energy ball had blasted around his room with power. This one lit up the entire crater like a huge spotlight, blowing dirt and dust around. Those present stopped what they were doing to look. Ryota had his eyes squinted against the bright light. "Okay," he said above the noise of the energy ball. "When I say so, put one hand on me, Kei. Do it…now!"

Ryota felt his brother's slight palm touch his back and the energy ball doubled in size, throwing light and wind past the crater and into the surrounding countryside. He was vaguely aware of yelling from the other crater occupants, people shielding their faces. Ryota felt strained at the power flowing through him, but he grit his teeth to shout, "Now, Masaru!"

Masaru's touch had a blast of light, sound, and air exploding from the enormous energy ball, the effects of which were now visible miles away as a wide beacon. An enormous pillar of light connected the crater with the cloudy sky. Ryota shrieked, and released his magic hurriedly. His body went limp, strength gone, as he fell face forward in the dirt. Masaru and Kei, extremely wind-swept and nearly blind from the light, went to him.

Those that had been in the crater were equally dazed and disheveled. They picked themselves up carefully, feeling their bodies to make sure all parts were in place. Wyatt had his shield going. The ones who'd been training away from the crater, arrived shortly afterward to investigate, having seen the light from afar. The flying creatures that had begun to descend flew off, disoriented with the sudden absence of light.

Ryota needed a few minutes for his galloping heart to slow down, but otherwise he was fine. All of the crater occupants gathered around him, apparently waiting for an explanation. Itachi came and knelt by him, putting a hand to Ryota's hair. "Son? Are you all right?"

"Better than all right," Ryota coughed. "Just solved the problem of where I'm going to get the power to perform the Bijuu extraction."

At their father's puzzled look, Kei launched into Ryota's theory, which had just been proven correct. "Since we're identical, and thus the product of one egg splitting three ways, Ryota hypothesized that he was the original egg in mom and that Masaru and I are the copies that split from him. The fact that he's the only one to inherit mom's magic seemed to lend credence to this theory. Therefore, it followed that if united with us physically, Ryota would be made whole and have access to his full potential. "

Itachi's eyes gleamed with pride. There were murmurs of approval from the onlookers.

"All I need now is a spell to do the extraction," Ryota concluded.

"Well, hurry up," Raiden snorted testily. "We're halfway through our fourth month on this rock. We got six weeks left, if that." He turned and stormed off moodily.

* * *

Wyatt watched him go. He watched Raiden a lot these days, since they couldn't do anything else with each other. It was how he was able to tell that Raiden had been very different since coming back from Konoha two weeks ago.

His friend was always in a bad mood these days it seemed. Raiden trained harder than anyone else now, sometimes skipping his four hours of sleep altogether. His grandparents approved. Kushina had commented that it seemed as if Raiden were trying to make up for the fact that Aimi wasn't there anymore to do her share of the training. Wyatt didn't think this was the case, but he had no better explanation. He saw Raiden frequently rubbing a place on his left shoulder, high up near his neck, but he saw nothing there when he'd gotten close enough to Raiden to take a look.

Sometimes he and Raiden were at the stream, drinking or fishing if it was their turn to hunt. They talked, but their conversations had lost the depth they'd once shared. Now it was hard to find something to talk about. They were so often apart, so often dead with fatigue or high off the adrenaline required to train as they did, that talking just became…forced. Frequently Raiden would look over at him, open his mouth, and begin to speak, but nothing ever came out. He could sense that Raiden wanted to say something, but whatever it was it couldn't be expressed in words or telepathically. It hurt that Raiden felt he couldn't share his burden, whatever it was, with him. When they were at the stream, he'd sometimes think, _Who is he? He's not the baby who appeared in my room that day when I was supposed to be napping. He's not even the boy who brought me to Konoha a few months ago. I miss my friend._

Raiden was growing. His hair reached below his shoulders in spiky profusion. Wyatt was reminded of how Madara's hair had looked when he'd nearly taken Shouta in Konoha. Long and spiky, just like Raiden's, though black. Raiden's powerful body was starting to thicken. His neck, his arms, his hands…Wyatt knew first hand what Raiden was going through, since he was going through it himself. He'd had his first wet dream not long after coming to this world. His voice still cracked sometimes, but more often than not it was settling into the deeper tones of manhood. Raiden's voice still cracked during nearly every sentence, but he was Wyatt's height.

The times Wyatt caught sight of himself in the stream surface, he had to stare. His hair was long and wavy, and he had muscles now. Real muscles. He wasn't as built as Raiden, but he was a far cry from what he was a few months ago. My god, had he really changed that much? He still had an image of himself as a soft-cheeked, well-mannered boy. That was not who peered at him whenever he caught his reflection.

Still, one thing was unchanged, and that was his feelings for Raiden. When he saw him storm off now, he followed him.

* * *

Raiden heard his pop call after him, telling him they weren't done training. He ignored him. He walked quickly, picking up his pace until he was jogging. He jogged steadily until that too wasn't enough, and finally he sprinted. He ran and ran, trying to escape it all, until his wings unfurled and he flapped powerfully into the air, gaining altitude.

He just couldn't seem to stop being angry these days. More than angry, he felt deep, black rage, a thirst for unrestrained violence. He wanted to kill, to rip with his teeth and hurt things. Visions of maiming, of cutting a bloody swath through prey warred within him. He wanted to hunt.

The only thing that brought relief was training, which he now welcomed enthusiastically. He especially enjoyed Taijutsu with Jiraiya. The other day he'd taken on Kenpachi himself. The Shinigami was good at the art – Raiden had been beaten soundly, but it had felt enormously gratifying to pit all his strength against an opponent, even better to have his ass handed to him. Beneath his rage, he felt like he should be punished, and Kenpachi's bone-crushing blows were perfect for self-flagellation.

But nothing ever managed to make him forget how he'd been violated. It was unspeakable, appalling, how his mind and body weren't his own anymore. He couldn't feel Hisa or sense her, not really, but…something about his being was different. He could feel it. Something was off. There was a cavity within him, where before he'd always been whole and secure in the knowledge of who he was.

Sometimes he had dreams now, in addition to the violence he craved and the cavity inside him. Disturbing dreams of fangs and smooth limbs and wild, bushy hair. The scent Hisa had carried so strongly. He'd wake from these dreams feeling unfulfilled in some way, with his dick finally fully hard and ready for business. Sometimes business had apparently been done in his sleep; he'd woken up with the front of his pants wet on more than one occasion, and he was no bed wetter.

Wyatt. Wyatt, Wyatt, Wyatt. This would be the thought he hammered into his head until images of that bitch went away. Why wasn't he having weird dreams about Wyatt? He couldn't even remember what it felt like to kiss him anymore. Training on this world killed everything in you, until there was nothing left but aggression and the desire to vent your strength wherever the teachers pointed.

But he would think about Wyatt anyway, trying to remember what he tasted like, how it felt to hug him. He would look at him, _know _he loved him, and feel like crying because he just. Couldn't. Feel it. Not anymore. All he felt was angry and scared and confused. Then he would hate Wyatt for not making him feel better. Wyatt _always _made him feel better, but not this time.

-oOo-

Raiden had landed some time ago and was walking through some grassy field, the sound of crickets all around him. He heard Wyatt following him and stopped. If he could just bring himself to admit what he'd done… He'd been out of his mind, true, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he could have stopped himself from biting Hisa if he'd really wanted to. He could have Boomed back here or done any number of things instead of chase her and leave his mark on her. But that would mean admitting he'd betrayed Wyatt, that even for a moment, someone else had come between them. Things would be forever changed between them, and he could not take that just now, not on top of everything else.

"Raiden?" Wyatt's voice was so different now. Everything was different, nothing was the same anymore. "What's wrong? You know you can tell me."

"Wyatt…"

"I know something's bothering you. I can see it, Raiden, even if no one else is noticing."

Raiden tried to say it. If only he knew where to begin. He wasn't even sure what biting Hisa meant, only that it was wrong, wrong for him. And all the other shit he was feeling didn't make sense either. What ended up coming out of his mouth was, "I love you, Wyatt. I'm sorry." Then he folded himself far away.

Wyatt took the hint and didn't follow. His heart ached.

* * *

Kiba put his head in his hands. The screeching wails of Hisa had been going on day and night since his mother had found her in the forest. He himself had arrived in Konoha three days later and been greeted with a punch to his face from his mother. Then he'd been thrown into a room with his daughter, who'd been writhing and screaming in one of the confinement rooms. He'd been commanded to find a way to help her.

Now, though his hackles were raised at the sound, he was accustomed to hearing the noise. The entire Inuzuka complex was used to it. The hounds still howled in misery, and Kaminari had needed to be sedated, but it looked as if they were all waiting for him to do something. He knew they waited for him to give the go ahead, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not yet. There had to be a way…

Hinata and Shino were there with him. They were all in the room he used whenever he visited the complex. Sai was there, his mother, his sister and Sakura. Sakura spoke first, her voice subdued.

"I can't help her. The only time I've seen chakra entwined like that was in reports Tsunade-sama kept about Sasuke and his cursed seal. There is a mutation of the same seal going on with Hisa, but it's unlike anything even Orochimaru's experiments put out, likely due to the Kyuubi aspects of the bond. You'd need an expert in sealing techniques to even attempt a prognosis. I'm sorry, but her case is beyond any medical remedy I can think of, and you know I've tried." She looked down at her hands. Failure did not sit well with her.

Hinata came and put a hand on his shoulder. "Neji and I have examined every inch of her pathways, Kiba. She's my daughter. If something could be done, you know I'd do it in a heart beat. I'd give her my own life, if I thought it would save her." She turned her head away a moment, briefly overcome. "This is the only way we _can_ save her. Unless you've thought of something?"

"You already know there's nothing I can do," Kiba said in a hushed voice. Hisa's howls tore his heart to ribbons. His daughter, his legacy. The one who was pure Inuzuka despite her mother's genes. His little girl.

Tsume shook her head. "There has never been a bond like this in the clan, ever. Bad enough what the boy did. Worse that she seems to have bitten him as well, doubling the effects." Tsume looked away, disgusted. She felt guilty for not keeping a closer watch on the girl. She was furious with her son for taking that mission when he should have been watching his own daughter. Hadn't she told him the girl was too wild to be left alone?

Hana held the syringe, turning it over in her hand. "We can give her peace, Kiba. She doesn't have to suffer this prolonged agony. It hurts all of us, this decision, but there's no other way."

Hinata quietly began crying. Kiba pat her knee absently before covering his face again. His own eyes dripped and leaked.

"Even if the boy were here, I doubt it can be undone," Tsume said more gently. "And I know of no expert that could reverse this. None living, anyway."

Kiba dropped his hands from his face and looked at everyone with bloodshot eyes. His jaw held over a week's worth of beard. He looked haggard. "Pack my shit, Sai."

Sai looked startled. "Where are you going?"

"To the ones responsible. I'm not giving up just yet. If they tell me it's hopeless, then I'll consider your solution, but I have to at least try." To his mother and sister he said, "Get Hisa ready. I'll be back as soon as possible."

He knew where to go. He'd seen the two of them around the village a few times since coming back, usually eating. Her scent still reeked of ozone, of power. She'd said her brother was no longer on this world, but that didn't mean the little shit was unreachable.

-oOo-

He pounded the Akimichi gate hard enough to have his hand bleeding. It was the pup who answered, Choukichi. Perfect. "Where is she?"

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Aimi. Where is she?"

"She's busy right now…if you'll wait here-"

Kiba shoved past the kid who was nearly his height, knocking him down. Chouji was there instantly, helping his son stand, while eying Kiba warily. "Something you need on my property, Kiba?" There was a threat in his voice and scent, one Kiba ignored.

"I want Aimi. Get her out here now, or I'll find her myself."

Tenten had come out at hearing the small commotion. Chouji nodded at her now, and she put the knife she'd slipped into her hand away. When she returned with Aimi, who'd been eating, she shielded her with her body until it was clear what Kiba wanted.

Kiba could smell pork on her. Busy, Choukichi had said? He snorted. "Either you bring your brother here, or take me to him. My daughter is suffering."

"I can send you-" Aimi began.

"No. You're coming with me. I don't trust you to send me where I want to go."

Aimi blinked up at him, hurt. "I wouldn't send you someplace else-"

Kiba strode to her, grabbed her arm, and made to leave the courtyard of Chouji's home. "Shut up. As far as I'm concerned the only reason I haven't come after you is because what happened to my daughter was likely an accident."

Choukichi broke away from his father's grip to block Kiba. "You're not taking her anywhere."

Akamaru wasn't present, or Kiba would have given the signal to get the kid out of his face. He settled for giving Chouji a meaningful glance. "Leash your brat before he gets hurt."

""Kichi," Chouji said warningly.

"He's not taking her, Dad."

Tenten came down the steps, put a hand on her son's arm. "Honey, let them go. Aimi can take care of herself."

"Do you want to leave?" Choukichi asked a silent Aimi. "If you do, I'm coming with you."

Aimi smiled tremulously. "It's okay. I'll take him and Hisa there and come right back, I promise." She didn't know precisely what was wrong with Kiba's daughter, only that it involved something Raiden had done. She had a vague idea that Raiden had gotten his smell on Hisa, or something like that. She would do as Kiba asked as quickly as possible. The sooner she dropped them off, the sooner she could come back.

* * *

When Raiden got back to the crater, everyone was asleep. He sat with his knees drawn up, near his snoring parents, and just gazed up at the foreign constellations. He watched them slowly shift as the hours passed, unable to rest.

-oOo-

They were all standing, stretching, about to begin another mind-numbing day of training, when the blast of chakra had everyone turning sharply.

Aimi considered her job done and prepared to Boom back. Kushina saw her at the same instant Mikoto did and sprang into action.

Everyone who'd been staring at the newcomers, turned to watch as Aimi was clubbed senseless by a brutal blow to her head from Kushina. Mikoto was there to place to fingers on Aimi's forehead and administer a Genjutsu that would have the girl remaining unconscious for hours.

Raiden only had eyes for the brown shape that had come with Aimi and the other two. This shape was huddled on the ground, but it lifted its head of wild hair, sniffed, then stood and streaked toward him. He felt the cavity within him fill up and wanted to scream.

Kiba and Hinata looked to where their daughter crouched at Raiden's back. She'd stopped screaming the second they'd appeared in this place. Hinata needed a moment to calm her roiling stomach –that teleportation jutsu was _awful- _but now she took a step toward Raiden. She was blocked by one of the woman she'd seen attack Aimi, a sight that had shocked her a bit. Close up, the woman's long red hair was vaguely familiar, but…that was impossible. This couldn't possibly be-

"You're Hyuuga," Kushina snapped, leaning into Hinata's face. "Close Aimi's Tenketsu now. I don't want her using chakra for the next few days."

"I-" Hinata abruptly caught sight of The Fourth, Jiraiya, Uchiha Mikoto, and…dear god…"Y-yes, Senpai," she stammered.

Hinata landed behind Aimi and worked quickly.

Demon, who'd been about to say something about Aimi's treatment, closed his mouth. The girl had deserted, after all. Instead, he stepped forward, looked at Kiba and Hinata, at their daughter who was still crouched behind Raiden, then at where Sasuke seemed equally perturbed and clueless. Sasuke even shrugged his shoulders, effectively telling Demon that he had no idea what was happening. "Uh…Kiba? What's going on?"

-oOo-

Kiba carefully counted six Narutos. He saw five Sasukes, people he knew for a fact were dead, and promptly tuned this information out. He gave the Naruto who'd spoken to him a brief look, then went and snatched Hisa by an arm. He dragged her, whimpering and reaching for Raiden, to stand in front of Naruto. Kiba pulled Hisa's hair aside, holding her head twisted to expose her neck.

"Oh, shit," Sasuke muttered. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Demon stared down at the two puncture marks on the girl's neck, ignoring for the moment how Hisa seemed to be anatomically different. "M'kay, what am I looking at?"

Kiba snarled. "I'd think you of all people would know, seeing as you're carrying that Fox inside you. And that's not all." He turned Hisa's face to show the black sclera of her eyes. One pupil was red, the other yellow. He gestured at where Hisa's arms seemed to have grown an extra elbow joint each, and at how her spine was humped and ridged.

Sasuke moaned out a curse. Demon looked at him. "You know something I don't?"

Sasuke glanced at Raiden, then turned away, pacing off a few steps while he swore fluently in a low monotone. Demon looked from Sasuke's back, to Raiden, to Hisa, and back again. What did Raiden have to do with-

Understanding came in a thick rush that made Demon go numb. He looked at Hisa again, really looked at her, with dawning horror.

No.

Oh, god…

Demon slowly turned his gaze to where Raiden stood, looking for surprise or shock, anything that would point towards innocence in this matter.

Raiden's face said it all. He looked guilty, shamefaced, and defiant. He knew what was going on here, even if Demon didn't. Keeping his eyes on his son, he asked Kiba, "What happened?"

"He bit her."

The word itself was unremarkable, but it was understood by everyone present, especially the Uzumaki, that bit, in this instance, was capitalized. Demon knew, at least part of it, but he tried to find a loophole; Raiden hadn't just bitten Hisa or Kiba and Hinata would not now be standing here, facing him with wrath and grief in their eyes. "I…I'm not sure I understand."

Kiba was only too happy to explain, to accuse and condemn. "My daughter went into heat. From what I'm told, she stalked Raiden in an effort to get him to choose her as mate. Seeing him now, I can tell Raiden is also in a rutting state, or he wouldn't have accepted Hisa and pursued her. I should have been there to check my daughter's actions, but _you_ should never have let the boy out of your sight if you knew he was in such a condition. The stench coming from him, I'm surprised he's not trying to impregnate every bitch here. But that isn't the reason I'm here. Look at my daughter, Naruto. He marked her, claimed her, but he also cursed her with whatever seal he inherited from Sasuke. Worse, this seal, the Kyuubi chakra, and the bite have all combined to bind my daughter to Raiden in some way. Without him around, she's dying." Kiba bowed his head, smoothing Hisa's hair. "She's marked him too, or the bond wouldn't be as strong as it is."

Silence reigned in the crater. Eyes were wide with shock, or lowered in frowns of thought. Each Naruto, save Kit, sniffed in Hisa's direction, sniffed in Raiden's, and felt their hackles raise. Raiden's smell had been noted of course, but it had been ignored just as Fem-Naruto's smell was dutifully and successfully ignored.

Demon stared at Raiden the entire time, noting when the boy's face had slackened at mention of the curse seal. When Kiba mentioned Hisa marking him, Raiden had reached up and clapped a hand to the side of his neck. Demon turned to Kiba with an effort, meeting his eyes. "And…now what? You've brought Hisa here to be at his side, to be his mate? My kid is thirteen, Kiba-"

"As is our daughter," Hinata flared. "We want to know if you can reverse this."

Hisa whined and strained to be free, looking in Raiden's direction. Sasuke came up and put a hand on Demon's shoulder as he spoke to Kiba. "I don't know about the Kyuubi aspect of it, but as far as the curse seal goes… I don't think anything can be done."

Demon was communing with Kyuubi, having a heated argument. –_What do you mean it's irreversible? There has to be a way!-_

_**-The kitling has melded his chakra to the bitch's, there is no way I know of to undo it. We mate for life, foxes. The bond has been set. In addition, the bond itself is corrupted with the seal your Uchiha mate bequeathed to the kitling. The bitch is marked for eternity, her life force tied to that of the kitling now. I can sense how her heart and blood beat in time to his, synchronized now that they are reunited.- **_Then, apparently trying to comfort Demon, who was in no mood to be comforted, he added, _**-Take heart. Although the kitling likely had little control, he chose well. The bitch is strong and healthy. She will pup worthy offspring, to be sure.-**_

If Demon could have hurled Rasenshuriken at his own Bijuu just then, he would have. He could sense Kyuubi's approval of Hisa and it annoyed the shit out of him. The hopelessness of the situation must have been evident on his face; Hinata crumpled against Kiba's shoulder and Kiba's face hardened.

Nothing was said as the parents let go of Hisa and watched her run back to Raiden. She threw herself at him, her arms going around his neck. Raiden caught her absently with one arm, looking at his parents, who seemed too ashamed to look at him now.

Demon cleared his throat, unable to meet Kiba and Hinata's eyes. "If it's any consolation, Kyuubi says Raiden probably didn't have much control over what happened. Kiba, Hinata…I'm sorry." He hung his head.

Sasuke frowned. "Well, I'm not. Raiden's unique; there's no way we could have anticipated how puberty would affect him. Whatever he inherited from the curse seal and Kyuubi have probably clouded his judgment, but that doesn't mean we can smell what kind of condition he's in like you can, Kiba."

Hinata attempted to wipe her face. "Well, regardless, I'm staying with my daughter. I'm not leaving her here with you people after –"

"Shh," Kiba silenced her. "We can't stay, Hinata, not if she can't be healed. Our clans need us. And there's nothing we can do for her here. At least Hana's solution -one you and my mother agreed with, need I remind you- won't have to be put into effect. At least we'll know she's alive."

Hinata struggled for a few moments, trying to master herself as a true shinobi would. When she was successful, Kiba gave her an encouraging hug. Hinata was almost undone by it, but she maintained her control.

How Demon longed to rip Raiden a new one, but if the kid really had been out of control…"This is our fault," he whispered to Sasuke. "We should have known what was going on with him."

Sasuke said nothing.

* * *

When some time had passed, Kushina stepped forward and said tactfully, "Raiden, send the girl's parents home." Raiden Boomed them Kiba and Hinata off planet. "Now, bring the girl here."

Raiden walked toward his grandmother, passing his parents' disapproving eyes in the process. Their gaze burned him with shame. Hisa clung to his arm, walking with him. He could feel a harmony between them, a connection that further tightened his lips in rage, but he was quiet because he'd just caught sight of Wyatt.

Wyatt's face was stark white, his eyes dark blue and cloudy with an impending storm of emotion. He stared at Raiden as if seeing him for the first time. "Wyatt," Raiden began. He didn't know what else to say. "I…"

Kushina had taken Hisa from Raiden and was examining her closely, with Minato at her side. Raiden ignored Hisa's mewls of disquiet at being separated from him. Wyatt was walking up to him, gaining speed the closer he got. He stopped when he was close enough for Raiden to smell his breath.

The punch had everyone looking at the two boys. It was a punch Wyatt wouldn't have been capable of delivering before training. It sent Raiden flying backward, blood spraying from his broken nose. Wyatt stood his ground, chest heaving as his dark eyes followed Raiden's movements. "How could you."

Raiden's nose cracked and creaked as it healed itself, but he scrambled quickly to his feet. "Wyatt, I swear, I didn't…It was an accident-"

"I know you. You never do anything you don't want to do, and _nothing _has power over you except Genjutsu. Did she use a Genjutsu on you?"

Raiden couldn't answer that. He moved toward Wyatt, hand held out in supplication. "Her smell, Wyatt, you don't know how it was, how hard it was to stay away…"

"How hard it was," Wyatt mimicked quietly. "Hard. Since when has hard ever stopped you? Fuck, the impossible doesn't even stop you, Raiden!"

The expletive had Raiden going still. Coming from Wyatt, it was like a slap to the face. "It was an accident. I swear."

Wyatt walked up until he was nose to nose with Raiden. He stared into the eyes level with his own, stared deeply.

Raiden suddenly felt Wyatt in his head, rifling through his memories, digging through his days in Konoha. Wyatt had never been in his head except to speak to him. This invasion was unexpected. Raiden was caught defenseless and unguarded.

Wyatt stumbled backward, his eyes now nearly black. The look he gave Raiden was one of such hurt…"You wanted her. It wasn't an accident, Raiden, _you wanted her._" He turned away from Raiden's guilty face, covering his mouth with a hand.

Raiden ran to him, desperate, and flung his arms around Wyatt from behind. "No, I didn't, not really," Raiden rambled urgently. Wyatt's sword dug painfully into his stomach, but he didn't loosen the grip he had on him. "I mean I did, but it wasn't really me, it was something in me…Wyatt, I couldn't control it, you have to believe me!"

Throughout all this, the other inhabitants of the crater stood by, watching silently. Raiden begged and pleaded until Wyatt sent him soaring away with a wave of one hand. He crashed to the ground fifty feet away. Wyatt turned to look at Raiden's stunned face and spoke in a voice that didn't crack at all. "I left my family for you. And you, you wanted her and now you'll never be free of her. Just go to hell, Raiden. And stay away from me."

Wyatt turned to leave.

Raiden jumped to his feet and ran to where Hisa was being held down by his grandparents. He dragged her up by a fistful of her hair and held a Rasengan near her face. "You can't leave me," he screamed in a shaking voice to Wyatt's back. "I won't let you leave me, Wyatt. I can't lose you. Not you. I can take anything but that."

Wyatt glanced at him over his shoulder. "So, what…you're going to kill her?"

"If there's no other way to get rid of the bond and prove to you that I don't want her."

Demon and Sasuke were edging toward Raiden, intent on stopping him. Wyatt only shook his head. "I don't even know who you are anymore." He disappeared in a cluster of orb lights.

Sasuke grabbed Raiden's arm and snatched him away, as Demon caught Hisa and leapt to his parents. Raiden hardly seemed to notice. He stared at the space Wyatt had occupied, all the fight gone from him. His Rasengan dissipated.

Jiraiya clapped his hands briskly. "Show's have work to do."

-oOo-

The crater emptied of nearly everyone. Demon, Sasuke, Kushina, Minato, Mikoto, Raiden and Hisa remained. It wasn't lost on any of the teachers how Hisa had been willing to let Raiden kill her. She hadn't attempted to stop him or go against him in any way.

Sasuke pulled Demon away some distance, keeping Raiden in sight. When he was sure they wouldn't be overheard, he turned to the equally worried blue eyes. "I don't like what I'm seeing. He was willing to kill her in cold blood, Naruto."

Demon liked hearing his own name for a change, but ignored it to fix Sasuke with a glare. "Why can't that kid stay out of trouble? Is that too much to ask?" Then he blew out a short breath. "I really do feel like this is our fault, though."

Sasuke snorted. "Kid jumped after Aimi without so much as a by-your-leave. He hadn't been exhibiting any odd behavior before he left. And it's just like I said, we had no idea what puberty would be like for him. I don't remember seeing you go through anything like this."

Demon thought back. "A lot of my transition took place while my mom was training me for my second Chuunin exam. I did feel wilder, but she worked me so hard…and there wasn't anyone around like Hisa, with canine traits to set me off." He scratched his chin thoughtfully, looking to where his mother and father, and Mikoto, were still examining Hisa. Raiden seemed to be listening to what they were saying. "Do you remember what puberty was like for you, Sasuke? I mean with the curse seal and all?"

Sasuke stared at his feet, trying to remember. "I think I was still with Orochimaru. I remember getting hard a few times while he and Kabuto were…" Sasuke swallowed. "There were dreams and aggression I had no control over, but Orochimaru would just assign me to do some task or fight someone during the worst of it. And he and Kabuto would be there at night-" Sasuke scrubbed his face with a hand, dispelling the images. "Doesn't matter. What matters is Raiden. Wyatt saying what he did…I don't think the kid will get over that soon, do you?"

Remembering what he'd felt when Sasuke had chosen to leave Konoha with Itachi, Naruto thought it was a safe bet that no, Raiden wouldn't be forgetting. Not if what the kid felt for Wyatt was anything like what he felt for Sasuke. Thinking over the other Narutos and Sasukes, he asked, "Why are we so attached to each other? Do you think we passed that on to Raiden some kind of way?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe."

Kyuubi, listening in, snorted forcefully in Demon's mind. Demon raised a mental eyebrow. _–Something you'd like to add, asshole?-_

_**-Did you believe, all these years, that your bond with the Uchiha was on the strength of your emotions alone? Why do you think you sickened each time you were parted, or did you forget that?-**_

Demon's eyes ran over Sasuke, thinking back over the years. _–That was you? Your influence over me?-_

_**-Like it or not, you and I are not strictly ourselves. You have some of my traits and I, though it galls me to admit it, have a few human thoughts I could do without. You've marked that Uchiha times without number, even before you mounted him. It is the same with the other versions of you both. The strength of the bond is enhanced by my chakra, by my aspects within you.-**_

_-But…I don't think the others get sick when they're apart. And Sasuke and I don't react that way anymore…at least I don't think so.-_

_**-Well, no. That part of the bond was from the creature the curse seal came from, or so I've always suspected.-**_

_-So you're saying Raiden has to be with that girl, even though he loves Wyatt? That's bullshit!-_

_**-Unless the bond is undone, they are united for life.-**_

Demon had an image of Kyuubi curling up, the discussion at an end.

* * *

Mikoto released her Sharingan. "I am no medic-nin, but Raiden's chakra looks to be entwined with every inch of her pathways. It's especially concentrated throughout her central nervous system. To attempt a reversal…"

Kushina concurred, straightening up from where she'd bent over Hisa. "Any unsealing technique would extract her life as well as Raiden's chakra. Minato? Have you any ideas?"

Minato tugged on his lower lip, eyes narrowed. "Possibly. I can think of a few higher Fuuinjutsu of your clan that might have worked…"

"But?" Kushina prompted. She herself could call to mind nothing that would be sufficient to eradicate the bond completely.

"Well, it would require prolonged and precise use of every chakra element, possibly a combination element or two. I only say that because the chakra that forged the bond, Raiden's chakra, can take the form of any element, and was somehow implemented thusly when he bit her. But it's a vague theory at best. I can't possible come up with an unsealing jutsu."

Raiden listened to this and closed his eyes. Hisa was released. She came immediately to him and sat by his leg.

His grandparents stood. "I'm afraid that while we're training, you will have to look after her, Raiden. She can't keep up with us. And regardless to how the situation came about, you're responsible for her now." A mild rebuke from The Fourth, but keenly felt just the same. They left him.

Demon and Sasuke came and stood by their son. "We'll stay with you today if you want," Demon said. "You want to talk about it? About what happened?"

Raiden opened his eyes, stared at where Aimi had been left like a sack of potatoes. When she woke up she would be in so much trouble, for which he was glad. He hoped she bled. Had he not chased after her, he wouldn't be in this mess. "I'm not going to kill her," he said to his fathers. He knew that had to be one of the reasons they were offering to play nursemaid. "And there's nothing to talk about."

"Maybe you're feeling-" Sasuke began. Raiden turned and looked at him.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to get Wyatt back. If that means I have to find a way to reverse what happened then that's what I'm going to do. He's right. I could have fought the urge to be with Hisa. He's right in one other respect, too."

"What's that?" Demon asked cautiously.

"The impossible has never stopped me before and it's not going to stop me now." And with that, Raiden grabbed Hisa and folded them both out of sight.

The two men stood where they were, watching their unconscious daughter. "Think he'll fuck her?" Demon asked.

Sasuke groaned. "God, I hope not."

* * *

Wyatt was unstoppable, attacking Urahara with such ferocity, augmenting his blows with magic whenever possible, that Urahara was forced to go all out. He held nothing back, was tested, actually _tested _by a boy who'd been holding his sword for less than half a year. But Wyatt was an exceptional student. Ichigo had been the same, mastering his monstrous blade with ease, once shown what to do. He drove Urahara backward now, back and back, until Kenpachi stepped in, licking his chops.

"Looks like you're ready for me now, boy," Kenpachi growled with pleasure. "Keep that fury nice and hot for m-"

Wyatt launched himself at the scarred captain, infusing Excalibur with his power, feeling the blade hum in accord with him. Kenpachi hooted in fierce glee, blocking the blow aimed at his throat. Wyatt whirled and came from another direction. Overhand, underhand, all directions, and Kenpachi finally was reduced to just grinning hard, words failing him in his happiness.

-oOo-

Elsewhere, Mikoto took on all three harpies at once, and quickly regretted it. With Genjutsu she was unmatched, though Hiroko, and Aimi especially, came close. With Ninjutsu and Taijutsu she was as competent as any Uchiha, though no prodigy like her sons. The harpies, however, seemed to take after their father to some extent. Their savage, shrieking wildness was nigh on impossible to combat. Mikoto extracted herself from the fight, signaling for Itachi to take her place.

He did so, pitting himself against his daughters well. The three young sisters were a well-oiled machine of synchronized abilities, though. Akiko had the Taijutsu, Asami the Ninjutsu (used in conjunction with deadly medical attacks), and Akane was the best at Genjutsu from the three. Itachi was reminded of Nagato and his bodies in the way his daughters worked together. Short of releasing Mangekyo, Itachi was forced to conclude that his daughter would soon embarrass him.

He was losing. He sent a glance to Sasuke, which his brother caught. Sasuke leapt in to help.

Itachi walked back to his place in the watching circle, struggling not to stagger. He likewise maintained an even pattern of breathing as he dropped down next to Rasta-Sasuke.

Rasta-Sasuke moved away from him.

Itachi usually took this treatment without comment, merely vowing to keep trying, but just now he'd had enough. "If you know why I did what I did, and that I'm not the brother you killed, why can't you find it in your heart to forgive me?" He aimed the question at Rasta-Sasuke's stony profile. "Besides the kiss, which was ill-advised, I've done nothing to hurt you."

Rasta-Sasuke spared a single glance for Itachi. "You think that matters? As far as I'm concerned, you're him. Makes no difference whose brother you actually are. You're Itachi. You look like him, sound like him, and that's enough for me. Stay away from me, _bro._"

Itachi gazed at his profile for a long time.

-oOo-

The lunch/rest period that day featured a slew of rabbit-like creatures the children had caught, and one wide-eyed, terrified Aimi, sitting up by the fire pit. She was ignored. Wyatt was seen glancing around briefly, presumably for Raiden. At seeing his friend was nowhere around, he appeared to relax.

The teachers had a discussion. "My sons have mastered every technique I've taught them," Minato said as he bit into a rabbit leg. "They're adaptable and fight intelligently. Even Kit has improved significantly."

"The last Fuuinjutsu lesson is scheduled for tomorrow," Kushina added.

"I can't keep up with those beasts Itachi sired anymore," Mikoto fretted. "Their Genjutsu is strong now, there's not much more they can learn that experience won't teach them."

"So," Jiraiya mused. "Time for us to go back?"

Fugaku looked aside, at where his two sons were talking quietly. "I suppose we all know what that means?"

There were nods. "Aimi will have to send us back to our correct times."

"Do you think she will do what needs to be done?" Minato asked. "I know she dislikes training, but I doubt she dislikes us."

"We'll take one of the Shinigami along, to ensure the job is done properly," Mikoto nodded at the Shinigami group. "That hulking creature Kenpachi, for instance. He'll do what needs doing. But not before we summon a last teacher to see them through to the end. Someone stronger than us."

-oOo-

The triplets were engaged in their own conversation.

"Look, I know you're getting really powerful and all," Masaru said for what felt like the tenth time. "But this is a real person here. If you screw up-"

"The results could be disastrous, to say the least," Kei interjected feverishly. "Plus she could, you know, die."

"I know all that," Ryota said, flipping through the pages of one of his many books. "I also know this is as close as we're going to get to trying out this extraction process on a live being. Do we really wanna get to crunch time and find we can't do jack? Please, just _trust _me, okay?" He stopped at a certain page, running his finger along the spell. "Here it is, locator spell. One of you go tell dad we'll be gone awhile."

Masaru and Kei exchanged a glance.

* * *

Hokage robes did nothing to flatter Kakashi, hence he hated wearing them. The hat did not go with the way he wore his forehead protector, nor did the robes themselves, go with the way he moved. Sad as it was to admit it, the Hokage gear just wasn't cool.

He had Genma and his own stepson Asuma along as escorts for this meeting. He was second to arrive, after the Mizukage and her sword-bearing guards. By previous arrangement, nothing would be said until all were present. Kakashi took his seat, feeling Asuma and Genma take up positions behind his shoulders. Asuma, he knew, was a nervous wreck at being given such an important mission as this, but the boy had to be broken in sometime. He was recently raised to Chuunin status.

The Tsuchikage arrived next, mostly recovered from his recent mysterious illness. He was followed quickly by the Kazekage and Raikage, who arrived almost simultaneously. Also by prior arrangement, The Hokage was the elected leader of the five Kage for the duration of this crisis. As such, Kakashi cleared his throat mildly and gathered everyone's attention.

"My fellow leaders. Now that we are all in agreement about the threat of Akatsuki, let us now discuss our response to it. Mei?" Kakashi murmured politely to the Mizukage. "Would you like to go first?"


	48. Chapter 48

A/N: This note will be long -.- I'm going to adress some issues that came up in reviews, and a few other things.

1. No, Hisa and Raiden will not become a couple or a threesome with Wyatt. Just no, ugh.

2. Some asked, I think it was Solitare1, who could be more powerful than the teachers currently in place. Well, there's a discussion set up for that on the facebook page, should anyone care to guess.

3. There is artwork of Sasuke, Aimi, Rasta-Sasuke and Blondie as they are on this world up on the same facebook page. New pics go up every weekend. The finished product with be posted in color on DA, but these sketches, I'm deciding to share with you guys.

4. Someone has come pretty close to guessing the m-preg couples...there's a discussion up about that too, same place. I expect that after this chapter, things will be pretty clear.

5. To **Swallowing Dante**, I'm not sure if I got the phrase right this time, but the credit goes to you, as usual^^

6. Last but not least, to **Asm613:**

I wasn't going to reply to your comments, but I figured since you took the trouble to go to my account on DA and leave comments on my artwork for the last chapter, that I should acknowledge your efforts. You were blocked for contacting me for a reason though, and it wasn't because I need reviewers to fawn all over me, as you said. I don't see how you can comment on being blocked anyway since you have private messaging disabled. However, to address your comments.

a- You quoted my profile with me saying I can't write about 12-13 year olds engaged in lemons, then informed me I'd written about Raiden and Hisa having sex. Well, no I didn't. I specifically stated that he didn't have sex with her, or so much as kiss her. You went on to bring up Aimi kissing Choukichi..again this isn't sex. Nor did she have sex with him when she spent the night at his place. I'm sure these things were pretty clear in the chapters.

b- fly my freak flag? Seriously? Never considered myself a freak, but okay...whatever.

c- Thanks for the side comment about Ryota being the original egg was a smart tactic...but him being the original egg was actually first mentioned in chap 23. I don't write randomly, and I plan far ahead.

d- You asked why the teachers didn't kill Hisa. You said that the way I'd portrayed them, to date, would make them killing her an action in keeping with their character. Allow me to go over, again, what Kiba said: Hisa and Raiden are connected. The teachers, quite rightly, would not just kill her without knowing what the effect would be on Raiden. Nor do I feel I've portrayed them as such heartless monsters. They sent Queenie and Hiroko away as much for their own good as for the good of the rest of the students. And you're suprised Sasuke and Demon stopped Raiden from killing her? Then you don't understand their characters, or I haven't put them across accurately. They're not trying to raise a murderer. I'm not sure why you felt me keeping her alive is out of character with how past situations have been dealt with, but...there you go. Next time, why not just ask how something I've written relates to another thing instead of attacking? I do respond to reasonable criticism...if the person has private messaging enabled.

So, that's that.

*Typos may be encountered.

* * *

Chapter 48

Month Four

Raiden mentally explored the cave as he crouched in front of it. He used his newly awakened sense of smell for good measure, but could detect nothing dangerous. A few vines hung in front of the dark, mossy opening. He parted these and went inside, calling forth a fireball in his palm to light the way.

The interior was wide. Quite wide, with a trickle of water running down the far wall. This water gathered in small, natural depression probably caused by untold years of the same trickle of water hitting the stony floor. As they were up in the woodsy mountains, the water was likely fresh and safe to drink. Raiden could smell the lingering scent of animals that knew of the water source and had come to sample it.

Other than that the cave, about twice the size of his room at home, had some moss on the floor, a bit growing up the wall with the trickle of water, and a few odd mushrooms here and there. It was acceptable. Raiden turned to regard the one who'd followed him silently inside.

Hisa seemed uninterested in her surroundings. She kept her eyes on Raiden. The red and yellow gaze unnerved him, quite apart from how creepy she looked now. "Hisa? Can you understand me?"

If she did, she didn't respond. Which was to say she probably didn't understand him. Raiden was put in mind of an eyeless worm, mindlessly seeking what it wanted, with no understanding of why it wanted it. He couldn't say why Hisa, in possession of both eyes, put such an image in his head, but it scared him badly. She scared him. He shivered.

_No wonder her parents were so upset. It's like I killed her, _he thought with a fresh wave of guilt. _She's gone. I couldn't stand her when she was normal, but she didn't deserve this. Even if she was the one who chased me first. I have to fix this. _"I'm going to help you," he said out loud to her. "I know you can't understand, but I'm sorry."

Raiden went to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, over the deepest of the bite marks he'd given her, the main one. She quivered slightly at his touch, but remained still.

He was able to delve her mind easily. She didn't resist him at all. This puzzled him. Her aberrant meekness couldn't all be due to the bond, could it?

No. It wasn't, he discovered as he dug deeper. He recalled his anger at her attempt to mark him, how he'd bitten her and forcibly subdued her with his chakra. He could see where his chakra still lay heavily over parts of her brain, short-circuiting her natural personality. Raiden concentrated, bringing his other hand up to rest on her forehead, trying to see as clearly as he could the effects of his mark on her, and how his chakra interacted with her body.

He didn't have Sharingan, or the years of experience with Fuuinjutsu that his grandparents did, but he was able to see and interpret better than Mikoto, Kushina and Minato had because it was _his _chakra he was looking at. He was able to connect with it now, even though it was in another's body. This was what caused Hisa's body to be synchronized with his own, he realized; his chakra inside her, reacting to its source, which was his body.

Normal humans were not equipped to handle the strength of his chakra, Raiden soon discovered. Left alone, without the source of his body nearby, it killed. As it was slowly killing Hisa before she'd been brought here. Now, he could sense his chakra reversing its effects on her body, humming in tune to the chakra in him now that he was close by.

Raiden released her and stepped back. He backed away from her until he reached a wall, and slid down it slowly until he was sitting cross-legged.

He was in a trance of roiling, completely inhuman thought.

Raiden was unaware of it, but this manner of thinking was something he did whenever processing new and difficult information. His dad discovered it when scolding him as a baby for making a tornado in the house around his cousins. The insectile, highly busy quality of it had disturbed Demon back then; if he could see how Raiden went about finding a solution to the current problem, he might have been downright frightened.

It had been awhile since Raiden's mystical side had asserted itself. It usually only happened in the times of greatest stress to his mind- when he was scared, in other words. It was how he'd begun having prophetic dreams, how he'd discovered Pulling, etc. To some extent, it could be explained as having a portion of Aimi's ability to do anything. He couldn't do anything, but he could sufficiently warp the laws of physics in order to accomplish something…or rather his mind would find a solution to a problem and his body would set about reaching this solution, usually by spitting out another ability.

He actually didn't require a new ability this time. His grandfather had been right: what was needed was prolonged and exceedingly _precise, _controlled use of chakra. Raiden saw how he could extract his chakra from Hisa's body, thus reversing the bond. But it was going to be difficult, even for him. Billions, trillions of cells…careful removal of his chakra from each one, each organ, her brain…

Raiden blinked, seeing his surroundings again. Hisa was sitting in front of him. She didn't look happy or sad or anything. She had her head back, staring up at the cave ceiling. She still smelled of her heat, but suppressed as her mind and body were with his chakra, the scent was minor now.

-oOo-

A swarm of glowing white lights materialized and dispersed to reveal Ryota, a stack of books, a sack of supplies, and Masaru and Kei. Raiden stared at them blankly.

Ryota gave a nod in greeting, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, and held up the book in his hand. "Locator spell. Glad I pulled it off without transporting us into the mouth of a volcano or something. Tricky bastard, that spell."

Kei gave a sidelong glare at his brother. "Wait, that was a risk?"

Ryota bounced up to Raiden. "So! I'm here to help, in case you were wondering. I want to be the one to get rid of the curse seal."

Raiden snorted…then thought about it seriously. "Can you?"

"I think so. I've been working on an extraction spell. So far I've had moderate success with blood samples taken from Killerbee, Chibi-Gaara, and Uncle Demon, but it's been pretty imprecise due to the fact I'm working with-"

"How the hell did you get their blood samples," Raiden asked in surprise.

"-blood instead of flesh, or a body with a soul," Ryota rambled on as he rummaged in his sack. "I feel this is an opportunity to refine the spell, tweak it if it needs tweaking. The curse seal is different from a Bijuu, but not by too much, I'm thinking. I should be able to use the results to shed light on a decent extraction spell for the Bijuu…so have you started?" Ryota straightened up with objects Raiden couldn't name in both his hands.

Raiden stared at Ryota's thin, intent face.

He could appreciate the stress the kid was under; a large part of the success for this war rested on his shoulders. He was eleven years old and going through a lot, what with discovering and mastering magic, and all without a guide in the art. He worked tirelessly, non-stop, forgoing ninja training altogether now as their deadline approached. He knew Ryota was scared, that he sometimes cried from frustration and the wish that his mother was there to help him, but Ryota didn't complain. He simply applied himself to mastering a responsibility that any other boy the same age would have cracked under.

Truth be told, Raiden only knew how to reverse the mark he'd given Hisa, the bond. He hadn't yet thought of undoing the curse he'd put on her as well. He smiled at Ryota now, his first smile in two weeks. "Your awesomeness rocks the coolness," Raiden said, using one of Ryota's odd phrases. "I'm grateful for your help."

-oOo-

Hisa was laid on the floor. Raiden knelt on her left side, and took a few moments to clear his mind. He had excellent control of his chakra under normal circumstances; not so much since puberty had set in. Now his chakra sometimes surged out of his control, still adjusting to the boost in power he'd gotten before killing the Elders, a boost that had yet to peak and level off. It seemed each day he woke up stronger than the previous day. Attempts at control usually met with resistance from his chakra. As such, his teachers had been focusing on the really powerful moves, pushing him until what he was capable of now would quite literally have killed him a couple of months ago.

Still, he forced his mind to be blank and tranquil as he heard Ryota flipping pages and muttering. Ryota had a book of spells he'd written himself too, much like Wyatt had done. Raiden heard scribbling in this book as Ryota examined Hisa with his magic and made notes on what he found. A question was posed to Raiden. "How long do you expect your part to take?"

"Don't know," he answered, eyes still closed. "But once I start, no one is to interrupt me for anything. If I fuck up, she could die."

"Yeah, but…how long?" Ryota pressed. "Estimate."

"Hours…a day maybe."

With that, Raiden uttered a final hushing noise to his three cousins and stretched his splayed hands out over Hisa's torso, six inches from actually touching her. He held this position a moment, shutting out all outside stimuli. He shut down every sense except his seventh, calling up the resonance of his chakra in Hisa's body. Only then did he lower his hands until they were firm against her chest and belly.

The triplets watched in silent awe as Raiden's black chakra whirled slowly and powerfully around him and Hisa both.

* * *

Kiba dragged himself into the home he shared with Sai. Akamaru greeted him with an almost silent bark of shared misery. His tail was held low as he nuzzled Kiba's hand. He reared onto his hind paws slightly to lick Kiba's face, before dropping back to all fours. Kiba didn't object when he pressed himself to Kiba's leg, offering solidarity and support in his grief.

Kaminari was there. The black puppy ran round and round Kiba, picking up Hisa's scent. The poor puppy _arf_-ed incessantly, likely demanding to be taken to Hisa. He growled threateningly in his immature voice, whined, licked cajolingly at Kiba's foot, all to no affect. Akamaru finally nosed him aside, giving an admonishing _woof _for the puppy to have some respect for Kiba's anguish. Kaminari sat back on his haunches reluctantly, wagging his tail.

-oOo-

Sai stood in the doorway leading to the hall a moment, watching as Kiba distractedly rubbed behind his companion's ears. He finally stepped forward and gathered his lover to him, bringing his head down to his shoulder. Kiba allowed himself to be held, then later guided Sai to the bed they shared. Sai only held him, letting Kiba's silent agony fill the bedroom until the air was oppressive with it. Out in the living room, Akamaru and Kaminari both howled once, then were quiet.

"Was there no hope for her there?" Sai asked eventually.

Kiba shook his head against Sai's shoulder. "She calmed once she was with the kid again. Stopped screaming. No one…no one seemed able to do anything. Sh-She's gone, Sai. She won't be able to live as a ninja. She doesn't know her family or anyone anymore. She probably doesn't even know her name. I'm not sure Hana's solution isn't better after all. What kind of life is that?"

When it had become evident just how damaged Hisa was, Sai had witnessed Kiba's howling screams of mourning, as if the girl was dead. Kiba was more subdued now, but Sai could see that the whole situation really was as if the girl had died. He knew Hisa was Kiba's favorite child. Kiba could barely relate to Hiroshi, though he loved his son. He just didn't understand him very well. Hinata likewise was not particularly close to Hisa, but loved her as a mother should just the same. This thing with Raiden had affected them both acutely. It had twisted Sai's guts to see Kiba and Hinata leaning on each other at the loss of Hisa. He'd always regretted the fact that he and Kiba would never share that final intimacy, that of having a child together. Hinata would always be the one to have given him offspring. What Raiden had done had seemed to bring Kiba and Hinata closer together-

Raiden.

Sai was brought out of thoughts of the kid he'd only seen a handful of times by Kiba turning to him in search of more intimate comfort. "Let me top today."

Kiba's rough voice sent shivers of anticipation through Sai. "All right."

* * *

"Kirigakure owes Konoha a debt of insurmountable proportions," Mei said with a bow of her head. "Uchiha Hiroko freed me, and hence my country, from enslavement to Yakushi Kabuto. We were spared the shame of attacking Konoha through my ill-advised actions. Consider Kirigakure as a tool at your disposal, Hokage. I will personally fight with everything I have in this war. Akatsuki will not escape unscathed." Ao and Choujirou, her guardians, nodded in affirmation behind her.

Gaara had Temari as his only escort. Kakashi had given him the nod to divulge the highly classified information of the Bijuu army currently training for the Akatsuki encounter, the existence of other worlds from whence they'd been summoned, and information on Raiden and Aimi. Kakashi had not, however, given the okay for Gaara to talk of the teachers because, quite simply, Kakashi didn't know of them. Gaara pledged his support to Konoha, and sat back.

At hearing of the weapons Konoha boasted in the form of Raiden and Aimi, the other Kage were silent. They could not imagine such power residing in two children, but if it was true that Izanami herself was involved, it was good information to have. "Will these children be fighting?" the Raikage demanded gruffly.

"Undoubtedly," Kakashi murmured. He did not mention that one of the children was currently in Konoha, eating herself into obesity again, instead of training. He'd met with Aimi, listened to her reasons for not going back, and had been unable to prevent her from removing her link from his mind. He'd tried ordering her back to training as her Hokage and superior, but she'd merely smiled at him sweetly and informed him that Kurenai was carrying a third child. He'd been sufficiently distracted to let the matter drop at the time. He had every intention of returning to Konoha after this secret meeting and convincing her to take up her responsibilities once more. If necessary, he would enlist the aid of Chouji and his son in accomplishing that task.

The Raikage nodded, satisfied. "You have our support as well. They took my brother. They will pay. They will pay dearly."

Kakashi felt the lightning that briefly surrounded the Raikage in emphasis of his point hum in resonance with his own chakra. He slid his gaze to the Tsuchikage, ever a crotchety bugger who loved to disagree with everything.

But this time he was strangely quiet, staring off into the distance. Kurotsuchi, one of his escorts, leaned down and whispered to him. "Onoki-sama-"

"I heard," the little gnome of a man waved impatiently. "Can't you let a man think in peace?" To Kakashi, he said, "This will be my last war, I can feel it. Guess I should get around to picking out a successor. Ack, you have our support, you know that." He leaned back in his chair, apparently tired already.

Talk turned to strategy, weapons, special shinobi in possession of rare talents, and the number of combat-ready ninja each nation would be bringing with them. Mei, the Mizukage, brought up a concern.

"With Akatsuki and the Jinchuuriki army, this world will be torn apart. Aside from the loss of life, it might not matter if we win or lose; there'll be nothing left to leave to the winners. There isn't a corner of the world that would be safe for our elderly and the children too young to fight."

Kakashi nodded. "I've spoken to Kaito. It seems some of our allies, also in training, recently encountered a similar situation. The battle, and those fighting it, will be moved to another location, thereby leaving our world intact."

"Moved?" The Raikage grumbled doubtfully. "There is no jutsu in existence strong enough to move so many, so far away."

"From what I understand, Raiden and Aimi are under instruction to move everyone to this other place, the moment the battle starts," Kakashi assured them. "If anyone can do such a thing, it's those two. Our loved ones, and those not fighting, should be safe."

* * *

Hiroko studied the elaborate up 'do Queenie had fashioned of her hair. She twisted her head this way and that, her mouth open in wonder, as she gazed into the mirror. "It's gorgeous, Queenie, I love it!"

Queenie breathed on his nails and buffed them on his collar, rolling his eyes in acknowledgement of his skills. Hiroko threw a hairbrush at him, which he ducked with ease. Then he ran, as Hiroko knocked over her vanity stool and got up to chase him.

He was slim and fleet, darting about their room lightly, while Hiroko had progressed from being voluptuous, to being blatantly fat. She blamed her pregnancy and her new, sedentary lifestyle for this. That, and the fact that Gaara's kitchens were very well stocked. After being deprived of proper food on the training world, she'd come to Gaara's palace and indulged herself recklessly. Part of it was the baby making her hungry, but most of it was the good food, and eating large quantities of it to help her get over missing Konohamaru.

Queenie helped a lot in that respect. She couldn't remember being closer to anyone outside of her family, or imagine what she'd do without him in her life. She ran earnestly now, huffing, a hand to her swelling stomach as she screeched at him to run slower.

Queenie chirped out a laugh. "My, if your grandmother could see you now!" He leaped gracefully into the bed, making Hiroko envy his svelte body.

She flopped down beside him, breathing heavily. "Okay. Maybe I should lay off the gallons of ice-cream and the bowls of strawberries swimming in sweetened condensed milk."

"Definitely. You'll be lucky to pop this little bun out at all when the time comes." He jiggled her stomach with his palm, lifting the hem of her shirt to kiss the soft, fleshy surface. "She'll be quite as fat as you are if you keep eating like that."

At the intent look of love Queenie gave her small mound, Hiroko rose up on her elbows. She cocked her head quizzically. "How do you know it's a girl?"

"Hm? Oh…I don't know. Just do." He turned and stretched out beside her, wrapping her in a hug.

"Can you see the baby?"

"Of course not…though, sometimes I feel like I get an impression."

"Are you getting one now?"

Queenie laughed. "No. It usually only happens when you're sleeping. When it's quiet and still in here, and you're all soft and huggable next to me. I feel so peaceful. I'm able to forget about missing Kit, about worrying over whether he's eating, or if he's been hurt. Sometimes, while I'm quiet and peaceful like that, I look at your belly and just…know. Can't explain it." He turned his head on their shared pillow to look at her. "Why?"

"Remember when you said you don't have Sharingan?"

"And I _don't,_" he reiterated.

"But what if you did?"

"I don't-"

"Just what if?"

He stared into her black eyes, mirrors of his own, and shrugged. "Well, what if I did?"

"Wouldn't it mean you could be with Kit and train?"

Queenie thought about it seriously. "I doubt it. I listened to quite of few of those Genjutsu lessons. Having Sharingan is one thing, knowing how to use it is something else. I would love to see Kit, though…do you suppose he misses me?"

Hiroko ignored the gathering tears as she sat up excitedly. She was in no mood for one of their lengthy, yet enjoyable crying jags. "Ooh, Queenie, sweetheart, I just got an idea. Can I try something?"

"Kit!" Queenie wailed, quite content to do without Hiroko this once. He was working up a nice, melodramatic howl when Hiroko slapped him. "…Ow."

He listened with some interest as his darling Koko-Butter, as he fondly called her sometimes, illustrated a theory of him having Sharingan hidden deep in his mind. She rambled sweetly, with elaborate hand gestures, about how she could possibly awaken it for him if he was in a peaceful enough state of mind.

"You should meditate, like you do before Yoga," she gushed. "I bet I could do it then."

"Honey, has it occurred to you that even if I did awaken the coveted Sharingan, that there's no one here to return me to Kit? Who would I train with?"

"Me, silly." Hiroko bounced up and down in the bed on her fat rump. "Let's try it now."

"Let's not," he countered. "I'm in the mood for delicious hugs and a nice, long nap. We can try in the morning."

"Promise?"

"I do."

She swooped down and kissed his mouth smartly, something they did innocently and often. They were incredibly close.

It was strange, yet felt so natural. He was unlike any man she'd ever known, but he wasn't like any woman, either. He was effeminate, but she couldn't truly say that there was anything weak about. Not unless she compared him with her uncles or her father, anyway. Or her brothers. He had strengths and discipline, he just wasn't ninja. And Hiroko had been around precious few people who weren't ninja. He was a source of endless fascination, how he could be so different, while making her feel so cherished.

Usually she didn't think about it, but just then it hit her that if Konohamaru could see them now, he'd be jealous. Sexual man that he was, he didn't truly have an understanding of homosexuality. He would see a man in her bed, being kissed by her, and go for her throat and Queenie's. She, having been raised by two gay men, knew there would never be anything between her and Queenie but deep, friendly love. She paused now, propped on an elbow above him to ask, "Have you ever been with a woman?"

"You're disgusting." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious." One of her swollen breasts was resting on his chest. Even now, he rested a hand on it, familiar with her body, yet not attracted to it. She didn't mind the touch.

"So am I. No, Kokonut-Milk, I haven't."

"Have you ever thought about it? What being with a woman would be like?"

Queenie looked at her. "Only as one thinks of other shudder-inducing pursuits."

"Do you think you could be with one? If you had to be, I mean." She was just being mean now, she knew. She loved torturing him.

"The poor woman would be severely disappointed," Queenie insisted. "Trust me. I'm not someone who discovered their sexuality after experimenting with girls. I've known my preferences practically since my first day of kindergarten."

"What's that?"

"School."

"Oh."

She snuggled against his thin chest, thrice his weight, and slept soundly in one of their decadent, midday naps.

-oOo-

The following morning at dawn, he was as good as his word and dutifully meditated for almost two hours, putting himself completely under. Hiroko had been told by him once that he never went completely under unless someone was present to rouse him after a certain period of time. It was dangerous, he said. He could end up remaining under until he literally died in that state through lack of nourishment.

Hiroko waited a few more minutes, just to make sure he was well and truly under. Then she accessed her Sharingan and slipped into his mind.

Queenie's mind was much like he himself was. Peaceful, serene, content. His meditation did not cause this. All the meditation did was ensure that there was no noise or activity going on in the mist shrouded clearing she stood in.

Blondie's mind had resembled some sort of blasted land, with odd structures that represented his controlled and orderly thought processes. Queenie's mind was earthy, woodsy, with waterfalls and wildflowers and greenery everywhere. Harmony and balance permeated the environment so that Hiroko felt herself being lulled against her will. She had to concentrate to maintain her own thoughts; Queenie's mind was exceptionally strong, even without the meditation. She knew he had a lot of experience maintaining his equilibrium in the face of adversity. All those years with his brother had seen to that. And he'd coped well enough on the training world.

Once she was centered again, she set about the task of interpreting her surroundings so that she might discover where a hidden ability might lay.

The journey was interesting, if long. She came to a narrow brook, gurgling over smooth stones. Lifting one of the stones from the cool water, she saw a glimpse into some kind of underground room. She dug down through the bottom of the brook, and came out into an underground cave that housed a stream, which reflected sky, instead of the cave ceiling. She entered the stream and came out in another cave, this one sporting a river. The process was repeated several times, each with a larger body of water, until she finally found herself sinking slowly, slowly through a clear, uninhabited ocean. She gazed up at light receding from her vision, and had the curious sensation that she was being sucked under with Queenie's consciousness. It was a dim thought. All thoughts were difficult now. She couldn't even remember what she was doing there, or who she was. Was someone supposed to wake her up?

She hit bottom with a soft thud, and was unsurprised to see a door standing on the bottom of the ocean floor, without walls to hold it upright. She opened this door and found a dry room, dusty, and bare of anything but a youth standing and staring at her in a mute look of surprise.

At seeing the white shirt, the wide, purple belt, and dark pants, Hiroko had a thought at last. She smiled a big, dopey smile, feeling disconnected from everything but the door she held onto by its knob. "I know you…aren't you psycho?" Then she giggled.

* * *

…_Queenie?_

_Hiroko! My god, Itachi will have my head for th-_

_-Kazekage-sama…_

_-long have they been…?_

…_baby's losing strength, we may need to induce labor-_

_-Ino, can you…?_

_Already on it…brainwaves synched… he's surfacing-_

…_she's coming round with him._

-oOo-_  
_

Queenie heard these disjointed pieces of conversation as he surfaced from blackness. He opened his eyes and found two women, one with pink hair he recognized, the other a stunning blonde he also recognized, and a host of other people clustered around him.

Hiroko stirred and murmured on the hospital bed next to his. She opened her eyes as he was sitting up. She saw him, waved sleepily, yawned, and then sat up as well.

Kage-Gaara, or just Gaara as he insisted on being called now, shoved through the knot of people around Queenie and Hiroko and fixed them with a glare. "Are you all right," he demanded. His face was drawn, as if he hadn't slept in days.

Again, Queenie swept the other occupants of the room with his gaze. "Is there some reason we shouldn't be?"

Gaara stared into Queenie's eyes a moment, then had to turn his head away. Queenie got the distinct impression that the man was close to violence.

"I'll be in my office," Gaara snapped. "Send a report on their condition after they've been examined." He left the room, slamming door hard behind himself.

Hiroko and Queenie flinched. "What happened?" Hiroko quavered. "Why are we in the hospital?"

Ino stepped forward, fielding the question with one of her own. "Suppose you tell us what you remember instead?" Her voice was neutral, though her eyes were sharp.

Hiroko swallowed. "Um…okay, well Queenie was meditating so that I could awaken his Sharingan. I entered his mind and…I don't remember much after that. Just bits and pieces, really."

Queenie spoke up. "Did something go wrong? I mean, obviously it did, but what happened?"

Again, Ino was the one to answer. "Whatever trance you were in sucked this one-" she flipped a hand in Hiroko's direction- "right in with you. Servants found you Friday evening and were unable to revive either of you. By the following morning, when medics were equally unsuccessful, an emergency message was sent to the Kazekage, interrupting him at a highly important meeting. He then sent a similar message to me and Sakura from his location, asking us to meet him in Suna with all possible haste. We got here two days ago and have been feeding you intravenously while trying to bring you both around."

Queenie held up a hand. "That's impossible…Friday evening we were found? We started on Friday morning…did I hear you say two days ago? That-"

"You've been under for five days," Ino spoke over him. "And by the way your brainwaves were synched, it was clear that you were holding Hiroko under with you. You're both lucky my father works in Interrogation and taught me a few things about entering reluctant minds. I wasn't able to separate you, but I was able to synch my own mind with yours sufficiently enough to give you a good mental kick." Ino turned to where Hiroko sat with a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "What possessed you to do such a stupid thing?"

Hiroko bridled indignantly, offended. "It wasn't stupid! I've entered countless minds before, I've never been sucked under. I'd like to see someone else awaken a Kekkei Genkai like that."

"Have you ever entered a mind that was actively suppressing all stimuli in a deep meditative trance?"

"Well…no, but-"

"Do you have any idea how deep dormant abilities lie within a person's conscious?"

"Not precisely, but-"

"Allow me to tell you," Ino said with quiet anger. "If I understand this young man correctly, his ability would lie in a part of his brain that is completely undeveloped, a part that would likely require several more generations of evolution before it manifested. Entering such a part of the brain is like suicide. Entering it while the host is in deep meditation is ten times as foolhardy, and entering a mind as disciplined as Queenie's is, while he is in deep meditation, to such a depth as you did, was, as I stated, stupid. If you didn't have so much fat stored, your baby would have starved. As it is the fetus was beginning to suffer before we came along."

Ino swung her ponytail angrily, and left the room much as Gaara had. Sakura had taken a backseat for this one, recognizing it as an area that required Ino's special skills. She finished examining both contrite patients now, wrote up a report for the Kazekage, and left Hiroko and Queenie in the care of Suna nurses.

Hiroko struggled not to cry. Why did she always mess up? She never used to mess up at all. Could she do nothing right anymore? The sheet twisted in her grasp as she bit her lip, the tears coming after all.

Queenie sat weakly in his bed and whispered comfortingly, "Don't mind them. All doctors are the same. Pushy and insensitive. Are you all right, dear?"

She sniffed, but nodded. Handling his IV carefully, Queenie got off his bed and climbed into hers. He stroked her hair, nuzzled her shoulder, and murmured to her as she finally settled down. When she was quiet, he asked, "Think it worked?"

Hiroko tilted her head up and gazed into Queenie's red eyes. The right eye had one tomoe, the left one had two.

* * *

Ino signed out at Suna's gate, Sakura beside her, as she continued to rant about idiots who had no regard for their safety or the safety of others. "And I know Hiroko is generally a sensible girl," Ino blustered as Sakura finally finished scribbling her name. Ino turned and collided with an elderly man who was in the process of entering Suna.

The man, though frail-looking, hardly moved as Ino slammed into him, though he did drop his cane. Ino felt his chakra fluctuate wildly for a split-second, before settling into smooth rhythms once more. That was odd. But then she was apologizing profusely, and he was bowing low to her, and Sakura was pulling her out through the gate.

They were on their way back to Konoha a moment later, and Ino forgot all about the encounter.

* * *

Hinata had done a very good job with Aimi's Tenkutsu. She'd been unable to call up chakra of any kind for almost three days, but by that time, she was no longer thinking exclusively about Booming.

She was ignored. Completely. This was on Minato's order, not Kushina's, as Aimi had thought. She liked her Grandpa Minato very much. Loved him even. Learning that he'd given the order for her to be ignored by everyone had hurt her feelings terribly. Not being spoken to would have been bad enough, but she was ignored _completely. _Which meant no one looked at her, offered her food, asked if she was all right, or worried when she stayed away from the crater for hours at a time, looking for food. She wasn't made to train. She wasn't forced to go to the long sessions. She was left alone in the crater the entire day. And if she went to lessons of her own accord, she was not sparred with, taught anything, or acknowledged by anyone whatsoever.

Aimi felt she could have handled this, if her fathers had at least paid attention to her. They didn't. Her Papa looked right through her when she'd pitifully asked if she could sit near him during lunch. No one ever gave her any of the food during lunch time, and if she managed to fold a piece of food to her hand, Wyatt was under orders to orb it away from her.

Nothing she did made any difference. Her stammered apologies fell on deaf ears. Her screeching rage hadn't made anyone so much as blink. She'd tried pretending to cry for her fathers and been rewarded with them turning their backs on her to discuss Raiden. By the time her chakra returned, the thought of Booming held no appeal.

While she'd been in Konoha, she'd entertained pleasant thoughts of her family regretting pushing her so hard. She'd imagined they missed her. These were nice thoughts, but not enough to make her want to come back. Now to find that no one cared at all…Even punishment would have been a sign that someone had thought of her. No one even noticed when she hung her head and pouted forlornly at their treatment.

She'd even sought out Raiden as a last resort. Surely he would stand by her, when everyone else wasn't? He was annoying, and a bossy sometimes, and wild, but he loved her. Her brother would stick by her, and then, oh then she wouldn't be totally alone. She needed her brother.

But when she'd finally folded herself to where she sensed him, the triplets, her own buddies, chased her away so violently, hissing about 'the operation under way,' that she'd been forced to retreat. She hadn't even been able to see Raiden. From a distance, she was able to look back and sense that Raiden was locked in some titantic struggle with his chakra, oblivious to all around him. She had returned sadly to the crater, where no one asked why she'd been missing.

She finally decided that going back was preferable to staying where she wasn't wanted.

-oOo-

One night a week after she'd gotten back, Aimi walked out of the crater, in plain sight of everyone though no one was looking at her. She walked for over an hour, then sat down on the ground. It would have been the time to cry, but she couldn't. She never cried. She sat staring at the tattered ruins of the pretty blue clothes Tenten had given her, idly calling up her chakra to Boom.

"What a coward," a voice said behind her.

Aimi whirled. Kenpachi was squatting on the balls of his feet, sword draped across his knees, and his forearms resting on the scabbard. He looked at her seriously, the first person to do so. She started to smile in gladness, recalled his comment, and ended up just looking at him.

Kenpachi shrugged. "Had I known what a coward you'd turn out to be, I wouldn't have claimed you as mine."

Aimi turned around and face front once more. "I'm not yours. I'm going to marry Choukichi when I grow up. He'll love me and feed me forever. And I kissed him," she added carelessly.

Kenpachi, who had never entertained sexual thoughts about Aimi, was too old and too experienced to be enticed to the petty jealousies of youth. "So you found someone to teach you the rudiments until you come to me? I don't mind. Not like I'll be idle while I'm waiting for you to ripen."

Aimi flashed him a brief look of uncertainty. "I don't love you."

"I don't love you either. You're a kid."

"I don't belong to you," she tried again, hoping he understood.

"Actually you do…you're just not ready to be claimed yet."

"I love Choukichi."

"Good for him."

"I hate you."

"Bored now." Kenpachi stood up and stretched. He fastened his sword to his waist and turned to leave. "Seems you're brainless as well as cowardly."

Aimi snapped. "I'm _not _a _coward_," she screamed at the top of her lungs. "And if you call me brainless again, I'll kill you!"

Kenpachi turned back to her, grinning in bliss. How he loved her violence! "Oh? What else would you call abandoning the people who are training to protect your fat ass? It's not only cowardly, but contemptible. You're a dishonorable little bitch, Aimi. I sincerely hope you straighten out before we're joined. I won't put up with such behavior. If you survive the war, that is." He bent down and whispered to her furious face. "And you might find killing me hard to do; my limiter has been released."

Incensed, and eager to take out her hurt over her treatment from everyone on someone, Aimi released her chakra in a controlled, condensed stream, directly at Kenpachi, who countered by lifting his eye patch.

She could have won if she opened a few Gates, but she wasn't quite enraged enough to erase the planet. She tucked her chakra away, conceding this round for now. Kenpachi snapped his eye patch back in place and folded his arms.

"You've decided to ignore the people here, and your family, so you can go off and indulge your little pity-fest," Kenpachi said as he stared at her. "And yet you expect to be welcomed back with open arms when you return? Why? Obviously we mean nothing to you, the war means nothing, or the fact that most of the people here might die because of a goddess who wants you and your brother. You've decided selfishness was preferable to honor and responsibility. Food held more appeal than learning to train under grandparents you'll only have a short time with. And now you've gone and found some young buck, like as not just as fat as you are, who you claim to have fallen in love with?"

Kenpachi was at her side in an instant, moving too quickly for Aimi to notice. He grabbed the front of her top and lifted her off the ground, holding her at eye level. "Let go of me!"

"I suggest you seriously apply yourself to training again if you expect to earn back anyone's trust or respect," he hissed into her struggling face. He regarded her dark eyes a moment, then added, "And until you've been kissed like this, consider yourself ignorant of love." He swallowed her frightened scream with his own lips as he proceeded to give her a very brief, but very thorough lesson in kissing.

Kenpachi dropped her a moment later and sped out of sight.

-oOo-

Aimi sat where she'd landed, dazed. Then she remembered the taste of his tongue in her mouth and gagged. She looked around furtively and whispered a very bad word that would have sounded more natural coming from her brother. "I'm telling my daddies on him," she pouted. "And I'm _not _his. I hate him. I hate, hate, _hate _Zaraki Kenpachi!"

She kept up this hissed litany of rage for several moments, before shutting her mouth. She _was _a responsible person ordinarily. She didn't have a concrete code of honor like her Daddy did, being more comfortable with the adaptable mentality of her Papa, but she was a responsible person. She generally followed the rules. Izanami would be coming after her and her brother. If she cared nothing for herself, shouldn't she at least train to have Raiden's back? Her brother was the most important person in the world to her…she shouldn't have abandoned him.

Kenpachi was right, she'd behaved like a spoiled brat. She _was_ a spoiled brat, but maybe she could earn everyone's trust again.

She thought of going to Choukichi to tell him she'd be staying a little longer after all, but decided against it. He would only feed her some deliciousness and entice her to stay. Then it would be ten times harder for her to leave. She didn't feel ready to go back to the crater yet either, though.

Picking herself up and brushing dust off her bottom, Aimi settled on a course of action. It would be quicker to fold, but she wanted the time to think. She began walking. He'd begged her before and she'd ignore him. This time she'd be there to give him help, which she suddenly sensed he needed.

* * *

He wished he'd taken the time to come up with an alternative plan. This one was too much, too hard. Holding his monstrous power at bay, while maintaining an even extraction of his chakra from Hisa, was entirely too stressful. Yet he kept control because to stop now would be the end of her.

It was tedious, wearisome work. He couldn't stop and rest. This wouldn't have been a problem if it had taken the one day he'd estimated, but this was the eighth day and counting. Had his grandma Kushina not trained him in ignoring his body while performing a mental task for a similar length of time he would have dropped after the second day. As it was, with what little thought he could spare, Raiden was profoundly grateful for the training he'd received. His head settled into a steady dull ache at the base of his skull after the sixth day and from there he just pretty much shut down completely.

The only thing he was aware of was his body and Hisa's. Hers was slowly but surely returning to itself. Her mind, for instance, was no longer subverted by his chakra. She was semi-aware, still somewhat under the influence of the bond and the curse seal. Her mind had touched his once, briefly. _Raiden…sorry…_A thought that had been there and gone. He was the one who should apologize to her, but it had given him a surge of energy to see her coming back and for her to admit she wasn't innocent in this.

He was weakening, though. He could pump out the killer jutsus until the cows came home, but this drawn-out pull on his chakra, the need to retain strict control through days on end, was slowly draining him. No food, no rest…his limit was fast approaching. He knew this, even buried deep in his own mind as his awareness was. _I won't be able to last long enough to heal her._

* * *

__

"He's not looking too good," Masaru whispered. He'd just ducked into the cave after hunting for himself and his brothers. He dropped the nuts and berries he'd managed to find on the cave floor. "Is it almost over?"

Ryota held a glowing finger over Hisa's brow. "No. Little more than halfway, but Raiden won't last that long." He too looked at the dark circles under Raiden's eyes, at the way his cheeks were wan and sunken. "He needs help."

"Do you suppose we should be the ones to help him?" Kei asked uncertainly.

Ryota snorted softly, still whispering as they all had been. "Even one _minute_ of using our chakra like he's doing would kill us. And I don't think we can help him. We're not strong enough, our chakra isn't strong enough, and I don't think any of us can link with him the way we'd need to if we could help him."

"So now what?" Masaru bit into one of the bitter nuts. He grimaced at the awful taste, but swallowed anyway.

-oOo-

Some hours later, a tiny drop of blood wended its way from one of Raiden's nostrils. This scared the triplets badly; Raiden's chakra was completely focused on Hisa so it didn't heal him. A moment later, Raiden began nodding and weaving where he sat.

"He's losing control," Kei cried in distress. "Look, he's about to pass out!"

"He's dying," Ryota corrected as he got up and went to his cousin. He put a hand on Raiden's shoulder, steadying him. Raiden didn't look at him or acknowledge the touch, eyes still closed. The trickle of blood came out thicker now, dripping over his white lips.

"I say break the contact," Masaru stated. "We can do without Hisa, but we need Raiden to win this war."

"I'm not sure I can-" Ryota began.

Had they not grown up with Aimi, the sight of her folding to their midst would have frightened them, but they barely glanced at her when she appeared now.

Her yellow eyes zeroed in on Raiden and remained there as she walked to him and knelt. She put a hand on his face. "Raiden?"

Ryota backed away and gave a hasty explanation of what was going on. He regretted chasing her away earlier, but she was back now and maybe she could help her brother. "The reversal of the bond is taking too long. It's killing him," he finished.

Eyes enhanced as they were, Aimi could see that for herself. She examined Hisa a moment, noting the differences and what her brother was trying to do. She shook her head.

His mind was so primitive, she thought to herself. He was going about a huge task the long way instead of employing a very sensible shortcut. What he was doing was similar to trying to travel the distance from the training world to Konoha by walking instead of just Booming. Obviously walking would take so long you'd die in the attempt. It made sense to Boom, which was why they did…aside from the fact that one couldn't walk between dimensions.

Aimi arranged her chakra, setting it up before actually using it. She siphoned off a small portion of it to insinuate into Raiden. Using this thread, she neatly cut his link with Hisa, letting his chakra return completely to his body. Once that was done, she set him down to the side and trusted his body would heal itself of the damaged he'd done to it. She turned her attention completely to Hisa and cocked her head, planning.

She vaguely recalled performing a similar task when she was a baby. She'd gone to get her daddies bodies and found them eaten and decayed. Reversing that process had been tricky. What she would need to do here was close in complexity, but would require a sharp blast of power behind it._ Just like Booming, _she thought. She wove a net of her chakra, exceedingly fine, and made sure to neutralize its cauterizing effects before laying it over Hisa's body. The chakra glowed lavender a moment, before settling beneath the surface of Hisa's skin and disappearing. Aimi waited until she felt her chakra settle into the girl's cells. Then she placed her palm on Hisa's stomach, and formed her other hand into a focal point for her concentration. She held the first two fingers of this hand upright under her chin and closed her eyes.

"_Release!_"

Energy whooshed out of Aimi with her firm command, rolling Raiden onto his stomach and blowing the triplets against the far wall. Hisa jerked upward bodily, her eyes opening as she sucked in air to scream. Aimi held her down until she'd retrieved all traces of her chakra from Hisa's body. Only then did she allow the girl to sit up.

-oOo-

Hisa looked around, felt her neck with a hand, felt the rest of her body, then covered her face and burst into tears.

She remembered everything. She's been aware of what was going on around her, but it had been like watching from behind bars. She'd had no control over her body, had been in exquisite pain until being brought here to Raiden. She'd watched in terror as Raiden tried so hard to save her. He'd been killing himself for her and she'd been unable to do anything but watch.

That bond had been horrible. A nightmare. She'd felt closer to Raiden, yes, but she now knew that Raiden was no one she wanted to be close to. Being linked to his mind and body had been petrifying. His essence was inhuman, his mind too complicated and advanced for her to relate to at all. It was like a bunch of scary and incomprehensible things were wrapped up in the pretty package of a normal-looking boy…but he wasn't normal. She'd suspected it before, but now she knew. Now she really knew just how abnormal he was, knew of his and Aimi's abilities…and she didn't want Raiden anymore. She wanted nothing to do with him, ever. She wanted to be far away from him as it was possible to get. She wanted to go home.

"Hisa?" It was Ryota. She lowered her hands enough to look at him. "How do you feel?"

Hisa dropped her hands in her lap and stared around at her companions. Aimi was looking at her blandly, a hand on her brother's back where he lay. Aimi's eyes were yellow, and Hisa now guessed she knew why the girl had always smelled so strange. Like ozone. The triplets were looking at her with various worried expressions. "I feel…better."

"Well enough for us to trying putting you back to normal?" Ryota asked as he duck-walked closer to her.

Hisa looked down at her arms. She was grotesque now, she knew. She felt foreign power in her body, foreign capabilities. "I know this is irreversible," she whispered. "I just want to go home, please."

"Hang on," Ryota said as he flipped through a tattered notebook. "I think I can get you completely normal again." He flapped a hand urgently at his brothers, who immediately went to the sack of supplies and began arranging them as Rota had previously instructed. "Let me try, okay? If it fails, well…I'm sorry, but we're not letting you leave till I get it right. You're now our human test subject."

Hisa stared at him.

"That's a mean thing to say," Aimi said quietly. But she didn't argue with Ryota, only turned her back on the triplets to stroke Raiden's clammy brow. Why wasn't he healing himself?

"All right," Ryota said a while later. "Hisa if you could just step into the pentagram there…that's fine. Now I can't be sure, since you're our first live trial, but I'm reasonably certain that this will hurt a lot."

* * *

The old man Ino had bumped into made his way to the Hokage's palace at a slow pace. He'd spent the last week ascertaining if the information the blonde woman had let slip was in fact true. He'd learned that it was: Uchiha Hiroko was in Suna, when he'd been unable to find her anywhere else.

He'd originally come to Suna for another reason. He'd heard the Kazekage was away and had decided to set up shop in Itachi's second home. He wanted the man dead once and for all. To that end, he'd come up with an elaborate plan to subject all those around Itachi to a mind-manipulation jutsu, much as he'd done with the Mizukage. By the time the Kazekage returned, the palace inhabitants would be under control. Perhaps the Kazekage's heir, a child, by all reports, could have a little accident in the bargain, thereby debilitating her father with grief and making him susceptible to persuasion. Or killing, whichever turned out to be more useful. He wanted Itachi to suffer, and taking away his loved ones would see to that. Gaara happened to be the only loved one he could locate...until learning that Hiroko was also in Suna.

-oOo-

Kabuto looked up at the palace windows beneath his guise of an old man. The arched rectangles were aglow with warm light. There was little activity about the village at this time of the night, but the guards, five Jounin, were vigilant nonetheless. The Genjutsu required to subdue them long enough to slit their throats was no trifling thing. Once they were down, Kabuto stepped respectfully over their bodies, and hobbled into the palace proper using his cane.

He'd heard the Kazekage had come back early, actually making it to Suna before Kabuto could get there. No matter. The man was in his office now, as he was every night, and would remain there until the wee hours of the morning. By that time, he should be done here. It would be fun to see his reaction on discovering the body of his daughter. Kabuto had stalked the child several times, though she was usually surrounded by her own guards, one of whom was the eldest son of Baki himself. That youth was his father and then some in combat. Old Baki must be very proud.

He encountered more guards, was challenged, but these were seen to with little effort. He left a trail of bodies in the shiny palace halls. Servants, guards, more servants… He finally made it up to the private apartments of Gaara's family. He located Yanagi's room.

Baki's large son and Yanagi's personal nanny were sitting outside the girl's door. She went down as her warning scream was building. Kabuto turned nimbly, still disguised as an old man, and engaged in a brief, intense scuffle with Baki's son. What was the kid's name?

He didn't go down easily, but eventually he did go down. He didn't get back up. That would have been impossible, seeing as Kabuto was holding the man's liver in his hand. He dropped it with a wet squelch and took a moment to listen for other disturbances. The palace held the hush of death.

* * *

Entering Yanagi's bedroom thrilled him. The Kazekage's daughter was an individual not many people got to see. She was Gaara's jewel, the light of his life. She lay sleeping beneath her white coverlet now, snoring innocently. Her dark red hair was in a loose braid over one shoulder. Kabuto released his Henge at last to stand at her bedside. Blood dripped from his hand onto her plush carpet.

He had no feelings about her or what he was going to do. He only coated his hand with chakra, made it as fine and sharp as possible, and aimed for her jugular vein. It would be over before the girl could wake up, and probably painless.

-oOo-

_Yanagi was deep in dreams of girlish fantasies, when a cool tingling sensation crawled over her skin. She floated a moment, watching her dreamscape turn hazy as her mind tried to surface. She wanted to remain asleep. She reached for her receding dream, but the cool tingling intensified until it was sharp and hurtful. A voice, powerful and familiar, spoke up inside her, shivering her insides with its force and commanding air._ '_Danger, Yanagi. Wake up.'_

-oOo-_  
_

Kabuto halted a bare inch from her neck as Yanagi's eyes flew open. A moment later a small avalanche of impacted sand crashed into him from an unseen corner of the room, sending him into the wall. He reacted swiftly, but even so he was only in time to catch a glimpse of red hair streaking out of the bedroom doorway.

He got to is feet slowly. A smile spread across his face.

* * *

"Mmm, right there," Hiroko murmured.

Queenie continued to rub her lower back, smoothing the scented lotion she preferred into her skin. She was topless for this, but since her back was too him, her modesty wasn't compromised. And even when she did go around topless, dressing or bathing, he hardly cared.

He finished their nightly routine by plaiting her hair into a thick French braid. "No one has hair like my 'Ko," he sighed rapturously.

She turned and wriggled herself beneath her blankets, humming in pleasure. "And no one has hands like you. Honestly, it's no wonder you couldn't learn anything in training. My hands aren't even that soft." She hugged her pillow, gazing up at him sleepily. "Anymore headaches?"

"Off and on. Not as bad as before." He turned to begin smoothing cream into his face in his own fastidiously observed ritual.

The first few days after they'd regained consciousness, he'd been plagued with migraines caused by his Sharingan. Even when he didn't have it on, his head hurt him unbearably. Hiroko said this was probably because his body wasn't ready to tolerate the chakra required to maintain it, or even have it awakened. To that end, they now had daily training sessions of their own, wherein she was gradually honing his ability to sense chakra in himself and bring it forth. It was getting easier, but he was a far way off yet from performing even the simplest technique. He was actually a bit weaker now, what with the added stress of his ability. He'd joked miserably that he was no warrior, would never be a warrior, and that they should send his new eyes back.

Hiroko admitted that he was indeed a sorry ninja, but then she wasn't trying to turn him into one. She was only trying to train him enough to be able to defend himself. As he was now, the lowliest toddler in the village had better chakra control than Queenie did.

"Things will get better," she promised him now. "You'll see."

He nodded, putting on his odd, frilled eye cover before laying down beside her. Hiroko had laughed herself sick at hearing that this accessory kept out stray light and thus enabled peaceful sleep. "Just so long as you accept the fact that I'll never be your big strong protector or anything…"

"I have Konohamaru for that." She let him cuddle her close.

"Mm, now _there's _a man who-"

A battering ram of sand crashed their door open, making them jump apart in fright. Hiroko had her Sharingan on, but it was only Yanagi…though the child looked frightened out of her wits. "Yanagi, sweetie-"

"Help," the girl shrieked. "Help me, there are dead people everywhere and he's coming…oh, I want my daddy!" she wailed as she leapt at the bed.

Hiroko struggled to get off the bed, her nightgown falling off one shoulder. Queenie sat up, terrified, as Yanagi clung to him. "Dead people?" he whispered. "But what's going on?"

Hiroko sensed only one chakra source nearby besides that of Yanagi. Queenie's was regularly too suppressed for her to feel. The one she sensed was strong, and coming towards her room.

"Stay here," she said to them. "I'm going to-"

Kabuto entered the ruined doorway and stood blocking the exit. His glasses flashed as he tilted his head in greeting. "Hiroko-hime…I've missed you."

-oOo-

Hiroko did not succumb to the fear she was sure Kabuto thought she was feeling. Much had happened since she'd last seen him and she was not the same person that had fallen for his dark allure.

The Genjutsu she sent his way would have done Mikoto proud, especially since this was no clone. She'd heard about how her father had hunted Kabuto down, only to meet with a clone and fail in murdering him. She had his mind in a tight mental fist, layering Genjutsu just as fast as Kabuto was dispelling them.

She wouldn't be able to hold him for long. "Yanagi," she said with an effort. "Find your father…alert village security."

Yanagi scrambled from the bed to do this. She was just running past the immobile Kabuto when Hiroko's chakra, unpredictable while she was pregnant, abruptly failed her. It didn't fade or weaken…it simply was there one minute, gone the next. This was normal, according to her doctors, and she'd never given it a thought, since she was not given missions in her condition. But right now, when she had three lives besides her own on the line, she could have really done without such erratic chakra.

Kabuto snatched Yanagi up by her throat and held her aloft. Hiroko rushed to save her, gracelessness forgotten in launching herself to her defense. She had no weapon handy and it was difficult to assume any fighting stance, out of shape as she was. Kabuto handled her easily, backhanding her so fiercely that she was knocked unconscious to the floor. Yanagi was thrown against the wall, to fall in a silent heap near her cousin. Kabuto then turned to the man sitting in the bed and watching with a surprisingly passive expression. He took a step in his direction.

-oOo-

Queenie had not been around violence, or been in serious danger, since his brother and the fiasco of his wedding to Kit. He watched this man hurt his Koko-Muffin and Yanagi, and felt the calm, cold watchfulness he'd done away with return to him. The man came toward the bed and Kit watched him move. Watched the way he moved. He and Hiroko shared everything, so he knew this had to be Kabuto. He fit 'Ko's description of him. Queenie remained in bed, close to safety, as Kabuto spoke.

"I'd heard that Hiroko had married. Are you her husband? You don't look like the one called Konohamaru, yet you're sitting in her bed."

"I have a husband," Queenie said quietly.

"Don't you mean a wife?" Kabuto stopped at the foot of the bed and coated his hand with chakra. "I think I'll get you out of the way before I deal with those two."

"You're going to kill them?"

"And you."

"Why?"

"Well, I'll be killing the girl as part of my plan to take control of Suna, and lay a nice trap for Itachi. As for Hiroko…well, she shouldn't have betrayed me. Besides, I can't stop thinking about her, and I don't like that. And her death with fuck with Itachi's mind."

"She's pregnant."

Kabuto twisted behind him to look at Hiroko. "Yes. The kid should be mine. I should have taken her while I had the chance…but I'm sterile." He turned to look at Queenie again, and lifted his chakra coated hand. "Any last words?"

"Just one. Kit."

"Kit? What's that?" Kabuto had a humorless smile on his face.

"My husband's name…" Queenie brought up the object he'd taken from beneath his pillow while Kabuto had been looking at Hiroko, noticing that Kabuto only glanced at it briefly. "But it's also the name of this wedding present he gave me."

So saying, Queenie cocked the Super Shorty Kit had given him during their honeymoon and blew Kabuto's brains out.


	49. Chapter 49

A/N: Sorry I'm late.

I'm sort of surprised so many cheered on Queenie's Rambo moment. I'm glad I decided to do it, though. I'd originally planned for Kabuto to die guarding Hiroko and her unborn baby, but I was abruptly sick of him and his presence looming in the background.

Congratulations to **Diyella-Sama** for guessing all the upcoming yaoi pairings who will be preggers! It was up on the facebook page. Also up are preliminary drawings of the psycho twins, Killerbee and Chibi-Gaara. Look around, 'like' if you like!

Please forgive the tardiness.

* Typos suck.

* * *

Chapter 49

The sound died away slowly, leaving Queenie's ears ringing. He waited only a moment before calmly getting off the bed to view the result of his efforts.

Kabuto lay sprawled on the floor at the foot of the bed with a large part of his head gone. Mindful of the abilities these ninja seemed to have and the fact that Hiroko had said Kabuto was very powerful, Queenie chambered another round. He took careful aim this time and blasted a fat hole In Kabuto's chest. Another round, and Kabuto's groin sported a similar cavity.

Queenie walked to his side of the room, opened a drawer, and loaded Kit with the bullets he kept there. Only then did he go to Hiroko and Yanagi to inspect their condition.

Hiroko was breathing normally. He'd seen her take a few blows before the one to her head, but she seemed all right. Yanagi was another matter. She had blood leaking from one ear and her lids fluttered unpleasantly, showing the whites of her eyes. She seemed to be having a seizure.

He had to lift her in one arm as he kept his shotgun in the other hand. He left the room leading with the muzzle, checking the hall before he entered it.

Kit had taught him, also on their honeymoon, how to sweep a room or an entire house with a gun. You always turned your head with the gun, at the same time, never without. He didn't bother with the whole palace, but kept to the rooms he needed to pass through on his way out of it and to the council building where Gaara had his office. The dead bodies were noted, both inside the palace and the guards outside. Once free of the building, Queenie shifted Yanagi so that he held her in both arms, and ran to the office building.

* * *

Gaara handed the last signed form to his assistant and dropped his pen on his desk with a grateful sigh. He was rubbing his tired, grainy eyes when his assistant yelled, just as his office door slammed open. He was half out of his chair, gourd uncorked, when Queenie swept inside carrying-

"Yanagi!" Gaara was at her side instantly, lifting her limp body from Queenie's arms. "What happened?"

"Kabuto. Your guards are dead and I think most of the servants. Someone needs to send a paramedic - I mean a medic nin to Hiroko. She's been hurt. I brought the munchkin because I think her wound is serious. She could have a concussion, or-"

Gaara held up a hand and issued rapid orders to his assistant. The man vanished as Gaara went to his couch and sat on it. He cradled Yanagi gingerly, noting with an anguished cry the blood on his hand from her head. He raised haunted, pleading eyes to Queenie. "Kabuto? Tell me you know where he is?"

"He's in my room, dead. I shot him." Queenie held up the Super Shorty.

A small part of Gaara's pain eased at hearing that Kabuto was dead at long last. He'd seen when Queenie had packed the odd weapon, along with its ammunition, when they'd tried to drop the man off in his world. When Gaara had questioned him about it, Queenie had said that after his wedding to Kit, the man had given him the gun, shown him how to use it, and made him swear that he would have it with him at all times whenever Kit himself wasn't there to protect him. Queenie had sworn and the gun had come to Sunagakure.

A medic ran into the room, looked around, then hurried to Gaara. Yanagi was gently and thoroughly examined. The medic's face was not encouraging, however, and Gaara had to stifle his grief. "How bad is it?"

"I can't tell yet, Kazekage-sama, but it doesn't look good. There may be a fracture."

Gaara nodded. "Have the top physician see to her and no one else. She recovers or heads will roll, I promise you."

The medic bowed deeply. Assisting medics arrived then and together they whisked Yanagi away. Gaara swallowed, rubbed his face with a hand, then straightened his clothes and turned to Queenie, who hadn't moved. "Show me his carcass."

-oOo-

Hiroko was being tended to by two medics when Gaara entered her room, but he only remained at her side long enough to have a medic tell him that she and the baby seemed fine. His attention turned to the bloody body near the bed.

Staring down at it, Gaara knew deep satisfaction that it was in fact Kabuto and not some body transfer technique. The glasses were completely demolished, one arm lodged in what had been an eye socket. The chest cavity revealed pulverized ribs and a mass of gory tissue. There were brains and bone, blood and hair splashed as far as fifteen feet from Kabuto's corpse. Gaara turned and looked at where Queenie was watching Hiroko.

Of all the people to end Kabuto's existence. Queenie was an unlikely hero. He stood there, his pink eye-cover pushed up on his head, and his chartreuse satin pajamas glimmering in the lights, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. He held his gun in the crook of his arm now, but Gaara had seen the way he held it before, his fist gripping one end. He handled the thing as if he knew how to use it, which he clearly did, as evidenced by the cooling body at Gaara's feet. He walked to Queenie now and put a hand on the slight man's shoulder.

"Queenie…no, _Sasuke. _I will call you by your rightful name from now on."

Queenie scrunched his shoulders in pleasure, blinking in embarrassment. "It is good to hear my name…though I was coming to like Queenie."

"Sasuke, you've done well. Very well. Walk with me to the hospital and fill me in on exactly what happened from beginning to end. Did Kabuto say anything?"

"Actually, he did…"

* * *

"Kaito can you make me another banana strawberry milkshake? And Taro needs to be changed," Hanabi called from upstairs.

"I want peanut butter and jelly on toast, please!" That was Mari.

"Can I have pork thtir fry? With thpring rollth?" Miki.

"Daddy I ate all the Maltesers. Can we buy more soon?" Momo.

"I love you…you love me… we're a happy family…" And that was Mai.

Kaito scribbled Maltesers on the shopping list stuck to the fridge as he dropped another banana in the blender. The toast was burning as he tried to find the stupid cover to the thing. He answered Miki distractedly. "I can't cook stir fry and I'm not ordering shit at this time of the night. Eat peanut butter and jelly like your sis."

Mai, trying to be helpful, pressed the button on the blender just as Kaito found the cover under the table. Milk and fruit sprayed everywhere, causing his girls to shriek happily. Some landed in the toaster, which made it spark dangerously and short out, effectively making it useless. He hit the stop button on the blender, slid in partially blended bananas and nearly broke his neck, and decided it was time to get the hell back to the training world.

"Go to bed," he yelled at his girls. "Your mother and the baby can be up at one in the morning, but you four need to be out of my face." He began wiping up the milkshake mess, the smell of burned toast and fried circuits strong in the kitchen.

"Aww, Daddy, can't we-"

"Kaito? Is something burning?"

Taro began screaming.

Kaito braced his hands on the kitchen sink and stared at his dim reflection in the window above it. His jaw clenched as his girls continued to beg, the baby continued to cry, and Hanabi asked if the milkshake was ready.

* * *

Hisa lay in a huddled ball of misery. "Can we please stop now?"

Ryota jotted his latest results in his notebook. "Afraid not," he answered without looking up. "You pretty much got yourself into this mess, so now you can suck it up. Be thankful we're even going to the trouble of helping you."

Hisa knew that Ryota somehow felt she was to blame for Raiden's condition…and she was. She just didn't see how hurting her was going to help. "I said I was sorry."

Now Ryota did look up. "Yeah, well that doesn't do us any good, does it? Raiden's nearly dead, Wyatt's mad at him and may decide not to help us at all, and there you sit saying you're sorry. If it wasn't for the fact that you're good practice for this extraction spell, I'd say good for you and leave you like you were. You're a perfect example of why I'm glad I was born a boy. Girls are such-"

Masaru and Kei elbowed him hard, glancing at where Aimi was listening with a stiff expression. Ryota shut his mouth and studied his notebook.

-oOo-

Aimi turned to her brother once more and tried to rouse him. "Raiden?" No answer. Not even a twitch of facial muscles. His skin was deathly pale and cool to the touch. Kei came over after a few minutes and watched her trying to wake him. She looked at him with worry all over her features. "Something's wrong with him, I know it."

Kei nodded. "Should we get Wyatt to heal him?"

"No," Aimi shook her head. "He can't. He can't heal us when it's something to do with our powers, only if it's a physical wound." She turned back to Raiden, chewing her lip fretfully. "Usually all we need is sleep to recover…but he's not recovering. His chakra is too low. And I mean _really _low, lower than it was after we fought Madara in Konoha. It's almost completely gone and by the time it comes back he might be…"

"Don't say it," Kei said in fear. "Not Raiden. Never. He's way too powerful."

"Normally, yeah, but when we overuse our special abilities it takes a toll. I don't know what to do. Should I get my parents?"

Kei thought about it. "What can they do?"

"I don't know, but I'm really scared." Aimi looked as if she was about to cry, but her eyes were dry.

After a minute of deliberation, Kei said, "Bring them. Maybe they know something we don't. Something that can help him."

Nodding, Aimi took only a moment to focus on the presence of her parents, the awareness of whom was always with her. It seemed to Kei that Aimi only blinked, and Demon and Sasuke were crowding the cave with them.

-oOo-

The last they knew, they'd been talking quietly in their corner of the crater, listening to the snores around them. Sasuke sat up from his lying down position to inspect his new surroundings. Naruto was already up and crouched on the balls of his feet. They spotted Raiden and Aimi at the same time and went to their fallen son as one.

"What happened," Demon demanded loudly. He shook Raiden's shoulder. "Raiden?"

His voice echoed around the cave, making it suddenly silent as he was watched by the children. Sasuke took in the solemn faces around him and saw Hisa.

"Demon, look," he nudged Demon's arm. "The girl seems to be better." To his own nephews he asked, "Did Raiden manage to cure her, or…"

Ryota answered. "He tried. He almost had it too, but his chakra gave out."

"It's really low," Aimi added now in a quavering voice. Her parents were _still_ ignoring her. "He should be healing himself but he isn't. I'm the one who helped Hisa."

It was Demon who looked at her at last. Sasuke was apparently still too pissed. "I see," he said. "Do you think Wyatt-"

Aimi shook her head. "No. Kei and I think, _thought_, that maybe you could do something."

Sasuke and Demon exchanged a glance. Sasuke shrugged. "Worth a shot, neh?" he said quietly.

Demon nodded. "Not sure what we can do, though." To Aimi, he said, "Bring Asami here."

Aimi was only too happy to comply. Her fathers were taking charge of the situation, surely everything would be all right now. And her Daddy had looked at her and spoken to her.

-oOo-

Asami appeared between Sasuke and Raiden, curled up on her side and probably asleep. She woke swiftly, eyes red and teeth bared. Her hand was coated with chakra, obviously ready to use in a lethal manner. "What the hell is this?" she asked sharply. At seeing her kinsmen, she allowed her chakra to fade and sat up properly. "What's going on?"

Demon explained what he knew, with Aimi adding what he didn't, as Asami sat beside Raiden and began an examination. The two fingers she held lightly to Raiden's forehead glowed with chakra.

"Well?" Sasuke asked anxiously. He didn't like the frown that was steadily deepening between Asami's closed eyes. "What's wrong with him?"

Asami did a quick double and triple check, just to make sure, but her findings were the same. She opened eyes that were suddenly moist and shook her head gravely. "I'm uh…" She cleared her throat, forced herself to meet her uncles' worried eyes. "I'm afraid Aimi is right. He's dying. His chakra, unique as it is, has been drained so completely, for so long, that it's…well, it's almost as if he's sustained a serious physical wound. If he'd been drained of blood the result would be the same: his organs, devoid of the support of chakra, are failing him. That shouldn't be the case. The absence of chakra shouldn't kill a body, but it's not just his chakra. It's his essence, his power, the substance that makes him who and what he is, whatever that may be. I can't really explain it, but that substance is completely depleted and he needs it to survive. I can't help him. I just tried to give him a quick chakra infusion, something to kick start his own failing system and it was like sending my chakra into a black hole. I could drain myself a thousand times over and it wouldn't scratch the surface of what he needs."

Demon and Sasuke had cried out and gone to Raiden at hearing that he was dying. Demon cradled his son's head in his lap, smoothing his hair from his brow. Sasuke had a hand on Raiden's stomach. Both were silently trying not to cry, and the other children in the cave could also be heard sniffling in shock. Aimi stared down at her brother's face, feeling as if a black hole were also opening within her.

"There has to be a way," Sasuke pleaded. "My boy is fine, he's going to be fine. The kid is never sick, he can't just _die _like this, with no warning! Something has to be done!" He whirled to the triplets, snagging Ryota with his eyes. "Tell me there's a way?"

Ryota trembled visibly. He shook his head, hiccupping with his own grief. "N-no. I can't, I don't have that power."

Demon gasped, bent forward over Raiden's head.

Sasuke turned back to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Demon, don't. Don't give up-"

It wasn't Demon who lifted his head and glanced at Sasuke. The eyes were red, the fangs long and bared. The blond hair was infinitely wilder and the whiskers were prominent. The black lips parted, but it wasn't Demon's voice that spoke. It was the Demon within him, Kyuubi.

"**Move, Uchiha."**

Sasuke and Asami hastily stood back. Aimi remained where she as, close to Raiden's legs. She met Kyuubi's stare without flinching or backing down, her dark blue eyes almost blank.

Kyuubi growled low in his throat at coming face to face with her. His lips writhed in active dislike, remembering when he and the Host had been forced to house the creature within their body. Now it, his kitling's den mate, was almost grown to maturity. Even now, her power was enough to lower his tails in submission, and it had yet to peak and ripen to maturity. Soon. Soon she would be more terrible than any tailed beast, and woe to creation. If he ever had the opportunity to make another kit with the Host, he would ensure that it had the power to nullify that creature. He snorted air now, feeling his hackles rise, but it was the kitling who needed his attention. He bent to inspect him.

Sasuke went Level Two and shielded his face with his wings from the horrible orange chakra that sprang up thick and dark around Kyuubi. Asami cowered behind him. A glance showed Ryota screaming with his siblings and throwing up a protective barrier of some kind around himself, his brothers, and Hisa. Aimi sat placidly in the center of the maelstrom, hands folded in her lap.

"**Uchiha,**" Kyuubi said after several long moments. "**It is as the Hyuuga said during that time you had him disable the kitling. His chakra is needed for survival**. **The bitch beside you has also confirmed this."**

Asami muttered darkly. "I'm not a bitch, you mangy mutt."

Kyuubi looked directly at her. "**You are female, breedable, ripe for mounting and bearing pups. A bitch. Your infusion of chakra earlier was inadequate. I will try my own.**"

While Asami continued to mutter about sexist animals, Sasuke tried to recall what Neji had said about Raiden when he'd had him close the boy's Tenketsu. He'd said that Raiden's chakra was like blood to another person. Neji had given an analogy. He'd said that people didn't use their blood to run, but without it the action was impossible. Similarly, Raiden's chakra wasn't strictly used for his special abilities, but it was needed in order for him to do them.

Sasuke thought. When Raiden's Tenketsu had been closed, his chakra had been present in his body, just inaccessible, so he'd been fine. Mad, but fine. And after he'd gone against Madara, his chakra had been drained, but he'd only fought Madara for a short time. The major drainage had come from Aimi sucking what was left out of him to Boom Akatsuki to another world. Still, both events had been brief. If he understood correctly, Raiden had used his chakra in a way that was impossible for anyone else; one of his special abilities. Overuse of his special abilities was dangerous to him, as shown on the day he'd fought Madara.

And Raiden had essentially used this ability for eight days. Considerably longer than the hour or two he'd fought Madara.

A fist of naked fear clutched Sasuke's insides.

Kyuubi's chakra was now being siphoned off into Raiden. All of it, every drop, seemed to be in the process of being sucked into his son, as if Raiden were consciously doing this. His color was even a little better than it had been a few moments ago. Sasuke felt a small measure of hope. "Is it working?"

Kyuubi's voice was strained, a decidedly odd sound, considering how powerful he was. "**You were not there when I performed this same task to save the kitling from Akatsuki. It was a choice between saving us or him, one the Host made. It cost the Host his life, but you restored us. To answer, I will tell you what I told the Host then: my chakra, while powerful, is inferior to the kitling's. As he did then, he is sucking every bit I have into himself, but it won't be enough."**

All Sasuke heard was that Raiden was actively taking part in the process. "But he's helping himself by taking from you, right? That means he's conscious? Can he hear me?" Sasuke was at Raiden's side now, speaking down into his face. "Raiden?" When he got no answer he turned frantic eyes up to Kyuubi. "What do you mean your chakra won't be enough? If not yours then whose? Should Aimi bring the other Narutos? Tell me what will save my kid!"

"**It is not quantity he needs, but quality. Even with all that I am giving him, he has been restored to only a fraction of his strength. Only enough for his body to to suck me dry while he yet lays senseless. It will not heal him. I know of no creature, tailed or otherwise, that has chakra as dense or as and complex as the kitling's. No creature save one." **Kyuubi's eyes slid to where Aimi was watching Raiden's face.

Sasuke looked back and forth between his lover and his daughter. "Aimi? You think her chakra can help him, can save him?"

"**Possibly. The bitch referred to the deficit within the kiting as a black hole and she is not wrong. I cannot fill the hole, but the kitling's den mate might. At the very least its chakra will enable the kitling to heal himself the rest of the way.**"

Sasuke nodded. "Come, Aimi. You heard him."

Aimi went without hesitation. Kyuubi growled in his throat when she placed her hands near his on Raiden's chest, but did not otherwise react to her. "What do I do?" she asked.

"**Link with him as I know you've done in the past. The times he has used your chakra to aid him in a task, or when you used his. His body will do the rest…quickly, my chakra is fading.**"

Sasuke was shocked to see that this was true. Kyuubi's chakra was faint now, instead of the deep orange of before, and barely a trickle, where it had billowed out in gushing torrents. Demon's shoulders drooped and his fangs and whiskers were starting to recede. His voice was more like Naruto's as he told Aimi to hurry.

Aimi opened her mind, her _self_, to her brother, much as she had when she'd taken over the task of severing his bond to Hisa. Instead of molding her chakra, though, she only held it ready, offering it to him. She sensed his chakra, minimally restored and mixed with the foreign chakra of Kyuubi, swirling in him. It quested, reached toward the chakra she held ready for him. A tiny tendril of his chakra made contact with hers.

Naruto came to his senses, shaking his head to clear it, just as Aimi issued one loud, surprised shriek. Then she was silent, her mouth working soundlessly as she slowly sagged to the cave floor. Her lavender chakra rose up like an opaque cloud to fill the cave. It was being sucked hungrily, greedily into Raiden, whose color was improving rapidly now.

"_Half of a great power,_" Sasuke breathed in awe. "Oh, my god."

Asami crept forward and rested a hand on Raiden's brow. She winced at feeling the level of chakra Aimi had filling him, an amount that would have killed anyone else instantly. Raiden wasn't anyone, though. His body was taking the chakra and transforming it as fast as Aimi was giving it to him. His cells were restored, his organs regaining health and the ability to function in rapid succession. "When I tell you to," she spoke to Aimi's gasping face, "Cut that link. Exactly when I tell you, or you'll be in the same condition he was in, got it?"

Aimi nodded weakly.

-oOo-

Sasuke supported a strengthless Demon as they watched in quiet wonder. "You saved me once by giving me chakra, remember?" he whispered to Naruto. "My god, she's really doing it."

Demon managed a faint laugh. "I remember. And I keep telling you, I didn't give you chakra. I let Kyuubi's chakra heal your body, and I made sure my chakra kept Kyuubi's from damaging you further."

"Whatever." He as still whispering. "I think I just understood something about the prophecy."

-oOo-

"Now," Asami said sharply. "Release your link to him, Aimi."

The lavender chakra died away. Aimi lay shivering on the floor, breathing heavily. Asami stood and went to her, hand already glowing to examine her condition.

"All right," Asami spoke soothingly. "A mild case of chakra exhaustion, but you're fine. Can you sit up?"

Aimi said that she could. She managed to after awhile, and Demon made the effort to sit up as well and crawl to her. He took her face in his hands, looked her in the eye, and kissed her soundly on her nose. _All is forgiven, _the kiss said. Aimi attacked him with a hug and a small screech of gratitude, shivering with remorse and happiness in his arms. Startled at first, Demon hugged her back hard and spoke over her head to Asami. "Raiden? How is he?"

Asami held up a hand for quiet. She had her eyes on Raiden, who had yet to open his own eyes.

Quite suddenly Raiden's black chakra blasted out of him, whipping the occupants of the cave in a cool gust of wind, before it settled down to hover over Raiden a moment. Raiden coughed, gasped, blinked his eyes open. He groaned miserably and tried to sit up.

"Not just yet," Asami said quickly. She pushed him back down as Sasuke rushed to his side. "Give yourself a few moments. Your body's still shaky."

"Raiden, thank_ god,_" Sasuke sighed. He rested his head on Raiden's chest. "If you ever scare us like that again, I'll kill you."

"_Raiden!_" Aimi screamed. She threw herself at him, landing pretty much on Sasuke's head.

Demon grinned and managed to lean over both black heads to meet the gray-blue eyes. "How you feeling, buddy?"

Raiden moistened his lips. "I'm going to throw up."

Sasuke and Aimi were on the other side of the cave in the blink of an eye.

"Kidding," Raiden rasped. His small smile faded as he finally sat up. "But I do feel like shit." The triplets, Hisa, Aimi and the adults all sat looking at him. Raiden glanced around, grimaced. "Guess I screwed up again?"

"Not at all," Demon answered mildly. He went to his son and gathered him on his lap, a position that had the triplets sniggering and Raiden squawking in horrified shame.

_"Dad! _Jesus, I'm not a –"

"You nearly died, but you were doing the responsible thing and trying to fix a mistake," Demon said, ignoring Raiden's struggles to be free. "Aimi here saved your skin twice."

Raiden stopped squirming to look at her. "Yeah, well it was the least she could do, seeing as this mess is all her fault."

"No, it's not," Aimi said indignantly. "No one told you to come after me and I didn't make you bite Hisa!"

"You didn't tell us what you were hopping off planet for either, did you?" Raiden shot back. He seemed to be regaining his strength. He bounced off Demon's lap with no trouble now, getting right in Aimi's face. "How was I supposed to know you didn't have an emergency?"

Aimi was red-faced with fury. "Once you saw that I didn't you could have come back here, but ooohhhh no, you just had to stay and play with the other boys. Don't blame me for your mess, Raiden!"

"Me playing! Who was it that was stuffing their face with Choukichi, hanging at Choukichi's place, smooching with Choukichi? Huh? Didn't think I knew about that, did you? Or the manicures Amaya gave you, or how you lazed about in bed for fucking _hours_ sleeping or eating whole cakes? Yeah! I went there," Raiden nodded aggressively at Aimi's shocked intake of breath.

Sasuke and Demon exchanged hooded glances. _Smooching with Choukichi?_

"Bet Choukichi was the one who gave you those cakes, wasn't he," Raiden hissed. "He's the whole reason you wanted to stay there instead of coming back here with me. Him and food."

"I love him," Aimi yelled as she stamped her foot. "And I hate it here!"

_Love?_ Demon and Sasuke mouthed at each other.

"We all hate it here," Raiden bellowed, completely enraged. "We all have some place we'd rather be, or something we'd rather be doing, but at least you got your family with you! At least we're together! Kage-Naruto and Jailbird-Sasuke left their _kids_ and their _wives_ to be here for us. Wyatt left his whole family and went against the Elders. Kit and Queenie are separated, all for us, because of us. How can you have the nerve to abandon us for cake and kisses, Aimi? Just how _could_ you? No matter how much you piss me off I would never leave you high and dry." Raiden shook his head, turned away. "I'm ashamed to call you my sister."

Aimi covered her mouth with her hands.

"I'm really glad he's healed," Sasuke leaned over to whisper to Demon. Demon nodded fiercely, also proud of the tongue-lashing Raiden was giving Aimi. Kid was finally, _finally _growing up.

"R-Raiden, it wasn't like that," Aimi whispered. She wasn't actually whispering, but compared to her earlier volume, it sounded as if she was. "I just…I was tired of being hurt and hungry and dirty all the time-"

Raiden had been staring at Hisa. He whirled back around now to pin his sister with a furious glare. "Oh _shut up_, will you? 'I'm hungry, I'm dirty, I don't have silk pants to wear'" he mimicked in a high voice, holding his hands up daintily. "Boo-fucking-hoo! Get over it! You don't see anyone else complaining, do you? Bitch! I fucking _hate _you sometimes, you know that?"

Aimi could feel it. The way her brother, her idol, looked at her in disgust, the way he turned from her as if he couldn't even stand the sight of her left little doubt in her mind that he was serious. It was worse than everyone else ignoring her. She was bonded to her brother the way her daddies were bonded, and she just couldn't take this, not from him, not after already having her eyes opened by Kenpachi, and not after just putting her life at risk to save Raiden's. Her heart felt like it was breaking in her chest.

The triplets gasped, pointing. Demon and Sasuke leaned forward, frowning in shock. Raiden saw and heard these reactions and turned behind him quickly, sure that Aimi was coming to attack his back.

She was crying.

It wasn't much, wasn't even noisy or anything the way other girls cried, but there were tears in her eyes, almost overflowing. Her face was a picture of sadness. Sasuke choked back a cry of his own, getting up to envelope his precious princess in a welcoming hug of forgiveness, but Demon grabbed him and pulled him back down. Sasuke was ready to contest the issue, but Demon was firm. "Let Raiden get through to her on this one," he hissed to Sasuke. Sasuke relented, but grudgingly.

"I'm _sorry,_" Aimi hiccupped. Her breath was starting to hitch as the tears came harder. "I've said it a million times to everyone, what more do I have to do? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I made a mistake, okay? I came here to try and fix it, to make things right with you, but you hate me anyway so I guess I shouldn't have bothered. Just…" She wiped her face, stared at the moisture on her hand. "I just want you to know that I'm not abandoning you ever again. Even if you do hate me." There was a pause, before she broke down completely and burst into fresh tears, these coming noisily and profusely.

Raiden was in absolute shock. Mouth open, eyes agog, the whole enchilada. It wasn't her words or her remorse…it was the tears. She was hurt enough to actually _cry. _He'd managed to hurt his cold-hearted (yes, she was essentially cold-hearted, like most Uchiha…he knew this intuitively, even if he'd never actively thought about it), usually unflappable sister's feelings. He'd made her cry. Unbelievable. And here he'd thought she was incapable of feeling anything enough to cry about it. He had an inappropriate urge to laugh, which he quelled immediately. Her tears were fascinating.

Aimi did not like being stared at during this embarrassing little crisis. No one comforted her, or said a word of consolation. She wiped her snotty face with a sleeve, noting absently that crying was a messy business, and folded herself to the farthest corner of the planet. No one tried to stop her.

Demon let out a breath. "Raiden, I'm glad to have you back, but why didn't you stop her?"

"And why didn't you go to her once she'd shown you how sorry she was?" Sasuke stood and demanded angrily. "That was a perfect opportunity to finish the change you'd wrought in her."

Demon nodded emphatically in agreement.

Raiden looked back and forth between them. He shrugged and turned back to Hisa. "I'm glad to be back too. I know you guys were worried about me, but I'm fine now…and I'll deal with Aimi in a minute. Get some sleep."

Using the training his grandmother had drilled into him, Raiden folded them with no warning hand gesture or even a blink of his eyes to let his parents know what was coming. They found themselves back in the crater and promptly cursed a blue streak. Hitsugaya snarled at them to be quiet.

* * *

Raiden knelt in front of Hisa. "Hey."

She was blubbering immediately. "Raiden, I'm _so _sorry I chased you and fed you my scent and-"

Raiden held up a hand and she closed her mouth. "So I had this idea while I was committing inadvertent suicide," he said frankly. "I'm pretty sure this idea will work, but I was too weak to stop what I as doing and implement it. Can I give it a try?"

Hisa looked at him, looked at the triplets, back at Raiden. "You forgive me?"

Raiden ducked his head. "Not like I'm innocent, you know. I fucked you over bad. The way I see it, we're even. Equally guilty I mean. If I can fix you, we can say we're square and just leave it at that, okay?"

"Okay," Hisa nodded. She took a deep breath. "You can try whatever you want."

"Good." Raiden reached over and snagged a kunai from Masaru. He twirled the hilt around one finger by a loop, watching the way the blade twirled. It reflected the light from the fire Kei had lit earlier. "It's like this. Uncle Itachi has that whole Susanoo thing? And the Susanoo has this sword called the Sword of Totsuka. Supposed to seal away anything it pierces. I know this because one day Granny Kushina asked me why I couldn't go Level One like Pop. She asked why I change all at once instead of it going in stages. That led to the other Sasukes chiming in about how they all used to go Levels One and Two back when they'd had the seal, too. Granny asked why they no longer had their seals and they all said they lost theirs the same way. All except Queenie and Rasta-Sasuke, who said they never had a seal. The other Sasukes fought their brothers until those Itachis stabbed them with the sword and pulled Orochimaru out of them or some shit. It's confusing, but I asked my Grandpa Minato about the sword, and my uncle Itachi. They both said the same thing. It's a mystical object of great power and blah de fucking blah, some crap I can't really recall. Now. I'm bringing all this up because while I was contemplating my death a whole bunch of junk sort…I don't know, appeared in my mind. My body's way of looking for an alternative to dying. That happens sometimes; whenever I'm in trouble or in need of a solution, my body will find a way…anyways, my _point _ is I can recreate the Sword of Totsuka."

"What!"

"Liar!"

"_Really?_"

"How?" Kei asked shrewdly.

Raiden was still watching the kunai. "Actually not recreate, so much as duplicate the abilities of…sort of. Almost. Enough to get the job done, anyway."

"Again, how do you plan to mimic the capabilities of a mystical sword that is, for all intents and purposes, not even corporeal?"

Raiden caught the hilt in his fist and turned to give Kei a grin. "Fuuinjutsu."

The triplets stared blankly. Hisa held her breath.

Raiden resumed twirling the kunai. "I haven't bragged, but my Granny says I'm true Uzumaki with the Fuuinjutsu. I'd have been considered a prodigy by the clan if it was still around. She said if Aimi is the keenest Genjutsu user to come along ever- and she is... Granny Mikoto says she's way better than her or Hiroko now that she's been trained- then I'm the keenest with Fuuinjutsu. A natural. And I have to admit, I'm better at it than Ninjutsu, and you all know how I rock that particular art."

Nods of agreement from the triplets. "Yeah, but…how?" Kei insisted on knowing.

"That's tricky to put into words," Raiden said, "because I'm sort of making it up on the spot. I guess you could say I'll be taking aspects of the _Fuuja Houin_ my Pop has and the _Fuujutsu Kyuuin_ Pein used with one of his bodies. I'll sort of be combining them, and then doing a reversal of what Aimi just did when she gave me her chakra. Almost like creating a vacuum, one which will suck the cursed seal chakra out of Hisa…just like the sword."

Ryota frowned. "_Fuuja Houin. _Isn't that the Evil Sealing Method the Hokage used to keep the cursed seal in uncle Sasuke?"

"Yeah," Raiden nodded. "And the other is this kind of blocking/absorption type deal."

"And you think that will do the job?" Ryota was skeptical.

"I said I'd be using aspects of those techniques, and something of my own. It's the best I can do as far as explaining, but its actually much more complicated."

"Oh."

Raiden instructed them on the forming of the circle of kunai. He drew the kanji on Hisa in his own blood around the bite mark on her neck. He then left her like that to take up the kunai he'd been holding earlier. He walked off a short ways and sat cross-legged on the floor. He put the kunai in front of him and called up his chakra. He began a series of rapid hand seals, eyes closed in concentration.

"Sharingan, you two," Ryota said to his brothers. "I want this copied perfectly. If he's right, and this works, I may have just found the missing link to this extraction spell."

-oOo-

An hour later Raiden opened his eyes and called forth chakra in both hands. He placed his fingertips on the blade and hilt of the Kunai, which glowed a brilliant red. He took it up carefully by its hilt and walked over to Hisa. He met her eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she whispered. She was shaking in fright, but she did trust him.

"Be ready with a healing spell," Raiden told Ryota.

Ryota, having already made the deduction of what was coming next, had his book open to the page already.

Raiden grasped the hilt in both hands. "Someone get her hair," he muttered. "Then stand back."

Kei moved to hold Hisa's hair away from the mark on her neck, tilting her head to the side. Raiden brought the glowing red kunai up then forcefully rammed it point first into Hisa's skin, directly between the two puncture wounds. Kei jumped back at the last second.

Hisa screamed, but it wasn't heard as sound and energy from the kunai drowned out everything. The red light in the metal widened to encompass all of Hisa. Wrapped in this cocoon, the boys could see her body slowly changing, reverting to normal. It looked as if black ink was traveling out of the wound to be swallowed by the blade in Hisa's neck.

Raiden kept hold of the hilt, watching so that he'd be able to pull it out at the right time. He found that he didn't need to. When Hisa was completely back to normal, the red light vanished, and the blade went dark. He yanked it out, releasing a small torrent of blood. Hisa squealed, clamping a hand down over the welling gash.

Ryoya hurried forward, palm raised. A few words, a pulse of white energy, and Hisa was looking down at her blood-free hand in amazement. "Wow…I…thank you," she looked up at Ryota. Then she turned to Raiden. "Thank you. Thank you."

Masaru stood. "We don't need to threaten you about keeping our powers a secret do you? Or Raiden's and Aimi's?"

Hisa frantically shook her head. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."

* * *

Kiba sat morosely in bed, trying to write a report on how many able-bodied Inuzuka he'd be able to pledge to the Hokage. All clan heads were required to submit a similar report for the coming war, but he couldn't even see. Tears kept blurring his vision and wetting the paper he had on the clipboard. He finally hurled the thing against the wall and just let it out, all his grief.

Sai was there as if summoned, gathering him close and murmuring to him. Kiba clung to his waist, burying his face in Sai's solid stomach, but really there was no relief to be had. His girl was gone.

Out in the living room, Kaminari began a furious barking. A moment later Akamaru woofed and barked just as madly, nearly shaking the house as he thundered into Kiba's room. He barked again, sharply, turning in an excited circle. His tail wagged hard enough to have Sai wincing, but Akamaru only came and pulled a stunned Kiba to his feet by grabbing a mouthful of his vest. He released him to bark again, ran halfway to the door then doubled back for Kiba. He actually went behind Kiba and began shoving him toward the doorway.

Sai saw Kiba blink, lift his head, sniff…he had to run to catch up to him, Kiba was out of the room so fast.

-oOo-

He was in time to see Kiba wrenching the house door nearly off its hinges as he yanked it open. Two individuals stood shyly on the doorstep. One was that kid Raiden that Sai couldn't seem to stop thinking about. The other was-

"Oh…god…" Kiba breathed. "Is it my baby? Is it you, Hisa? It is…I can smell it."

That was all. Hisa ran to him, he caught her, and Kaminari made a leap to hang from Hisa's shirt tail by his teeth. Kiba swung her round and round, crying still, but from happiness now. He kissed her, her hair, her face, her arms, anywhere he could reach and she squeezed him around his neck. Akamaru disappeared, presumably for the Inuzuka complex, to inform Tsume. Sai had to wipe his eyes.

Kiba became aware of the filthy boy standing in his doorway. Not too long ago, he'd considered killing the kid, but couldn't because of what it might have done to his daughter.

Hisa heard the low growl in her father's throat and rushed to explain. "He cured me, Daddy. It nearly killed him, but he cured me all by himself. I'm fine now, see?"

Kiba smoothed her hair, reveling in the feel of her and the sound of her voice. She smelled healthy and vital, as he was accustomed to her smelling, not corrupt and sick anymore. He stared at her smooth features before nodding. He set her down.

Raiden swallowed as the tall man Hisa called father stepped up to the doorway, but he held his ground. He bowed as deeply as he could and held the position. "I'm very sorry for my behavior, sir. It won't be repeated. I healed her and brought her back as fast as I could."

Kiba had to purse his lips to avoid more tears, but in the end he lost that minor battle. He cleared his throat. "I know, kid. And I'm grateful. More than…more than I can say. I know this was all just one big accident. You're forgiven. I got no beef with you."

Raiden lifted his head at feeling the large hand settle on his shoulder. Kiba managed a wobbly smile and gave him a small bow in return.

* * *

He left soon afterward, the door closing on the scene of Hisa, Sai and Kiba locked in a group embrace. Kaminari had been squeezed somewhere in the hug, licking Hisa's face.

Raiden stopped in the middle of the road, thinking. As long as he was here, it couldn't hurt to check on Kaito and Hiroko. The others would want news of them…

* * *

Gaara had listened to Queenie's account of Kabuto's plan with a frown of concern. Then he'd asked if Queenie had brought other guns with him.

"Oh, sure," Queenie laughed. "I brought about five. Kit made me promise to keep myself well-protected when he's not around…there's a Madara in my world too. The Super Shorty is just the one I sleep with…sentimental reasons. It's Kit's favorite gun."

Gaara rubbed his chin in thought. "Would you mind bringing one with you now? I'd like for us to take a little walk."

Now that they were outside the palace, Gaara led them to a small park he kept for his private use. It was irrigated so that it was a lush, green oasis of tranquility, one he went to sometimes when his kage duties weighed on him. It was deserted now. They had the white stone paths beneath the canopies of trees all to themselves.

Gaara spoke idly of Itachi and missing him, of his worries about Yanagi. Queenie listened and sympathized, matching Gaara's slow, leisurely pace. He didn't have his hands clasped behind his back like Gaara did, since the Kazekage had given him a marvelous pina colada to sip, but he was perfectly at ease, as Gaara wanted him to be.

Several large men bearing weapons leapt from behind the trees and sped towards them, attacking mindlessly and silently. Queenie's pina colada dropped as his hand blurred to his side, where he'd stashed his nine millimeter. The holster had looked incongruous on his slip him, riding above his satin pajama bottoms, but there was nothing incongruous about what happened next.

Gaara was able to track the speed Queenie used, saw the way he took out not the largest one, or the one with the biggest weapon, but the fastest one, the one who was nearly on top of them. He shot the others in quick succession, choosing his targets by cataloguing their threat potential, as he'd done with the fastest of the men. They were all down, with neat holes between their eyes, in the space of seven seconds.

"What the hell?" Queenie watched as the bodies dissolved into sand.

"Clones," Gaara said. "Mine."

Queenie stood where he was, looking regretfully at his lost pina colada. "I suppose you have a reason for scaring the living daylights out of me?"

Gaara nodded seriously. "Never have I seen fighting like yours. There is no question but that you are an expert in your field, despite your lack as a ninja. I'm appointing you head of security for my palace, and personal bodyguard to Yanagi and Hiroko. The matter is not up for discussion." At seeing Queenie blink owlishly at him, he added, "Your speed is mind-boggling. How did you assess the threat so quickly? A ninja could do the same, but again, you are not ninja."

Queenie holstered the gun. He waved a hand. "There's similar training on my world at shooting ranges. Kit says I have excellent hand eye coordination. He was considering signing me up for sharp shooter lessons…but then Aimi came. Gaara, I can't guard anyone, I'm useless."

Gaara snorted. "You killed Kabuto while in bed. An S-class criminal not even Itachi could handle. You took out five clones without once activating your Sharingan or employing any chakra. Be as _useless_ as you like, but my decision stands."

He turned to make his way to the hospital, leaving Queenie both flattered and flabbergasted.

* * *

Raiden decided to stop off at Kaito's first, since he was closer. He raised his fist to knock on the door, heard a stampede of feet, and flinched when the door was snatched open by Miki. His other three cousins were right behind her. "Hey…your dad home?"

"Uh huh," came the screeched reply. Miki ran off, her sisters after her, yelling for her dad at the top of her lungs.

Kaito came pounding down the stairs, his fat baby son swaddled in a white blanket and held in the crook of his arm. "What the fuck is it now?" He saw Raiden. "I don't believe it. There is a God."

Raiden started to say hello, but was silenced by Kaito shoving the baby at Miki and grabbing him by his shoulders. He was lifted three feet into the air.

"You have _got _to get me out of here," Kaito hissed frantically.


	50. Chapter 50

A/N: So...how many of you look forward to the weekend update of pics on the facebook page? Can't wait for tomorrow! I hope it's Raiden or Wyatt, since this chap is about them...or the Shinigami^^

*Could be typos...

* * *

Chapter 50

"That is unacceptable," Gaara stated. His face was stiff, as if his sand armor had frozen his features permanently.

The top ranking physician at Suna Hospital, a man who often acted as Gaara's own personal physician, kept his eyes downward. "I understand Kazekage-sama, but there is nothing that can be done. She's in a coma and will likely never recover. The swelling and damage to her brain are too great"

"She is my _daughter_."

"Yes-"

"And I do _not _accept that she is lost to me! Never!"

Gaara never shouted for any reason. That he shouted now, his eyes bloodshot with grief and lack of sleep, frightened the physician and the assisting medics badly. Queenie stood off to the side, a hand to his throat in sympathy. He liked little Yanagi. It was cruel of fate indeed to take her life at such a tender age.

"I will remain at her side, Kazekage-sama." The physician bowed low. "I will see that she is as comfortable as possible."

Gaara's anger left him suddenly. He turned and shuffled blindly into Yanagi's hospital room. He closed the door softly, leaving Queenie, the physician, and the medics out in the corridor.

* * *

"O…kay," Raiden ventured. "You want to come back with me, fine. Can you put me down, Kaito?"

Kaito dropped him. He seemed to really see Raiden for the first time, to take in his presence in Konoha and blinked. He turned away, ran a hand through his hair.

Miki was slowly dropping Taro, unable to hold his wobbly weight. Mari tried to help by holding the boy's head, which Taro couldn't support himself, while Miki tried to hold the rest of him. Somehow poor Taro rolled out of his blanket, heading for nasty contact with the floor.

Kaito made a running leap for the baby, but Raiden already had him floating on a cushion of air. He drew the baby to him telepathically and held him uncertainly in his arms. Kaito saw that his son was safe and just sat on the floor in defeat. He dropped his head into his hands exhaustedly.

Raiden bounced the burbling baby up and down the way he saw other people do. He was careful not to squeeze Taro, mindful of his strength. The baby was soft and squishy and smelled of clean, gentle things. Raiden smiled down at him, momentarily taken with such innocence. Holding the baby was the antithesis of all he'd been put through in recent months. _Aimi used to be soft and squishy like this. And Wyatt._

Aimi and Wyatt. Two people Raiden really needed to talk to. He sighed, kissing Taro on one ruddy cheek. The baby was falling asleep. "Kaito? Here." He let Kaito take the baby, watching as his tall cousin stood up with him. "You coming with me now?"

Kaito looked down at Raiden. "I promised Hanabi I'd stay."

"So you're not coming with me?"

"I can't take it here."

"So you _are._" Raiden was confused.

Kaito gazed down at his son. "Raiden, I'm sorry, I'm stupid with fatigue right now. How long will you be in the village?"

Raiden watched in amazement as Mai curled up on the stairs and went to sleep right there. "Uhh…not long. I'm going to go check on Hiroko, then I'm heading back. Want me to swing back here for you?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay. Can I smell the baby again?"

Kaito managed a smile that said what a weirdo Raiden was, but held the baby down for him to sniff.

A moment later Raiden shimmered into existence outside Sunagakure and settled into a fast run.

* * *

"Ah, Uzumaki Raiden, son of Uzumaki Naruto, who is adopted brother to Kazekage-sama. How long will you be visiting?" the Chuunin riding gate security asked as Raiden jogged up. He took up a brush and dipped it in ink, prepared to write this information in the open book before him.

"An hour or two," Raiden answered.

The Chuunin nodded. "Will you be requiring an escort?"

"Nah, I can find my way to the palace."

"I'm afraid the palace is off limits."

"How come?"

"There's been a disturbance, deaths."

Raiden, who'd been idly looking at a pair of eyes staring at him from an alley further in the village, brought his head snapping around to look at the Chuunin. "Deaths? At the palace? Do you know if Hiroko's okay? And Uncle Gaara?"

"Hiroko-dono has sustained injuries, but she is well, I've heard. Yanagi is in critical condition. Yakushi Kabuto infiltrated the village and nearly killed them both. It was Sasuke who-"

"Sasuke? Sasuke who?" Raiden asked sharply.

"I believe he is sometimes called Queenie. He killed Kabuto with some odd weapon he carries…in fact, he is odd himself, now that I think about it. His presence is very hush-hush, but he does bare a striking resemblance to Itachi-dono's brother, your adopted father."

Raiden was used to people thinking he and Aimi were adopted. Queenie was in Suna? What the hell was going on here?

He walked into the village as normally as he could, fighting the urge to run. He passed the alley and stopped, remembering the eyes that had stared at him from the dark depths.

There were no eyes visible now, but he could sense…something. He could not recall ever sensing anything quite like it…yet some distant echo in the back of his mind insisted that he'd encountered this thing before or nearly encountered it or-

There. A dim shine in the deepest part of the alley. Raiden looked left and right. It was some time before dawn, he knew, but even so the streets seemed bright in comparison to this alley. The darkness in between what looked to be a closed shop and a small home seemed to hold substance, to carry weight.

The shine was like two pinpricks, two tiny distant stars seen in the vastness of space. Eyes.

His heart was pounding, he realized. He might not know what he was seeing, but his body sensed danger. Those eyes, though…what in the world had eyes like that? Was it an animal?

"Yeah, right," Raiden muttered to himself. "Like I'm going to waltz down a dark alley to find out." He turned to leave, to head for the hospital.

-oOo-

Once there, he was politely told that Kazekage-sama was not to be disturbed, that his daughter was not expected to make it. The Kazekage was having a silent vigil of grief, a deathwatch.

Raiden was aghast. Yanagi was his cousin. She was family. "Can't she be saved?"

The medics standing outside her hospital room door sadly shook their heads. Rather than fight his way into that room, Raiden bowed, walked away, turned a corner, then folded. His Uncle Gaara was kneeling by the bedside, Yanagi's hand held in his grasp, his forehead to her wrist. Raiden could see his uncle's lips moving in silent prayer to the gods.

Raiden walked up and stood at the foot of the bed. Gaara raised his head, saw him, and only blinked. "I'm so sorry, Uncle Gaara. At least Kabuto is-"

Gaara's eyes, bleary with sorrow, slowly cleared. They sharpened until Raiden faltered in his condolences. Then Gaara leapt for Raiden's face, hands out-stretched.

Raiden opened his mouth to scream, but his uncle's hard hand was there to cut it off. He was grabbed and manhandled roughly a few feet away from the bed. Gaara's eyes blazed green fire down into Raiden's terrified face. This violence from a trusted relative turned his bowels to water. If he'd known losing Yanagi would send his uncle bonkers like this he wouldn't have come.

Gaara leaned down to whisper into Raiden's reddening face. "Wyatt. Bring him here immediately."

Raiden sagged, nearly shitting himself in relief, but his uncle held him up. He nodded hurriedly, and Gaara's hand was removed. "I thought you were-"

"Yanagi may only have moments, Raiden." There was no express threat given, but his uncle's voice made delaying further a bad idea.

_Thank fuck granny taught me how to Pull shit from off planet. If I left now to do it I think Uncle Gaara would have my head. Literally. _He shut his eyes and opened his mind.

-oOo-

It only took a few moments, then Wyatt was standing there with the Booming sound fading. The medics outside the door started to rush in, but Gaara's sand sprang up in front of it as a blockade.

Wyatt looked around. He spotted Raiden. "You know, someone needs to tell you how rude it is to pull people places against their will. We don't exist to serve you and your high and mighty powers, Raiden. I'll thank you to-"

Gaara stepped in and cut Wyatt off. "My daughter is dying."

Well, that silenced mister I'm-so-perfect, Raiden thought. Wyatt went to Yanagi, asking her father where she was injured. At hearing of the head injury he held his palms by her temples.

Pounding on the hospital room door, shouts asking if the Kazekage was all right. Gaara didn't answer, his eyes intent on his daughter's waxy features.

Yanagi gasped as her eyes flew open. Her arms flailed a moment, before her father was there to gather her close. "Daddy?" At hearing her voice, Gaara wept openly, burying his face in her neck.

Wyatt stepped away from them to walk up to Raiden. "You can send me back now."

But Raiden wanted to have it out with Wyatt. He wanted this anger and animosity between them dealt with. "I fixed Hisa. She's back to normal and with her dad. It's why I'm here on my world, in case you were wondering."

Wyatt hadn't wondered. He'd barely noticed. He'd spent so much of the past week ignoring Raiden and how hurt he was over him and Hisa that seeing him now took up all of his attention. He stopped to really look around, thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Whatever. Send me back."

"I'm going to pick up Kaito after I check on Hiroko," Raiden said quietly. "We can all go back together."

"No, just send me back now. The less I'm around you the better I feel."

Raiden felt his stomach burn. "You don't mean that."

Wyatt walked up to Raiden and glared into his eyes. "Yes. I. Do."

The pounding became too loud to ignore. Gaara recovered his composure with an effort, stood, wiped his face, and spoke quickly to the boys. "Wyatt, I will thank you properly in a moment, but right now both of you need to disappear. Wait for me in my room at the palace."

* * *

Raiden knew where this was and folded them both there. Wyatt walked away from him the moment they arrived and stood on the far side of the room, arms folded. He stared at the wall.

It occured to Raiden that he had been in that cave with Hisa and the triplets for the past eight days and hadn't eaten in all that time. He was now suddenly starving out of his mind. He sensed food in the kitchens and Pulled it up to himself, falling on the sushi, beef, rice and shrimp in a feeding frenzy.

Wyatt watched from over his shoulder. He saw when a jug of water appeared next to Raiden to be glugged greedily. Raiden ate until he collapsed backward in groaning satisfaction, arms and legs spread. Wyatt turned back around before he could giggle at this spectacle. He was mad at Raiden. Very, very mad.

-oOo-

It was a long, uncomfortable time later when Gaara swept inside, animated and vigorous with the return of Yanagi from the brink of death. He went directly to Wyatt, who was still by the wall, and bowed very deeply. Raiden struggled to sit up and listen.

"One prays desperately during such a crisis as I have lived through, but is rarely answered. The gods saw fit to honor me this time by answering my pleas and sent Raiden to me to bring you. You have saved my daughter's life and for that I shall be in your debt, Wyatt Halliwell. Name your price."

Wyatt blushed furiously. "I…it was noth- I mean…" He saved himself embarrassment by returning the bow. "Yanagi's health is payment enough, Mr. Gaara. It's not the way of my family or of Whitelighters to take payment for performing their duty."

Gaara acknowledged this and the fact that he would be dishonoring Wyatt to press the issue by maintaining the bow. "If there is ever any service I can perform, or a request you want granted…you have but to ask." He came up from his bow, thus allowing Wyatt to do the same. He looked him in the eye. "You've changed since first coming to us. You're becoming a man."

Raiden looked Wyatt up and down, comparing him to the timid, weak, and mild-mannered boy he'd brought back with him nearly five months ago. Wyatt had filled out, gotten taller, gotten tanned. His thick hair was completely darkened to brown now, no trace of its youthful blond remaining. His voice had deepened to match Gaara's now. He moved with confidence and surety. Excalibur sat on his back as if it belonged there. There was a watchful air of readiness, of…something…that hadn't been there when they'd been living in Konoha. It took Raiden a moment to realize with idiotic surprise that Wyatt was dangerous. Harmless Wyatt was now a force to be reckoned with.

Wyatt was fucking hot, Raiden decided.

With this thought came another surprise: he had a hard-on.

This was welcomed with a strange mixture of internalized joy and stunned, gratified, yet oddly befuddled wonder. As much as Raiden had bemoaned the fact that he was having sexual dreams about Hisa and not the boy he loved, this sudden powerful attraction to Wyatt left him floundering at first. Wyatt was like…like his blanket. Something that comforted him, felt good to hold, made him happy, and gave him a sense of security. Wyatt was who he went to whenever he felt bad, the person who could make him feel better when even his dads couldn't. Practically as long as he'd been alive, there had been Wyatt. He was as constant as the air and the sun.

And back when he'd first realized he loved Wyatt, really loved him, he'd greatly enjoyed kissing him. Kissing Wyatt was like having more of his blankety goodness, but he'd been very intimidated when Wyatt had wanted to take it further. He just hadn't quite been ready, and his senses hadn't quite made the leap of interpreting Wyatt as a sex object.

Now, though, his body had caught up with his heart and there Wyatt stood, making him feel all sorts of hot, sizzling things. For the first time in his life, Raiden consciously thought about what it would feel like to put his dick in someone. In Wyatt. The thought alone made Raiden want to touch his dick, and so far he was not a person large on touching himself.

He could smell him. Wyatt did not evoke the things Hisa did with her smell because he wasn't female or in heat, but the smell of him was intoxicating all the same. Raiden's heightened nose detected Wyatt's normal smell, the one he as accustomed to, but now it was like the smell as richer. Now Raiden could smell all the thousands of little things that made _up _Wyatt's smell, and it was like the difference between looking at a closed book and actually reading the story within. He could know everything there was to know about Wyatt with one long sniff.

Right now, Raiden was surprised to detect, through Wyatt's scent, that his friend was very aware of him though he was still talking to Uncle Gaara. That was interesting.

Not by a peep or the bat of an eye did Raiden let on what was happening to him. He merely watched Wyatt navigate the proper way to extricate himself from the Kazekage's gratitude while feeling his dick throb in acute sensitivity.

-oOo-

Gaara managed to satisfy himself that there was nothing he could do to repay Wyatt for healing his daughter and finally ended with another deep bow. He straightened and spotted Raiden. "I will be spending the rest of this night in meditation as thanks for the return of my daughter, but Raiden was there something you wanted? Why are you in Suna?"

Raiden dragged his eyes away from Wyatt. "I came to return Hisa to Konoha."

Gaara knew nothing about Raiden and Aimi's trip some weeks ago, or that Aimi had remained and that Hisa had been bitten. When he as properly caught up he stood frowning in thought. "It seems I have missed much."

"Tell me about it," Raiden huffed. "I didn't know Queenie was here."

"Ah, now that is a tale. Come. Hiroko is recovered and likely in her room. Have either of you eaten?"

"I raided your kitchens."

Gaara paused in opening his door for the boys. "I see. Well, you are family."

* * *

Hiroko greeted them with a squeal and a hug that suffocated Raiden and Wyatt each in one huge, mountainous breast. Raiden stood back from her when she'd released him and whistled. "You sure got f-"

Wyatt coughed into his fist.

"Fa-uh…friendlier," Raiden finished awkwardly. Hiroko laughed before turning to ask Gaara if Yanagi was all right. "What," Raiden hissed at Wyatt. "She is fat, look at her. That one boob alone is bigger than my fucking head!"

"Women never want to hear that they're fat, even if they're obese," Wyatt said knowledgeably. "I should know, I grew up around women."

"What do they like to hear?"

Wyatt started to answer before remembering that he wasn't talking to Raiden. He ignored him.

Raiden glared at him

When Gaara and Hiroko had finished the jaw-dropping story of Queenie's Sharingan and shooting Kabuto, and Raiden had told of Kaito having a son, it was decided that the two boys should start thinking about returning. Raiden, inspecting the bloody spot where Kabuto had fallen, nodded.

"I must ask you to return the way you entered Suna," Gaara said. "There is added security for the village, what with the coming war, and triple that since Kabuto managed to slither inside. If the Chuunin at the gate only recorded Raiden coming in, then only Raiden should leave. Wyatt, you must meet him outside the village."

They sat around talking and catching up for another hour, before Gaara excused himself to check on Yanagi. "Give my love to Itachi," he whispered in Raiden's ear as he hugged him goodbye.

"Uh, right." Raiden privately thought he'd relegate that duty to Wyatt.

Hiroko had lots of sweets and cakes she wrapped up. "They're for Kono-chan," she gushed. "Tell him the baby is growing beautifully and I can't wait to see him again. I miss him and love him and need his big, strong-"

"I get it," Raiden said hastily, taking the cakes. "You miss him, you're fine, I'll tell him. Promise."

She bent and planted a juicy kiss on his mouth that had him fighting the urge to hurl. "And give that to him as well."

As he and Wyatt left her room, rather quickly at that, Raiden swiped an arm across his mouth. "Like hell I will," he muttered in disgust.

* * *

Before leaving the palace, Wyatt orbed away to wait for Raiden outside Suna. Raiden made his way through the silent streets, carrying the lumpy parcel Hiroko had packed, and thinking of Queenie shooting Kabuto. He couldn't wait to tell Kit. That was a piece of awesomeness he wished he could have seen.

He only knew he was passing the alley he'd stopped at earlier because a shiver went down his spine. He looked up and to his right, and almost immediately encountered that pinprick shine again. Those eyes. He couldn't be sure, but he thought the pull of them was stronger this time. He felt an urge to walk into that alley. It was like being suddenly and inexpressibly sleepy. With a start, he realized he'd stopped walking, had actually turned to face that alley and was leaning toward it.

It was the Hisa situation all over again.

No. No, it wasn't. He was in control of himself and he was not going down that alley to meet what was probably some old beggar. Setting his teeth, Raiden made himself turn around and continue walking down the street. The village gate was up ahead. He could see it, two hundred yards away. He could sense Wyatt about a mile or two beyond that, waiting in the desert. All he had to do was make it outside the gate, then he could fold to Wyatt, fold to Kaito and Boom the hell back to the crater. Just a couple of hundred yards to go.

It got easier. The pull of those eyes was less with each step he took. When he'd gone a few dozen feet, he felt the weight of those eyes on his back drop completely and he felt such relief that he did a little skip. "Whew!" He even managed a small laugh.

Maybe it was the last shred of curious boy in him, or maybe it was something else, but he turned his head for a last look in the alley before it passed out of sight, and this time the eyes were attached to a face.

Raiden had the confusing thought that what he was seeing wasn't an animal, but it certainly could not be considered human. The face was very white, the lips blood red, and the eyes as black as jet. He could not see a body at first because it was surrounded by long black hair that seemed to blend in with the darkness of the alley. This thing came toward Raiden slowly, maintaining eye contact. Raiden noticed unpleasantly that those eyes still held a pinprick of shine in them…which did nothing to make them beautiful since there was no white at all around the black part. There was no iris to the eyes, just those black orbs stuck into an inhumanly attractive face.

A white hand parted the cloak of black hair and was held out to Raiden in invitation.

A mist of forgetfulness and white nothingness was crowding the edges of his consciousness. Raiden gasped, thinking he was being put under Genjutsu, but he wasn't. He'd been inundated with enough Genjutsu from his grandmother Mikoto to know this was something else. His mind was being slowly taken over, with him wide awake and aware, he realized. Panic clawed at his throat, in his chest, making him break out in a rash of goose bumps.

Raiden fought to assert his own will, to take control of his mind once more. The white nothingness only rolled over his efforts, making him long to close his eyes and lie down. Time stood still. He felt like hours had passed when he knew it was only a second or two since he'd stopped to look back into the alley.

_Run, _he screamed at himself. _Run, you idiot!_

Strength flooded his limbs, providing the wherewithal to do just that, but he only swayed where he stood, unable to command his body. The parcels fell from his weakening arms. He could feel his chakra pumping around strongly inside him, his body laboring under the frantic fight or flight signals his brain was sending out…but somewhere along the connection that was as far as the signals went. His body didn't actually move.

The creature, whatever she was, came closer, but did not leave the alley. She stopped just short of where the light from the street lamps reached. Her hand beckoned to Raiden delicately.

_If you go into that alley you are dead, Raiden, _he scolded himself. _You are the son of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, kickass Fuuinjutsu prodigy, and grandson to Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. They would all hang their heads in shame to see you fall prey to some chic right after that mess with Hisa, so get a grip and MOVE. YOUR. ASS!_

That seemed to help. Throwing restraint to the winds and calling on every ounce of chakra he had also helped. It erupted in a towering black cloud, one that cleared his mind somewhat. He was able, for instance, to blink and turn his head, to begin turning his body in preparation to folding out of there, gate security be damned.

_"Rai…den…"_

The voice was somehow beyond sound. Or beneath it. He heard it, but not with his ears; his name hadn't come from her lips, but she had called to him just the same. Raiden watched in numb shock and wild fear as his body turned again and began walking stolidly toward the alley and that creature.

"Nnh…Nnngg…"

Not good. He was screaming as loudly as he could for help, but the only sound to come out of him wouldn't have been heard three feet away. His chakra was behaving wildly, somehow not completely in his control anymore. He was just beyond that creature's reach…her hand stretched out…brushed his wrist…

* * *

Wyatt walked back and forth, describing an elliptical pattern in the sand with his pacing feet. He had his hands on his hips.

Where was Raiden? He should have been here by now, Wyatt thought. What could be keeping him? Fed up, he unsheathed Excalibur and began going through the higher forms he was learning from .

* * *

The touch of the creature's hand was like being touched with a dead, bloated fish. Cold, wet, and repulsive. He would have wondered how such a touch could come from an otherwise beautiful hand –if he'd had brains enough to think at all by that point- but he was hit with the smell of the creature and that almost did the job of ripping away the rest of his consciousness. She, it, smelled of dead things, things long dead and not of this world. Though he'd been too young and too busy at the time to catalogue it then, Raiden recognized the smell as one he'd encountered when rescuing his Pop from Izanami. Down in that underworld place, he'd vaguely smelled this stench. Vaguely, because he'd been there only in spirit and because he'd been a child, without his new sense of smell awakened yet.

Izanami. _Oh God._

This didn't look like what he remembered of the goddess, but that hardly mattered did it? Almost certainly this thing was an emissary of Izanami's, which meant game over. Raiden even now was being pulled into that alley, though he leaned all his strength against the pull of that white hand.

The problem was that he wasn't using his real strength, even if he thought he was. However wildly he fought in his mind, Raiden's actual body was being pulled along as if he were a docile lamb.

_no._

His feet shuffled along the sandy road, inching toward the dark, where the creature felt most comfortable. Her red lips parted in a smile that promised evil delights.

_no._

And now he could feel the coldness of the alley. He was halfway over the threshold, resisting with all his might and failing miserably. He tugged against that soft grip, roared, growled, aimed his chakra and hurled it at her, screamed…yet all that happened was that he took another calm step, and his eyes remained locked to those black ones.

_No. _

He was swallowed by darkness, and with it, the last of Raiden's resistance was gone.

He could see. The creature turned from him and held her other hand up toward the back of the alley. Green lights, the embodiment of evil spirits, and a sight Raiden recalled from the graveyard when Willow had called on dark powers, sprang up, creating a vortex of screeching sound and wind.

"No...god."

There was no one to hear.

* * *

Wyatt quickly worked up a sweat. He was slicked with it when he sat down to take a break. He leaned back on his hands, putting his face up to the sky and closed his eyes. He breathed, doing the short post-practice meditation to settle his mind and body that Mr. Urahara had taught him.

It was in this state, while everything in him was calm and still, that he was able to feel the small pulse of magic in the atmosphere.

No. Not magic. Power.

Wyatt opened his eyes and frowned in the direction of the village. Was that Raiden? It didn't feel like him… Wyatt tried sensing Raiden and at first couldn't. He stood there, seeking the brilliant glow that was his friend, trying to find some shred of his signature in the world around him. Had he Boomed already?

After some seconds, an image came to him, one of darkness, death…a struggle, though a weak one…

Wyatt lifted his head and started to orb. Then he remembered that no one outside a select few knew of his origins and began running instead.

* * *

Aimi sat in one of the many forests that seemed to populate the training world, near a mud puddle. The faint reflection fn the moon between the trees showed a single toad sitting on the far side of the puddle, watching her with indifferent eyes.

The crying had taken a long time to stop. She had leaked, gushed, leaked, sniffled, until finally she seemed to be spent. She felt loose and empty and comfortable in her misery. It wrapped her securely in its close embrace now that it had been let out. Aimi found crying to be quite cathartic. If she could manage it, she would do it again sometime in the future.

For now, she sighed and stood up. She'd screwed up with her brother, but she intended to be responsible about her training from here on out. Everyone was mad at her, no one thought she was anything other than a traitor, and her brother hated her. That still made her stomach hurt, but at least her daddy forgave her. That was something. That was better than yesterday.

An indescribable feeling settled in her chest just then. She felt an irrational amount of fear for no apparent reason, and a sense of being drained and _taken. _Like her insides, her mind, were being pulled away from her.

A low growl purred in her throat. _What was this?_

_

* * *

_

As long as Raiden lived, he would never forget what it felt like to have all of his will slowly taken from his grasp. Taken. _Taken. _Forcibly taken from his control, control that he tried desperately to maintain. The green spirit lights had given way to a rip in reality, a tear between worlds. A window into the land of the dead appeared right there in the alley and with it, all of Raiden's strength seemed to bleed away. All he had was fear now, cold and sharp and eviscerating. It helped weaken him, helped the creature take hold of him, even though he tried to fight her mental hooks in his mind. She pulled him toward this opening and Raiden, helpless yet screaming loudly inside his head, felt tears of fear and hopeless slide down his cheeks. The black, cold, inhuman mind of the creature invaded Raiden and swept through his being, squashing the last of his resistance.

Almost all.

Raiden became aware of a small pool of both strength and resistance hidden within him at the same moment the creature did. The creature paused at feeling it. Raiden could only watch as if this were all happening to someone else. His mind was aware, but his body was nothing but a puppet now. He looked at the tiny pool of foreign resistance, watched how the creature's dark power swarmed around it, trying to obliterate it, and realized it was the last of Aimi's chakra inside him. It was a small bit that he hadn't required, that his body hadn't used. He hadn't even felt it or known it was there, but aware of it now as he was he could sense a very faint connection to his sister.

Not that it mattered. He would soon lose the ability to think at all.

* * *

Aimi stood frozen as understanding came to her. Impossible as the concept was, her brother was in the process of being kidnapped. This was information she gathered in one swift look at Raiden's mindscape. She spent a minute focusing on why it was that she was suddenly aware of her brother as she'd never been before in their lives, and reached the conclusion of her chakra within him as well…until she felt whatever had taken over Raiden trying to take over the small part of her chakra left inside him.

Without thinking, she sank into the state of mind she adopted when navigating the higher dimensions and pushed all her strength at that frail connection with Raiden. She tried to Boom to him as well, but immediately felt her connection weaken as a result; he'd taken a lot of her chakra when he'd been near death. Most of it. She didn't have enough now to Boom to him and keep the connection. And she sensed that if Raiden lost the connection to her he'd be lost completely to whatever had a hold of him.

* * *

The creature was not pleased. She'd had the boy in the palm of her hand, his essence firmly snared. Alive as he was, she did not have the power to bring him to her realm unless he was completely willing…not from the land of the living. The one she served didn't even have that power…but she could and did have the power to fog his mind and disrupt his chakra. He was powerful, but not where it counted. He'd been easy to mold to her bidding, and she'd come so close! So close to completing the task assigned to her, but now there was something inside him, something that fought her and sought to give the boy the will and strength to fight her. And she could not eradicate this thing, this _other _inside him.

The creature let go of Raiden's mind and turned to face this threat head on.

Raiden knew this was all taking place in his head. He knew he was lying on the ground and the creature crouched beside him. Released from her mental clutches at last, he was still too weak and disoriented to do anything but watch the internal battle for his soul taking place between Aimi and this creature. And weakened as Aimi was, faint as her chakra was inside him, it looked as if the creature would win in short order.

* * *

But Aimi wasn't going down that easily.

Transformed, the forest around her echoing with her piercing growls of rage, Aimi stood and did battle, nearly bleeding from the effort it took to maintain a connection she was completely unfamiliar with over such a distance. Yet maintain it she did, for if it slipped now, when the creature was hell bent on destroying it, her brother would be sucked into god knew where.

Even so, she was tiring quickly. _–Raiden- _She screamed across the distance between them. _–Fight! I can't hold her off for long!-_

She didn't know if he could hear her.

* * *

He could and did, but it was futile. It was a superhuman effort just to think, much less retake possession of his body. _–Can't- _he sent back at her. _–need…more…help-_

_

* * *

_

If Lee could see how Wyatt ran now he would have lain down in a puddle of his own tears and died of pride.

He ran like the proverbial wind, putting all his strength into the power of his stride. A low cloud of churned up sand lay in his wake as he pushed himself harder, and yet harder. He kept his mind on Raiden, on what was happening to him, and was consequently aware of every failed attempt of Raiden's as he struggled to resist whatever had him. Wyatt didn't know what it was, but he knew dark power when he felt it. Somehow Raiden was able to hang on through the interminable minutes it took Wyatt to run two miles in the sand, but he was fading. And so was whatever help Raiden had found at the last second.

Even as he thought this, the thread of strength Raiden had been hanging on to snapped. He felt the creature take full possession of Wyatt and turn for the gateway she'd opened.

"Screw this." Wyatt leaped, orbed mid-leap, and came into being again in that alley, leading with his right fist and his magic blazing.

It was a woman that had Raiden's limp body.

Wyatt knocked her clear across the alley to land against the wall with his punch. Raiden was dropped, and then the woman wasn't a woman, but an old hag with three-inch nails black with filth, and fangs and …she was coming right for Wyatt.

He felt it, as he slipped his blade off his back, felt the way whatever powers she had were geared toward disrupting chakra or magic. He could feel her trying to get inside him and mess with his own magic, but he was too powerful for that. He was born to his gifts and able to use them expertly since he'd been a tadpole in his mother. Wyatt Halliwell was not someone whose powers could be taken. And holding Excalibur, joined with it, he made this fact known.

He stood his ground, glowing with the power of his sword so that the alley was dazzling with light, and stared the screeching hag dead in the eyes. "You want to dance with me, bitch? We'll dance. But you're not getting Raiden, not this or any other day."

The creature stopped her headlong flight at that voice of power. It would be her doom to go against that being of Light. He was one of the ones her master sought, but there was no way she could take this one. Not this one. She had failed.

Wyatt watched the hag creature fade into the hole she'd opened and the hole itself fade away. The moon and stars seemed to reassert themselves, brightening the night to its normal darkness and not the pitch black that had fallen around them. _Enchantment, _Wyatt realized. That explained why no one had come to Raiden's aid at the amount of chakra he must have unleashed when he'd first tried to defend himself. Had Wyatt known there wasn't anyone around he would have orbed sooner.

-oOo-

Raiden lay facedown on the ground. His eyes were open, but he didn't respond the first few times Wyatt called his name. He came around slowly, first moving a hand, then a foot, then rolling to his back with his mouth pursed around a string of curses. Wyatt helped him up.

"Can you fold or Boom?" Wyatt asked him.

"Fold maybe. Give me a minute or two for the Boom." He realized Wyatt was supporting his shoulders, that this was the first time Wyatt had touched him or that he'd allowed himself to be touched in what felt like months. He twisted his head to see behind him, looking at Wyatt's face. "Thanks. I owe you."

"What was that thing?" Wyatt didn't acknowledge the thanks.

"I don't know. But I think it was something I've seen or been around before. I don't remember it, but it felt sort of familiar."

* * *

Kaito hated when Hanabi cried, but he did not let her tears and sniffles stop him from pulling on the buckskin breeches he'd arrived in, or from kissing his girls and a sleeping Taro goodbye. He tucked his silent, saddened girls in bed, leaving Hanabi in their room for the moment.

"Are you leaving becauthe I wath bad?" Miki whispered up at him. "Pleathe don't go again. I'll be good, I promithe."

He drew the blanket up to her chin and sat on the edge of her bed. "I'm not leaving because of you or your sisters or anyone. You guys worked my last nerve, true, and I could use a break from all the whining and baby shit and baby puke and demands…but the truth is that if I could survive training, I can survive you guys."

"Then why are you going?"

Kaito had thought long and hard about that. The truth was, it just didn't sit well with him that he'd left, even if his family had needed him. And because of that, because of his secret guilt, ordinary shit his family did just seemed ten times more annoying than usual. Rather than continue to live in a state of pissed-off frustration, he decided that he had to go back. He looked down at his eldest daughter.

Wild, argumentative, headstrong brat she may be, but she was first in a new line of both Hyuuga and Uchiha. And she wasn't talentless. "Do you want to be a ninja when you grow up?" he asked softly. He wondered why he'd never asked her this before.

Miki's slate grey eyes lit up. "Yeth. I want to be like Auntie Hinata."

"Why not like mommy?"

"Mommy?" Miki giggled. "She'th not a ninja, she'th jutht mommy."

Kaito frowned at this. He leaned down and kissed Miki's cheek goodnight, allowed her to hug him and kiss his cheek in turn, and stood to go to his room.

-oOo-

Hanabi stood from the bed immediately, weeping and wringing her hands. "Kaito, _please-_"

"Stop."

Hanabi closed her mouth, sniffling.

"I can't do this anymore, Hanabi." He kept his voice and eyes steady.

Dread settled around Hanabi, making her eyes large and round. "What-what do you mean?"

"I mean I can't keep carrying this family on my back all by myself. I know the kids have come like clockwork, but I married a kunoichi of the most elite family in Konoha and she was no slouch."

"Kaito," Hanabi whispered in surprise. "I…"

"You're lazy," Kaito supplied. "And lax with our children, and too dependant on me for my peace of mind. If I died tomorrow I wouldn't be able to rest in my grave comfortably for thinking how this family would fall apart."

Hanabi sank to the bed, stricken. "Are you leaving me?" Her eyes were glassy, her face white with terror.

"What? No!" Kaito strode to the bed and knelt in front of her. He took her hands in his. "No, I'm not. But Hanabi, I need some help here. Don't you love me?"

"More than my life."

"Then _help _me."

Hanabi stared into his pleading face. It was her worst fear that he would eventually leave her for a younger woman, someone his own age. She saw the looks he got from village girls, even if he didn't. The only time she could remember taking charge since meeting him was when she'd found out he was going up against Akatsuki and that he was afraid. She did have it in her to be the fierce Hyuuga she used to be, but it was buried deep beneath years of marriage to the man of her dreams and how happy he made her. He made it easy to depend on him.

But it was no excuse. He was right, she'd gotten lazy. And if she wasn't careful, one day he'd walk into their bedroom and say he was leaving her.

"I'm sorry, Kaito," she said now. Her voice was scratchy with the crying she'd done. "You're absolutely right to expect help from me. I should have been helping you all along." She took a breath, shook her hair out of her face and met his gaze with a strong one of her own. "What would you have me do?"

"Train our girls. They're babies but I think they'll surprise you. And you, Hanabi. These are my children, I need to know they're protected when I'm away, that they'll be safe if something ever happens to me."

"Don't say that!"

"I will say it! Where the shit do you think we are, in Happy Ending Land? We're ninja. Death is our way of life, violence our food and drink. You need to remember that and live like the ninja I married and not as if this time of peace will last till we're both bent with age. A war the likes of which we've never seen will be here soon and all you're doing is sitting around asking for milkshakes. Wake up, Hanabi! I need a ninja by my side, fighting with me and protecting our kids. I need you to be strong if I die and teach our kids to be strong in case we both die. I need to know you have my back, and that our family well-cared for."

He was scaring her because he was right. Oh god, he was right and she couldn't hide from life anymore.

Kaito took her pale face in his hands, kissed her tenderly on her trembling lips. "You're a strong woman, Hanabi. Just promise me you'll live like the ninja I know you are."

She reached for him, held him close, not wanting to lose him. She nodded.

-oOo-

When Raiden folded himself and Wyatt to Kaito's living room, he found his cousin waiting for him. They walked out to the backyard, where a subdued Raiden Boomed them all back to the crater.

* * *

Raiden only stayed long enough to leave Kaito and Wyatt behind as he folded immediately to where Aimi lay semi-conscious in a muddle puddle. A toad sat on her head, croaking complacently.

"Aimi?" he said hoarsely as he gently turned her over.

She blinked up at him, and Raiden sat more comfortably, drawing her heavy torso into his lap. He kissed her mud-splattered hair, and sat rocking her slowly back and forth. The toad had hopped a few feet away and now sat watching them.

He heard one of those huge four-eyed lizard things roar somewhere in the forest as he stared down at his sister's dark eyes. He could feel when she was completely recovered, but she continued to allow herself to be held. He couldn't remember holding her like this since she'd been two or three.

"I don't hate you," he said.

"Yes you do. Sometimes."

"I know I said that, but I didn't mean it."

"Yes you did."

"I don't. I hate the things you do sometimes, but I don't hate you."

"You really hurt my feelings."

"I know. But you really screwed up."

"I know."

"I love you, Aimi. I know I don't say it. I keep it inside, joke around like a normal big brother, but I love you so much."

Aimi was mesmerized. "You do?" she breathed. "Why?"

Raiden shrugged one shoulder. "How do you think I always know what you're doing? I keep tabs on you. You're the only person in the world who's like me at all."

Aimi developed a small crush on her brother then that would remain with her the rest of her life. She sat up, facing him. "I love you too, Raiden. More than anything."

Raiden managed a crooked grin. "More than Choukichi?"

"More than Choukichi."

"More than cake and fried shrimp?"

"Even more than those. How do you know those are my favorite foods?"

"I know everything about you, down to the one blonde hair growing near the base of your neck."

Aimi put a hand to her hair. "I have a blonde hair?"

"Just one. A fluke." Raiden lifted his hand now and tucked a sheaf of her thick hair behind one dainty ear, his smile fading. "Izanami almost had me, Aimi. You saved me."

"I did? I thought I lost the connection there at the end. Wyatt-"

"You held that thing off long enough for Wyatt to get to me."

"Oh." Then, "Wait, _what? _Izanami? Raiden-!"

Raiden nodded. "Her lackey or something, but that thing wasn't from anywhere but that dead place I yanked Pop out of." He met Aimi's eyes, his own round and dark with his fright. "She was waiting for me, Aimi. She knew I'd be there."

"Oh god!" Aimi covered her mouth with a hand.

"It's weird. The whole time, everyone's telling me Izanami wants me, but a part of me never really believed it, you know? But that thing…when I saw where she was taking me…when I smelled her and saw how I couldn't fight her… Aimi we've been training this whole time and I'm stronger than I've ever been in my life. Stronger than just about everyone here except you and Wyatt and maybe Ryota, and I_ couldn't do shit_ to save my own life. She wasn't even Izanami, Aimi. What am I going to do if I come up against Izanami herself? What the hell have I been training for?"

* * *

Kushina wondered that same thing, when some hours later, she and the rest of the trainees had listened to the entire tale.

There was ringing silence for nearly thirty minutes.

Demon and Sasuke had their children firmly tucked in their embrace, trembling as hard as their children were.

"_Shikome,_"Jiraiya said at length. Everyone turned to him. He explained. "Izanami has female servants who do her bidding called _Shikome. _From what I understand they are vicious killers, able to walk on any surface, and able to take the appearance of a young woman when they are not riled to a fighting state. They are capable of disrupting one's chakra, concentration and will to resist them."

"Why didn't Izanami send these _Shikome _after Raiden and Aimi before now?" Minato asked. "Why bother with the elaborate plan involving Akatsuki?"

"I don't know. But things are escalating if she is now sending minions after the children. The war may be closer than we think," Jiraiya said gravely.

Kushina regarded Raiden. "How is it that Aimi connected with you? I thought you couldn't speak to her like that."

"I can't, usually." Raiden's forehead knit together in puzzlement. "I don't understand what happened."

"I think I do," Sasuke spoke up. All eyes turned to him. He related the incidents that took place in the cave. "Raiden said when that _Shikome _had him he felt a trace of Aimi's chakra still inside him, and through it, Aimi was able to contact him. I realized something about the prophecy earlier. Kushina, you've been training them as a unit, true, but I think they're supposed to do more than learn to fight side by side. _'She is half of a great power. What her other half lacks, she has, and vice versa. Apart they are safe. United, unstoppable.' _United, Kushina. I think the prophecy meant physically united."

A moment of sick disbelief.

"Am I going to have to kill you here?" Demon wanted to know.

"I think I'll kill myself," Raiden said weakly. "Pop, please tell me you're not serious?"

"Are we talking about sex?" Aimi asked. "'Cause…ew."

Demon was recalled to another point. He rounded on Aimi, sitting in Sasuke's lap. "What do _you_ know about sex? And what the hell is this about you kissing Chouji's kid?"

Aimi smiled beatifically. "I like his kisses. Not at all like Kenpachi's kiss. His was gross, his mouth all open and his tongue…ugh. I don't know how you and Papa can stand to kiss…like…that…" She stopped; her daddy's eyes were turning red.

Demon, Sasuke, Raiden, and both sets of grandparents stared first at Aimi, then over at Kenpachi, who had the nerve to grin at the sudden violence he was sensing.

"What about the prophecy?" Jiraiya coughed into one fist, redirecting everyone's attention.

Sasuke spoke while keeping his eyes on Kenpachi. "United with chakra. Think about it. Raiden can't fight any sort of technique aimed at his mind, not at all, but with just a small bit of Aimi's chakra in him, connected to her, he was able to withstand that creature. I'm willing to bet that with Raiden's chakra in her, connected to Raiden, Aimi would be able to fend off Ninjutsu attacks. Combined, they're the ultimate ninja, impervious to Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, and any other art. The prophecy said that united they would be too dangerous. Can you imagine what these two would be like if I'm right and they could join like that?"

Apparently they did imagine it, for several faces went slack at the possibilities.

"I've been going about their training all wrong," Kushina muttered in disgust. "No matter. Better late than never. You two," she barked at her grandchildren. "You have exactly two hours to sleep. Then we will go on a little journey."

The rest of the trainees dispersed to take advantage of the rest of their allotted four hours, but Raiden got up and went to Kit and Konohamaru. He handed Konohamaru the bag of goodies Hiroko had sent. It had sat forgotten on the ground while he'd let his father hug him. Kit and Konohamaru both looked up at him curiously.

"Hiroko sent those. Just wanted to tell you she's fine and sends lots of love. And Kit, Queenie's with her, living it up large in Gaara's palace."

"You saw my man?" Kit asked quickly. "He's _where? _Is he okay?"

Raiden smiled. "Oh yeah. He's so okay that he shot Kabuto to bits when he infiltrated the palace and hurt Hiroko and Yanagi. Gaara made him bodyguard to 'Ko and Yanagi, too."

_"What?"_ both men yelled.

"Yup, Kabuto's a goner now, and 'Ko's fat and fine and the baby's fine, she said. She and Queenie are like bossom buddies or something. Oh, and she awakened his Sharingan now, too. That's all I wanted to say. G'night." He turned and went in search of Wyatt.

Konohamaru absently bit into a cake, the taste of sugar after months without it making him immediately nauseous. "Kabuto's dead," he said in wonder.

"My Sasuke is handling his business," Kit said just as faintly. "Always knew he could, and he is a devil with a hand gun. Better than me even, which is saying something. I'm glad he's not alone. Takes a load off my mind."

Konohamaru nodded. "I'm glad she's safe. I had no idea she was with Gaara, thought she was alone in the Uchiha compound. I'm glad Queenie's with her too…they really get along well. Cake?" He held one out to Kit.

"Oh, thank you, don't mind if I do."

* * *

"We need to talk," Raiden said as he stopped by Wyatt's corner of the crater.

Wyatt orbed away. Resigned to getting no sleep at all, Raiden tracked him and folded to where he sensed him.

They were in a plain of waving grass. Moonlight frosted everything, including Wyatt's bare back, which was turned to him. "I have nothing to say to you," Wyatt said.

"Dude you just saved my life…that means you still care. How are you going to not talk to me if you still care?"

Wyatt said nothing.

Raiden sucked his teeth, looked aside. "Look, I know what happened with Hisa hurt you, but …it wasn't deliberate. Maybe I could have stopped myself, maybe I couldn't. What's important is that she's fixed and I'm not bonded to her anymore. What, are you never going to speak to me again over a mistake I fixed?"

Wyatt slowly turned. His eyes were such a brilliant blue in the moonlight that Raiden felt a ghost of his earlier attraction and excitement come back.

"Do you know what I feel for you, Raiden?" he asked softly. "I don't just care. I love you more than my family, more than life, more than anything in any world anywhere, ever. No matter how I was provoked nothing, _ever_, could make me forget you long enough to do something like what you did with Hisa. You think I don't know it was sexual even if you didn't have sex? That you wanted her in a way you've never waned me? Do you have _any _idea at all how much that hurts? That for a moment, just a moment, I wasn't everything to you the way you are for me?"

There was nothing Raiden could say to that. Except, "I do love you that much, Wyatt. I swear. I don't know how to show you or make you believe me, but I swear to god I feel the same way. I just didn't know how to control my junk, is all. All this stuff was happening to me and what she did…I'm sorry, okay?"

"I want you to love me so much that something like what Hisa did won't affect you, Raiden. But I guess you don't. Another dog girl could come along and you'd be chasing after her too, wouldn't you."

"_No_, never. Nothing will come between us again, Wyatt, I promise you. I swear on my life."

Wyatt looked at him awhile. Then he orbed away.

Raiden was too tired to go after him, and anyway what would be the point? "Why does my life have to suck so hard," he mumbled as he face dropped into the grass. He went to sleep where he fell.

* * *

Izanami appeared relaxed, but she was far from it as her _Shikome _made her report.

"He had help, High One. The one of Light came and I could not contend with his powers. They were too great. I have failed you, High One."

"That you have," Izanami stated.

But then, she'd expected failure. If the children could be brought to her so easily, she wouldn't bother with them. It was because they were so powerful that she craved them. Ordinarily her _Shikome _couldn't leave the underworld, but Izanami had conducted an experiment in imbuing them each with a part of her power, enough to withstand the land of the living for a short time. She stationed one in each of the Five Great Nations to spy and see if they could come up with news of the children's whereabouts.

This one might have failed in acquiring Raiden, but she'd brought back wonderful information Izanami hadn't had before: Though powerful, Raiden had weakness still. He had allies to compensate for those weaknesses, and if ever the boy came into contact with one of her _Shikome_ again, no doubt he wouldn't succumb as easily.

But that wasn't going to happen. It had cost her dearly to send her servants out of the underworld. She would not be doing that again. She would have to rely on Madara and his comrades…she smiled at the thought of their Bijuu.

She looked down at the bowed head before her. "How long before the planet those wretches are on is close enough?"

"Five weeks of mortal time," the _Shikome _replied.

"Hmm. Begin preparations. The moment the planet is in place I want my minions and supporters ready to move."

The _Shikome_ bowed lower. "It will be done, High One."

_Yes it will,_ Izanami thought. _And when I have what I want, the heavens will burn for caging me here for eternity. Ah, how the cosmos will weep when I am free._


	51. Chapter 51

A/N: Mostly filler. Methinks next chap will be pretty intense, since it begins the end. Also, I gave a hint at a huge spoiler a couple chaps back with Yanagi, but no one made the connection ^^ Lmao!

*Ignore the typos, I suck, I know. -.-

* * *

Chapter 51

The trainees, save two, slept. The teachers, save one, turned toward the Shinigami. They, save one, backed down, conceding that they had no quarrel with the teachers who advanced. The one who didn't back down adjusted his eye patch, gripped his sword, and waited merrily.

The teachers, except Jiraiya, and the two trainees, spread out. Stances were adopted.

Hitsugaya spoke up, trying to inject a note of reason. "There has to be another way to settle this. Fighting over something so stupid is beneath all of you. I'm sure that-"

Kenpachi leveled his sword at the white-haired captain without looking at him. "Butt out, runt."

Hitsugaya's lips thinned in rage. "I misspoke. Have at him, by all means."

The two trainees, none other than Sasuke and Demon, gave tight nods. "We intend to."

Kenpachi used Shunpo. Minato was after him before his blur had faded, and the rest of the teachers, Demon, and Sasuke followed.

It was a heated chase, but over quickly. Kenpachi stopped after barely a few dozen flash steps. "Only wanted to give us room to play," he said when his pursuers all stopped around him. "This should be fun, neh?" He stood at ease, not reaching for his sword. The expression on his face could be termed conservatively as one of wild excitement.

Minato straightened from his crouch. "Hitsugaya Taicho is correct. For us, decorated leaders, shinobi, and captains to fight is absurd. We know you are strong. And you know our strength."

"Nor will fighting change what you did," Kushina added. "It won't erase your touch from an innocent child."

"We don't expect you to change your perverse thinking when it comes to Aimi," Mikoto said.

"Or to develop a fear of people who will shortly be gone," Fugaku said quietly.

Kenpachi frowned. "Then why are you doing this?"

Sasuke stepped forward. "Because it's time you knew that Aimi isn't the only one who can beat your ass. It's time someone showed you that you aren't the strongest thing out there. There are consequences for your actions and even someone as powerful as you has to pay."

"But most importantly," Demon added as two tails grew from him. "We just really want to hurt you."

Minato flexed his fingers. "Everyone…show no mercy."

The teachers and trainees attacked.

* * *

"-Ram, boar, goat, monkey, pig-"

"No it's ram, goat, _boar_, then monkey and pig," Kei huffed in exasperation. "How many times do I have to _tell _you that?"

Masaru scrubbed his tired eyes. "I'm trying okay? How'm I supposed to remember _five hundred _hand seals?"

"Five hundred and twelve. And if I can remember them, so can you. Let's try again."

"I need a break. We've been doing this for hours." Masaru stretched out on the cave floor.

Kei stood and drew back his foot to kick him in a rare display of violence. Ryota, who hadn't taken his eyes off his scribbling since Raiden had Boomed with Hisa, spoke without looking up. "Leave him."

"But-"

"He's no good if he can't focus." Ryota muttered something else under his breath, something about synchronized matrixes.

"I just don't understand _why _he's not focusing," Kei grumbled as he dropped down near Ryota. "He knows how important this is. Now that we have the missing piece for that spell, why doesn't he just push through like I'm doing? Does he think I'm feeling fresh as spring air? I'd like to sleep too, you know."

Ryota looked up at last, rubbing at the back of his neck with a wince. "What I'd like to know is how come he has to work at remembering it at all. Doesn't Sharingan copy things perfectly?"

"A fully evolved Sharingan. Used by someone who knows what they're doing with it and not two kids who developed it partially only a few weeks ago. I think he can see through Genjutsu better than Ninjutsu, actually. It's just the way his nature is."

Ryota dug his fingers through his hair, looking morosely at the spell he'd finally finished writing. "This will be one bitch of a spell to execute. The mother of all spells. It'll take time to set up, careful planning."

"Tell me about it," Kei nodded. "Took Raiden an hour to do those five hundred and twelve seals."

"Not only that, but we need chakra like his. All the chakra types, and lots of it. I'll store it in special scrolls. We also need to inform the ones who'll be fighting that they need to have the Bijuu in a certain place when I give the go ahead for this spell to take place. Last, we need to be ready to transport the Bijuu someplace beyond retrieval."

Kei's mouth was open. He worked at closing it. "Like where?"

"Some other dimension."

"Can-can you do that?"

Ryota tugged on his bottom lip. "I don't know what condition we'll be in after the extraction. Pretty sure we'll be drained completely. But…"

"But?"

"There's stuff…notes mom made about when she went evil. How she could suck energy and power from things around her. Maybe I can do something similar. Assuming I'm conscious."

"So what you're saying is after all the crap about extracting the Bijuu, we might end up leaving them out there to run amok anyway."

"Take the Bijuu so Akatsuki is less powerful, kill Izanami so their souls revert to their bodies, kill Akatsuki. That's the plan. What happens to the Bijuu after we extract them isn't strictly my problem…I just thought it'd be convenient to have them out of the way."

"Aren't you and Wyatt supposed to kill Izanami?"

"We're the only magic users," Ryota confirmed.

"But you just said we might be comatose after the extraction. How in hell are you going to take on a goddess?"

Ryota sighed. "I'm thinking it will mostly fall on Wyatt. He said he's working on spells…and he's wicked powerful. He goes to the other side of the world to work his really strong spells, but I can feel them."

Kei abruptly burst into tears. He pushed his fists into his eyes and cried noisily. Ryota watched impassively, too exhausted and strained with stress to comfort his brother.

"I'm so scared," Kei wept. "I just wish we didn't have to do this and we could just leave it to the adults. I wish mom was here, or dad could help us, or…I just wish this war wasn't coming and that we didn't have to do this spell. I don't want to die."

Ryota turned a page in his notebook, going over the spell again. "I don't want to die either. But if we don't do this spell, then _everyone _will die."

* * *

In all his long, colorful life, Kenpachi had never been in a fight like the one he found himself in now. He'd fought zealots, madmen, delusional freaks, and all manner of entities that used one emotion or another to give them added strength.

He had not, however, gone up against enraged parents and relatives, and most assuredly not any with the powers and techniques these displayed.

He could appreciate that when Sasuke and Naruto had visited his world they had not truly fought him. Not compared to how they fought now. His Zanpaktuo had been broken in three places by Minato, and from there it had been a slaughter.

It was small comfort to know that fighting him, even collectively, pushed them to the very limits of their strength, but then he was hanging on by the skin of his teeth, so maybe it wasn't comforting at all. Nnoitra and Kisame were distant memories that did not compare to what was happening now…and he didn't even have his limiter. His reiatsu was the only thing keeping him standing, and if he took another charge by the Sage Mode Demon was in, well the 11th Division would be searching for a new captain. Good thing Yachiru wasn't present. She'd have wanted to leap right in and she'd have been cut down immediately.

The women were the worst. It made him wonder what Aimi would grow up to be like with such grandmothers as these in her lineage. Then again, her fathers were no slouches either, and damnit, that was another Genjutsu he'd let sneak up on him. Those little fuckers took time to dispel.

Honestly, one little kiss brought on all this violence? It hadn't even been a serious kiss. Barely a peck. Over with before it really began. It was like Demon said, they just wanted to hurt him.

Still, fun was had. Not much, since that was the sixth rib to get shattered and another kick dislocated his jaw while staving in half his cheek, but enough to keep him swinging. He would-

-oOo-

"Nice one," Sasuke panted, referring to the blow Demon had just landed to the back of Kenpachi's head. "A punch in Sage Mode would put a hole through a mountain. This asshole just loses consciousness. Toughest fuck I've ever fought." He limped away to spit out a mouthful of blood, leaving Kenpachi's fallen form in the grass.

Minato leaned his hands on his knees, wheezing for breath. Mikoto let her Sharingan fade with a faint moan of relief, cradling her broken arm. One side of her face was bloody.

Kushina walked slowly, favoring one leg, to where her husband was straightening, and Fugaku caught Mikoto as she sagged in a faint. Demon took a few moments on all fours to get his bearings. He coughed weakly, then winced as he put a hand to his own bruised ribs. "Probably the strongest fuck _any _of us has fought in a while. Good practice for the war, I say. Unleash his ass on Akatsuki and the rest of us can sit back and sip lemonade."

Fugaku addressed them, carrying Mikoto in his arms. "Shall we head back?"

"Yes." Kushina straightened, and suppressed a groan of pain. "I have lessons with my grandchildren."

Minato looked around at the lightening sky, still wheezing a bit. "Our time's almost over. A week and we'll be in the fifth month."

"A week and we'll be gone," Kushina said. "We have nothing left to teach."

"We'll bring the final teacher for them and then go back." Fugaku nodded.

There was somber silence for a few moments. "I'm glad I met them. All of them," Minato said. "All the ways he could have turned out. A good son."

They made their slow way back to the crater.

-oOo-

Byakuya waited until they were out of sight before dropping down next to the bloody heap known as captain of the 11th Division. He stood looking down at him, marveling that he was still alive, before he stooped and gently turned him over. "You deserved every blow you got," he muttered as his reiatsu sprang up to envelope Kenpachi. "Impossible man."

* * *

Raiden woke up to a gorgeous morning with air that was cold and crisp, a cloudless sky, and his grandmother and sister sitting patiently by his side. He blinked at them sleepily, yawned, and sat up. He got a good look at his grandmother.

"What happened to you?"

"A bit of sport in the night, nothing to concern you," Kushina said mildly.

"Wyatt could heal you," Raiden offered. Some of his grandmother's cuts were still oozing. He winced just looking at them.

"In my day a ninja did not run for healing for every little scrape they received. Besides," Kushina added with smug look in the direction of the crater. "Minato has seen to my-" she cut off, looking at her grandchildren's curious faces. "I've been soothed, shall we say."

Raiden snorted. "You had sex, you mean?"

Kushina's eyes bulged.

"No need to feel embarrassed, Grandmother," Aimi chimed in. "Our daddies have sex after a fight all the time. I heard Papa say once that after a fight that Daddy is one horny motherf-"

"That is _quite _enough," Kushina thundered. "My god, have you no shame, either of you?"

Raiden and Aimi looked at each other. "Uh…about what?" Raiden asked. "It was you who had sex, not us. And adults having sex is like…a common occurrence? I've walked in on my dads doing it a bajillion times, my uncles doing it another couple thousand, my cousin Akane a few times, and Asuma's said he's walked in on his mom and the Hokage doing it more times than he can-"

Kushina held up a hand. "If I had time, I'd speak to your father about the lax household he's running. We are here to train, however, and it is high time you got up."

Raiden cocked his head. "You're not barking orders like usual, Granny. Sex must have been good."

That earned him a punch that sent him several yards. Aimi giggled.

Kushina was more mellow, though, and when Aimi tentatively brought this up an hour later, she decided to address it.

They were walking through the forest bordering the field they'd found Raiden in. It was sparse yet, on the outskirts they walked. The forest grew dense toward the middle, which Kushina said they would avoid for now. She looked up at the rays of sunlight streaming through the overhead branches as she answered.

"I've been harsh with you. I needed to be, just as I was harsh with Naruto when I was raising him. I need him to be strong, and he is. I needed you two to be strong and you are. I cannot say my life has been a happy one since losing Minato, but I am not a monster." She stopped and turned to where they followed in her wake, meeting their eyes. "Nor do I have a lot of time left with you. I will be gone in a week's time. What you must learn now is best taught with understanding and gentleness, not harsh words. There is a strategy for each lesson. This one suits the lesson you have to learn now. And I would rather not lave you with such a callous image of me."

Kushina walked a few more miles before choosing a pretty patch of grass beneath a large tree with lots of shade. Wildflowers dotted the grass. She sat with her back to the tree trunk and leaned her weight on it. Her bruises and abrasions were ugly in the light that filtered to her face, but she held in most of her discomfort and motioned for Raiden and Aimi to sit in front of her.

"Face each other," she said quietly. When they had, she studied them keenly. "Do you believe in a grand design?" she asked them.

Aimi frowned, but Raiden said, "Well there are powers bigger than us, right? I mean Izanami and whatever sent me those visions. I met some higher powers on Wyatt's world. They're called Elders."

Kushina nodded, content to lean against the tree and speak quietly. "They are powers, yes, but by grand design, I mean true Power. The kind of Power it takes to shape worlds. Things even those like Izanami must bow before."

They gave her blank looks.

"How these Powers came to be," Kushina resumed, closing her eyes, "is a mystery. That they exist is enough for mortals such as us to know. Most true Power in the universe is ancient, its origins hidden. New power, such as the Bijuu, stemmed from these ancient forces likely. I know, having once been Jinchuuriki. These forces are what run the worlds, the heavens and hells, the gods and goddesses, and all that is in between. They run the Grand Design of the cosmos.

"As stated in the prophecy about Aimi, she is half of a great Power. Something new, no doubt, yet a Power just the same. The other half of the Power is you, Raiden."

Raiden yelped. "Me? But…how?"

"You were an accident. A concentration of power, a _mixture _of elements that resulted in a mutation far greater than the components that made you. Even so, you have a weakness with Genjutsu. I'm sure that was deliberate on the part of the higher Powers, their attempt to mitigate a situation they hadn't foreseen. Aimi, here, is a further attempt to rectify the accident of your birth. Balance in all things, the prophecy said. What she lacks you have, and vice versa. That is no accident. You each are nearly too powerful on your own, but for the weaknesses you each possess."

Raiden swallowed. "I'm an accident?"

"Your parents love you, as do your grandfather and I, but I doubt those in charge of the Grand Design would have chosen to have you come into being. It might even be said that Kaito's early attempt on Sasuke's life when he carried you was their first try at fixing the matter," Kushina said kindly.

"He wasn't the only one," Raiden said slowly, remembering stories his parents had told him, things he'd lived through. "Doctors wanted to kill me as soon as Pop got pregnant. Akatsuki tried to get me."

Kushina nodded. "I had Aimi take me through your timeline again while you slept. I saw how you escaped from Akatsuki when my son died. That should not have been possible, not on Kyuubi's chakra alone. I believe Powers stepped in to save you, putting you safely out of harm's way on Wyatt's world and making sure you had no memory so that you wouldn't come back and put yourself in danger."

Raiden nodded. "Phoebe said that forces were trying to use me to stop Izanami… but…I don't get it. You're making it sound like this is all about me, these forces and higher Powers and all that. I thought Izanami just wanted to get even with me for taking my Pop from her world?"

"Perhaps. But the prophecy said your power is coveted by Great Ones. We can assume Izanami wants your power, Raiden, that of you and Aimi. It may also be assumed that the same powers that fought for your existence, allowed Aimi to come into being. They curtailed her abilities while amplifying others in her. A balance, as the prophecy said. Half of a great Power, powerful enough, at any rate, to start a war amongst the Forces."

"I didn't do anything," Raiden said forlornly.

"Nor is this your fault," Kushina said gently. "None of this is. It's just the way things are, boy."

They were quiet for a time. Aimi silently wished she had something to eat. Raiden played with the petals on a pink flower, and Kushina thought she might approach Wyatt for healing after all. Something inside her had to be ruptured for her to be in this much pain. Damn that Kenpachi.

"Attend me, Aimi," Kushina said at length. "Fight it if you can." And she sent a minor wave of water out of her hand to surround Aimi where she sat.

Raiden watched. "She can do anything. Why can't she get out of that?"

"Because it takes chakra or Ninjutsu, to combat Ninjutsu. She can't use her chakra for anything but broad, blunt attacks. And she uses it in its raw form, not molded into a jutsu. Her mind, though. It is exceptional, and there she can use her chakra to lend it further power." She took pity on Aimi and released the technique. Aimi gasped for air.

While Raiden was watching Aimi cough, Kushina sent a Genjutsu his way. She wasn't great with the art, but she was competent. Raiden's mouth made an 'oh' of dismay, but he worked to dispel it. Kushina was just proficient enough to keep him in it.

Aimi shook her head. "I could do better Genjutsu than that before I could talk. He should be able to get out of it."

"But he can't." Kushina said. "His mind, while powerful, lacks strength in this one area." She ended the Genjutsu.

"That wasn't fair," Raiden grouched. "You warned Aimi, but not me. Anyways, we know all this about ourselves."

"True," Kushina said. "I'm merely making a small review before proceeding. Raiden, you have every chakra type. Give us a small earth demonstration. Small," she reminded him.

Raiden made three hand seal and placed two fingertips on the ground at his side. The grass rippled and furrowed in a line away from him, to a tree some yards away. The ground roared up and swallowed the tree a second later, leaving only a few leaves fluttering in the air.

"You can call wind, water, fire, and lightning as well. And you, Aimi?" Kushina turned to her. "You cannot call these elements, but show us what you can do if the element is already present."

Aimi chose earth as well. The ground to her right boiled, grew upward, took shape into a man made of compact soil, with grass for hair and wriggling worms for eyes and mouth. She released her hold on this earth man a moment later, and it crumbled to the ground.

Kushina nodded. "To summarize, you each have powers the other doesn't. Let us now see what you can do when joined."

Raiden and Aimi sat staring at their grandmother until Aimi said, "How do we join?"

"However you did it in the cave." Kushina sounded a tad impatient.

"But I didn't know we were joined then," Aimi pointed out.

"How does that matter?" Kushina relented from her growing irritation, returning to her calm tone. "This is not something I can teach you. You have to figure it out for yourselves."

"How will we know if we're doing it right?" Raiden asked.

"You'll know," Kushina answered. "You will feel it."

Raiden looked at Aimi dubiously. "Guess we do what we did before." He held his hands out to her. "Gimme some chakra."

Joined at the hands, they closed their eyes. Aimi tried feeding her chakra into Raiden.

Almost immediately, Raiden's body rebelled at the intrusion, his own chakra lashing out.

That was a familiar reaction for Raiden, one he experienced during training regularly. To forcibly make his chakra stand down and allow Aimi access to him took some concentration, but when he managed it, it still didn't go well.

"You're blocking me still," Aimi sighed a few hours later. "Open yourself completely like you did that time in the cave."

"Hello, that time in the cave I was unconscious, remember?" Raiden snapped. "If it's so easy, why don't you let me be the one to invade your body?"

"Fine," Aimi said loftily. "I'll show you that it _is _easy."

Raiden sent a bolt of his chakra zinging into her through their linked hands and just as quickly encountered the steely barrier of her mind squashing it like it was nothing. He tried again and again, but he only skimmed the surface. He sensed he would have to have deeper access if this was going to work. He growled in frustration. "Guh, you're blocking me too!"

Aimi opened her eyes to frown. "Yeah…it feels weird letting you into my head."

"Just like it feels weird letting you into my body."

Kushina had been watching quietly the entire time. She leaned forward now. "So. Aimi can enter your mind, Raiden?"

"Huh? Yeah. I guess." He dropped Aimi's hands.

Kushina turned to Aimi. "And Raiden can send his chakra through your body but not your mind?"

Aimi nodded.

"Good. Now that you've identified the problem, work on it. You will do nothing else for the next week. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me should you encounter success."

They watched her curl on her side in envy. "That's it? You're not going to help us?" Raiden groused at her back.

"No. But here's some advice," Kushina said. "This union likely depends on trust. Perhaps you should work on that first."

They turned back toward each other. "Perhaps you should work on trust," Raiden mimicked softly with a face.

Kushina spoke without turning around. "I heard that."

* * *

Things in the crater were more relaxed. The teachers no longer trained their students, unless it was Fugaku working with the children. When asked about it, Jiraiya told them, "Use this time to rest. We can't bring the other teacher to you without Aimi, and we have nothing else to teach you ourselves."

They did rest. Sometimes they sparred amongst themselves. They talked or hunted, had minor contests designed to test their skills.

Mostly, though, they disappeared to random isolated places and fucked like mad, those that had partners to fuck with, at any rate.

Hitsugaya routinely watched the disappearing acts and wondered when he would have the nerve to approach Asami. They hadn't been together much during the training, but when they had stolen moments, they had been unbearably sweet, flavored with intense kisses and looks of love and longing.

By now he knew she wanted him physically, but that she waited for him to state his feelings. It wasn't his way, to speak of how he felt, not with anyone. He believed in control and order, and was a controlled person with orderly thoughts. To state his feelings could possibly complicate things…and he was too practical not to leave himself an escape hatch from the quagmire of his affections for Asami. If things went badly, he wanted to be able to leave quietly, with no fuss. If he confessed his feelings to her, she would expect more, he suspected, and make the return to his world more difficult.

He hugged her own professions of her love to his heart greedily, though. The first woman to love him and see him as a man. He wasn't fully grown, he knew, not like the other captains, but he was at least proportionately around her age. Capable of feeling the desire he worked at subduing with training.

Wyatt had disappeared soon after Kushina did with Raiden and Aimi, so he, along with the rest of the Shinigami, was left to his own devices. Hitsugaya found his thoughts turning finally, fully, to the notion of sex. Now that it seemed a distinct possibility, maybe even a probability, it occurred to him just how ignorant he was on the subject. He knew how the act was accomplished, what went on, but the finer details escaped him.

Hitsugaya frowned, clearing his throat. He shouldn't be thinking about sex if he couldn't even tell Asami he loved her. But as he watched her talking with her sisters, he allowed himself to enjoy a rock-hard erection.

* * *

Kenpachi went about in a sullen sort of pout, avoiding the teachers, but not intimidated by them. His pride was injured. The teachers ignored him, true, but that didn't erase the fact that he'd been beaten by them. He kept away from the crater whenever they were around.

Byakuya was another matter. It was beneath the man to gloat, but what else could you call him showing up whenever Kenpachi wanted to be alone?

"What the fuck do you want," Kenpachi muttered as he prepared to nap in a thicket. "Keep hounding me and I'll think you want to screw some more."

Byakuya gazed into the distance, not looking at the man at his feet. "I'm in charge of the Shinigami present…as such your safety falls under my jurisdiction."

"My safety-!" Kenpachi's eyes opened in disbelief.

"What if you collapsed and needed healing again," Byakuya asked dryly. His expression was carefully schooled to one of disinterest.

Kenpachi blinked. Then he barked out a laugh. "I believe you've made your first joke." He settled back with his hands behind his head. "That could be termed as wanting to screw, too, you know. Scram. I'm too bored to do anything but sleep."

Byakuya remained where he was, looking down at Kenpachi's face.

Kenpachi, for his part, could not fathom what the man wanted. He cracked an eye after several moments, squinting up at him through the glare of the sun. "Something I can help you with?"

Those eyes, whose color he never could name, just continued to look down at him as if he was an insect crawling in the grass.

Holding that gaze, Kenpachi operated on a sudden feeling of certainty and slid his hand around one ankle, around Byakuya's moccasin. Byakuya didn't bat an eyelash. Kenpachi yanked hard.

Byakuya landed on him in a controlled fall, one that left his body flush against the length of Kenpachi's. The captain of the 11th Division merely shook his head in exasperation and rolled his eyes. "You know all you had to do was ask, right?"

No response, other than Byakuya dropping his eyes to the wide mouth beneath him.

Kenpachi wasn't big on foreplay, but he did it now because he knew it would bug ole Kuchiki-chan. He knew the man liked it rough and quick, the better to forget it afterward. He took the time now to reverse their positions and nip the pulse throbbing in Byakuya's long throat.

-oOo-

Byakuya didn't know why he'd sought this. He did not believe in the cliché garbage of having been alone too long and the scarred captain making him able to feel something at last. He did not believe Kenpachi's fiery kisses thawed the ice in his heart. Nor did he believe their mutual dislike for each other gave birth to love or passion or some other overused word. Indefinable as his reasons were, he could best sum them up as need. He needed what Kenpachi offered, and he left it at that.

The man infuriated him now with the way his lips were soft and supple against his shoulder, moving down his arm. They were not making love. That was reserved for the mating of husband and wife, something he'd enjoyed with Hisana. What he did with Kenpachi was ugly and wrong and should be done with the brutality the act required. The past two times, Kenpachi had delivered. Now…"Stop. This was a mistake." He sat up, reaching for his pants.

-oOo-

Kenpachi shoved him back, hesitated, then put a hand to his throat, holding him down. "You're not going anywhere. You got me started, now let me finish."

"Release me."

"Oh, I'll give you a release all right, you prissy fuck." Kenpachi moved down Byakuya's stiff body.

Both previous times, the act had been seen to without exploration of their bodies. Feeling his member swallowed whole now, Byakuya lost his cool reserve and arched on the grass, his teeth clamped shut, his eyes bulging wide. He fisted both hands in the spiky hair at his crotch. Cords stood out in his neck as he struggled not to cry out…but that suction tore the cry from him anyway, and later, it was his undoing.

Kenpachi swallowed repeatedly, drinking the thick, salty gush with a hum of greed. He sucked until Byakuya was completely soft. When he lifted his head, it was to meet a pair of glowering eyes leveled at him. "You can leave now if you want." He gestured towards Byakuya's discarded clothing. "Just know that if you stay, I'm going to be doing that again, and anything else I can think of." He waited.

Byakuya slowly and deliberately turned his head aside. He did not get up to leave.

Kenpachi watched him cover his eyes with a hand. "It's not betraying your dead wife to enjoy a little fun, you know." He got no reply and shrugged.

-oOo-

Much later, when Kenpachi flipped him to his stomach and entered him, Byakuya sighed in relief. The touching and licking and sucking had been starting to make him sweat. Then he tightened his lips; Kenpachi's size didn't get any easier to take despite having submitted to it twice and being prepped this time. The pain was nothing compared to fights he'd been in. He didn't wince or cry out, but simply tolerated the pain until it gave way to pleasure. He relaxed his tense muscles and listened to the steady _fwap _sound of Kenpachi's hips hitting his rear.

It felt good, but not as good as the past two times. It didn't take him away and make him forget the way it did when Kenpachi used his strength. He lay quietly until it was over, then got up and began getting dressed.

Kenpachi spoke from behind him. "Whew! Now that we got the foreplay out of the way, what do you say we get down to some _real _fucking?"

He turned to give a scathing reply and was surprised by a fist like granite plowing into his stomach. He doubled over, dropping his pants.

Kenpachi grinned at seeing Byakuya slowly straighten up with his sword in his hand. "That's it, pretty boy. You know you can't beat me, but you plan on getting me worked up in hopes I'll give you more of the same, neh? No need. I plan on giving it to you as roughly as you like. Hmph. As if I didn't know you want to be punished."

Byakuya lifted his head slightly at that. "You're mad. Why would I feel the need to be punished?"

"For not being able to save your wife," Kenpachi answered as he advanced. "Yeah, you and everyone else thinks I'm stupid, but I'm far from it. You loved her, couldn't save her, so you go about with this cloud of guilt that freezes everyone else out of your life. All accept that pretty Rukia. And I noticed you've become colder since she showed up, though now you're beginning to thaw." Kenpachi stopped, tilted his head as he rubbed his chin. "I get why you let me fuck you that time behind the bar, but not why you allowed it by the river a while back, or just now. Unless…"

"This conversation is over," Byakuya hissed. He stooped to pick up his clothes once more.

"Unless little Rukia is starting to look more and more like Hisana. That it? You been secretly lusting after your sister, or whatever she is to you, and came to me to fuck the notion out of your head? That's it, isn't it?"

Byakuya stilled. Spoken out loud, he knew it to be the truth. How something he hadn't even voiced to himself could be known by this lowlife was beyond his comprehension, but having been said, he acknowledged that he'd been harboring unmentionable desires for his sister for some time now. He spoke without turning. "You speak filth. Repeat what you've said to anyone and I will show you that these ninja aren't the only ones who can beat you."

"I speak the truth," Kenpachi contradicted with a laugh. "Hey, to each his own, right? She's not really your sister. You and I both know you want her, just like we both know you're not leaving until I get wild. Drop the act, and turn around. Got no patience for your pretending."

Byakuya grit his teeth in silent fury, but even now he wanted the man's rough treatment. He had no right lusting after Rukia. It was the worst betrayal of his wife. But he couldn't bear to admit that Kenpachi was right by remaining, either. He wished heartily that the Commander hadn't given him this assignment.

The matter was taken out of his hands when Kenpachi had the nerve to drag him by his hair back to the thicket and shove him down. The penetration this time drew blood and he closed his eyes, welcoming it.

* * *

The days passed. An air of comfortable waiting settled over the crater, with food being eaten several times during the day, naps occurring to replenish the sleep-deprived, and Itachi asking for the hundredth time for Kaito to tell him of his new grandson.

"You don't mind him being Hyuuga?" Kaito asked once.

Itachi shook his head. "It rankles, but I'm eager to meet him. A son at last from you. I confess, I never thought you capable of siring one. So many daughters…"

Kaito ignored the slight as he was reminded of his daughters. "Speaking of, your eldest granddaughter has come up with quite a move. You ever hear of two clan abilities mixing in someone at such a young age?" And he told of the fiery Kaiten.

Itachi was mute with pride and shock. "My god…Kaito, I do believe you've a prodigy on your hands, not unlike myself or Sasuke."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Your humility is truly inspiring, Dad." But he called his grandparents over and had a long discussion with them on the nature of Miki's abilities and where they could possibly lead.

* * *

Kushina was at her wit's end. Raiden and Aimi had such strong personalities, such love for each other, but she could not get them to connect. She tried everything she could think of, from making them play together, to forcing them to sleep next to each other. She devised every game she could to utilize their dependence on each other and still nothing worked. She even pushed them until they were physically and mentally drained, hoping this state of exhaustion would lower their defenses. No success.

They could take chakra from each other, but could not join as Kushina wanted. She looked at the sun setting on the fifth day and knew hopelessness.

Raiden crouched, looking up at his grandmother's flaming hair in the setting rays. "What does it mean, anyway? Joining. I mean, we've tried everything."

"When you can speak in your sister's mind, and she in yours, when she can send you power as she did that night in Suna, then you are joined. You have one day left." And she walked off to hunt for them.

-oOo-

Raiden rolled around on the grass, pleasantly sore. Aimi jumped on him, nearly crushing his ribs, and proceeded to tickle him.

They'd grown a lot closer during the past five days. He'd never played with Aimi like this, romping around, goofing off. He found that he could use all his strength against her and she never complained or cried about it. In fact, she played just as hard and was just as wild. She was better than even Asuma or Shouta as a playmate, a discovery that soothed the hurt his separation from Wyatt had left.

Then there were the things she said. He'd had no idea Aimi had such a quirky sense of humor, or any sense of humor for that matter. She freely made fun of her own appetite, her weight, which had dwindled since she'd been back on this world, and her lack with Ninjutsu. He found her to be a skilled mimic, and her interpretations of the adults around them never failed to throw him into gales of hysterical laughter.

He laughed now, screaming and hollering as she tugged his arms up and tickled him under them with savage glee. His eyes were screwed shut, tears streaming down his face. She laughed with him, especially when he turned the tables and tickled her in return. He gazed down into her dark blue eyes and felt a sweeping love for her fill him suddenly. His baby sis, the one who baled him out and had his back as staunchly as Wyatt did.

_-I love you, Raiden-_

He heard it and didn't pay it any mind, laughing and tickling her as he was. He pushed his face into her neck, making chomping noises and growling. Aimi's laugh sounded as if it was in his head it was so loud. Her arms came up around him as he straddled her stomach…then he realized she wasn't laughing.

_But I can hear her laughing, _he thought. His own laughter faded as he became still. His face was still in Aimi's neck, her arms still around him.

There it was again. A giggle this time, but he could see Aimi's lips closed.

-_Hi, Raiden-_

He gasped. _–Aimi?-_

_-Mhm-_

_-You're in my head!-_

_-Yup. I think we did it. Well, I did it.-_

_-What…how…when…-_

_-I saw your mind wide open while you were laughing, and took a chance. Try entering my mind?-_

Yes. Raiden could see that the connection was one way, just as it had been when the _Shikome _had almost gotten him. He cautiously sent himself along this connection, back into his sister.

"Oh," Aimi gasped weakly. "Oh…my god. Raiden…"

Had she known her brother's mind would be so forceful, so commanding and authoritative, she would have braced herself. She felt soft and vulnerable. She trembled there as his mind worked through her, with her, learning this new thing.

But he didn't hurt her. And once she'd relaxed a bit, she was able to feel his unyielding love and sense of protectiveness for her. She relaxed completely.

_-That's better- _Raiden spoke in her head. _–You were resisting me a bit there. Wow, this is pretty cool!-_

_-Yes…do you suppose we can use each other's chakra now?-_

Aimi's presence was soft and feminine in his mind, nothing at all like she herself was, or how her deadly Genjutsu were. It was like a soft summer breeze, whereas he could sense that his presence in her mind struck her as a bull in a china shop. He thought for a moment and instinctively understood something. _–No. I don't think you're supposed to use my chakra like we've been trying to. I think now that I'm connected to you, I can take over your chakra and use it as if it were my own. Like this.-_

Aimi's hand lifted, directed by Raiden, and suddenly there was a lavender Rasengan swirling in her palm. She screamed in surprise and delight. _–that means I can use your mind to cast Genjutsu!- _She tried, but there was no one to practice on.

_-Man…your chakra is more powerful than mine in some ways. Definitely more destructive. This is going to be fun.- _Raiden settled down to investigate his sister's chakra capacity thoroughly.

-oOo-

Kushina walked back towards where she'd left them a few hours later and dropped the rabbits she'd been holding.

A column of dark purple chakra, lavender obviously mixed with black, hundreds of feet thick, shot straight up into the atmosphere, causing a dense black cloud. She was a mile away from the children at least, too far to see them, but she knew. She saw that chakra, felt the oppressive weight of it even a mile away, and knew they'd finally done it.

"About damn time," she muttered. She'd never really had any doubt in them, but they had cut it pretty close. As it was, they only had a day to learn all they could about this union.


	52. Chapter 52

A/N: Been awhile since a chapter for this fic has turned out this short. I honestly thought it would be longer...oh well! I guess I can take down the discussion thread on the facebook page about who the new teacher will be...not that anyone tried to guess. *sigh* But I AM happy to talk with those who've 'liked' the page and share their thoughts ^^

*I tried to get all the typos, I really did.

* * *

Chapter 52

Month Five

Kushina wasn't the only one to see that pillar of chakra. If was seen and felt by the inhabitants of the crater, miles away. Without really needing to think about it, they all just sort of picked up and began a mass exodus in that direction, letting the pull of chakra guide them.

They talked as they traveled. The triplets had come back, announcing the spell was finally complete, and between this and the evidence of Raiden and Aimi's success, there was an air of accomplishment and success to everyone. There was laughter, joking, camaraderie. A lot of the tension the trainees had been living with for the past few months left them. It helped that the teachers, in an effort to end their time with their children on a high note, were seen playing pranks and rough-housing with the various Sasukes, Narutos, and Itachi's children. Rasta-Sasuke of course stood apart from all this.

Wyatt also announced that he was just about as ready as he could make himself; much of how he performed magic was done on the spot. He encountered a thing and devised defenses or attacks based on what he saw. He'd always operated that way, he told everyone.

When they all reached Kushina by the end of the day, there was further rejoicing. She disappeared with Minato for a few hours, only to come back pink-cheeked and completely mellowed out. There wasn't one Naruto who failed to wrinkle his nose in disgust and embarrassment…until it was noticed that Fugaku and Mikoto were also missing. Then they ribbed the Sasukes mercilessly. Not a few Chidori and fireballs were cast. Kirin was threatened by Jailbird-Sasuke.

The triplets approached Jiraiya for help. Ryota said he needed to create sealing scrolls able to contain enormous amounts of chakra. They of course knew how to create normal sealing scrolls, the ones meant to square away extra weapons and such. Every Genin did. What Ryota described needed an expert. Jiraiya was happy to comply. He worked with Ryota long into the night.

Demon sat cuddled by Sasuke and stared pensively at the darkly glowing pillar of their children's chakra. "When this is all over, we should take a vacation. As a family. We should pamper Raiden and Aimi, feed them till they bust, and just…love them to death." He tilted his head back to see Sasuke's face. "What do you think?"

"I know how you feel. They've been asked to do too much. They've really had to grow up these past few months."

Demon resumed staring towards his children with a sigh. "You think they'll ever be safe? That there will ever be a time when someone's not after them?"

"Honestly? I think there'll come a time when people are too afraid to come after them."

"Ha! You're probably right. Once upon a time you and I were feared in the land…"

"Maybe not feared, but recognized. We were 'the Duo', remember? Good times." Sasuke leaned down to nip Demon's ear. "Let's go do what our parents were doing."

"Are you kidding? We just got back from doing what they were doing an hour ago."

Sasuke sighed dramatically. "Knew it. You're getting old on me. It's all this training."

"Dude, how many times are you going to use the 'getting old' ploy whenever I refuse sex? Don't I screw you enough?"

"Seeing as I'm looking at a gray hair on your head right now…and you do screw me enough, yes. But then again, I can never get enough of you."

"Liar. There's no gray hair."

"No, really it's right here."

There were a few minutes of silence.

"Is there really a gray hair?" Demon asked.

"It's okay," Sasuke consoled. "I'm told decreased libido is the first sign. Then your dick stops getting as hard as it used to and-"

Demon stood and slung Sasuke over his shoulder. Lewd comments were thrown their way, to which Naruto hoisted his middle finger. Sasuke chuckled.

"Just for this I'm going to use the clones," Naruto griped.

"I was lying about the gray hair, you know…"

"Too late."

* * *

In the morning, the pillar was shown to be thinning and diminishing. An hour later, Raiden and Aimi materialized in the center of the make-shift camp and were heartily praised and congratulated. Aimi went directly to the food Sasuke held out to her.

"-A few kinks to work out," Raiden was saying, "but I think we've got the majority of it figured out. Wicked cool, too, look!" Raiden created a clone of himself and directed it to attack Aimi.

Aimi's back was turned while she was eating. The clone sent some sort of thrown lightning jutsu. A shield of earth sprang up and blocked it, all while Aimi continued to chew.

"I did that," Raiden crowed. "I can use her chakra to protect her from stuff she doesn't see coming or from things she can't ordinarily protect herself from."

Mikoto smiled thinly. "And if that's true…" She hurled a powerful, inverted Genjutsu at Raiden without warning.

Aimi turned swiftly with a rabbit leg in her mouth, eyes red. The Genjutsu was shredded completely, all while Raiden blinked in wide-eyed ignorance of anything having took place.

Those watching were impressed. Very impressed. "Can you cast Genjutsu?" Mikoto asked Raiden.

"No. But with the connection I can just about dispel any one thrown at me…if Aimi doesn't get to it first."

"Speaking of the connection," Kushina added. "I see you can maintain it without physical contact. That's fortunate."

Aimi finished eating and sucked her fingers clean. "It's stronger with physical contact, but this works too."

An awkward silence fell, as everyone looked at each other. Their time together was short now, and everyone knew it. Ryota cleared his throat. "I need to harvest each of the five chakra types from all of you. I've laid the scrolls out over there." He pointed to a small hill a few hundred yards away.

Raiden went to him and clapped him on his shoulder, noticing how drawn his cousin was looking these days. "Sweet, you finished the spell?"

"Yeah. You'll be donating chakra to each of the scrolls. Give a lot, but not all you've got, 'kay?" Raiden nodded. To everyone else, Ryota said, "I need the rest of you to give me what you have, a hundred percent."

All the Sasukes and the triplets gathered at the Lightning scroll and began funneling their chakra at the circle of kanji drawn on it. Jiraiya, Shouta, Chibi-Gaara, Akiko and Fugaku gathered at the Earth scroll. The Narutos and Minato could be seen at the Wind scroll, while Itachi, Mikoto, Yukio and Akane could be seen at the Fire scroll. Kushina and Asami were at the Water scroll.

The Sasukes switched from the Lightning to the Fire scroll and added chakra there too. The Narutos went from the Wind to the Water scroll, and so on. Everyone gave what they could, where they could. When they were done, Raiden stepped up and added a healthy dose of each chakra type to each huge scroll. When he finally stepped back, the triplets gathered the scrolls in a large pile. Ryota made them vanish with a whispered incantation.

-oOo-

Another day was taken to let everyone's chakra stores replenish themselves. Once breakfast was consumed, and the obligatory post-breakfast copulations were out of the way, they gathered and sat comfortably enjoying the brisk weather.

"So now what?" Raiden asked into one of the silences.

Kushina looked to Mikoto, who nodded. "Now," Kushina said. "We bring the final teacher. But first let me explain why you need him."

They all sat and prepared to listen. Everyone, besides the teachers themselves, was curious as to who this new teacher could possibly be.

"You've all come a long way," Kushina began. "You've fought your teachers well, each other well, and have learned all we can teach you. But you can still improve. Especially given who and what you're all going up against. We, the other teachers and I, would be remiss if we didn't give you every tool we could to succeed. To that end, we reasoned that you needed someone stronger than all of us, someone to push you that extra mile."

"Someone cunning, who thinks like the enemy," Mikoto added.

"Someone who's entire life has been one war or another, who has lived through countless battles," Kushina said.

"And who can give you insights to the workings of Madara's mind," Mikoto finished. "He is going to be much harder on you than we have been. Under his tutelage, you will become seasoned, hardened warriors."

Wyatt raised his hand. Kushina nodded at him to speak. "Aren't we seasoned hardened warriors now?"

"Compared to how you need to be," Mikoto answered, "you are still soft."

Incredulous glances were exchanged between the trainees.

Kushina smirked. "The only one I can say who is truly hardened is Blondie. But then he was always the best-"

A cacophony of outraged, jealous yells erupted from the Narutos. Minato attempted to sooth their ruffled feathers.

Psycho-Sasuke spoke over the din. "Who is this last teacher?"

Mikoto shook her head. "If we told you, you'd know how he was to be retrieved, and we don't want anyone becoming concerned."

Kenji narrowed his eyes. "Where's he being 'retrieved' from?"

"Classified," Kushina answered.

"Well, when will he be brought?" Yukio wanted to know.

"Right now," Mikoto replied. "It will be a mission that only Kushina, Aimi and myself will execute."

Raiden gave his grandmothers a steady look. "Why do you two need to go? Aimi's brought all the other teachers by herself."

"She'll need our support for this one," Kushina said. "And Raiden, we'll need you to remain connected to her from here, in case she needs additional assistance…or in case something happens to Mikoto and myself, and we are unable to protect her. You are only to help her if the situation is dire, is that understood?"

Raiden understood only that his sister was walking into danger. "I'm coming with-"

"You're staying right here," Mikoto snapped.

Demon stood up. "Mom, I think I have a right to know where you're going. I can't let you take my kid into the kind of danger you're implying."

Kushina strolled forward and was pleased to note that her son didn't flinch or tense up. "_I _will take _my _granddaughter _wherever_ I wish to take her."

"Sasuke, back me up here," Demon called. He saw Mikoto glance at her son, though, and knew that Sasuke probably wouldn't.

"Sorry, Demon." Sasuke sounded contrite. "Don't worry, Aimi's in good hands."

"Indeed she is." Kushina took Aimi's hand while Mikoto took another.

"Where are we going?" Aimi asked. Mikoto leaned down and whispered in her ear. Aimi paled visibly. Her lip trembled, and she looked at Raiden with large, dark eyes full of fear.

Both Mikoto and Kushina fixed Raiden with a stare. "It's extremely important you don't come after us," Kushina said. "We need you here. Your promise on this, Raiden."

He hesitated, but gave a single nod. "I promise. Wai-" he shouted. He'd wanted to ask a question, but it was too late. They'd Boomed. A moment later he screamed in shared fear with Aimi, and anger at sensing where they'd gone.

Demon and Sasuke, and everyone else outside of the teachers, quickly gathered around him. "What is it?" Sasuke asked urgently. "Where'd they go?"

Raiden pulled at his cheeks. "Akatsuki. They went to Akatsuki's world."

The trainees sucked in a collective breath. "Son of a _bitch!_" Demon growled.

* * *

They came out in a night time scene and were instantly drenched from a sizzling downpour of rain that scalded their skin. A blistering wind blew about with gale force so that Mikoto and Kushina were soon covered in blisters. Aimi's lavender chakra leaked from her pores to give her protection. She cast an invisible shield over her grandmothers, one that molded to the shape of their bodies, and that afforded them some protection and relief.

They were in a jungle. An incredibly dense jungle of tall prehistoric ferns and monstrous trees. Almost immediately vines and other plant life lunged for them. Kushina seized control of the scalding rain and boiled those coming after her. Mikoto fried the rest with an amplified katon. Aimi's chakra prevented any of the plants touching her; they withered away from her deathly aura in quick order.

They looked around. "Are we near Akatsuki?" Kushina shouted to be heard.

"No," Aimi said after a moment. "Oh, god, granny, do we _have _to go to them?"

Mikoto refrained from backhanding the girl and chose, instead, to explain through lips stiff with anger. "Yes, it's necessary. Do you honestly think we would be here otherwise? You weren't chosen for this elite and highly dangerous mission just for your ability to access the teacher, Aimi. Despite your ruthless and violent tendencies, you are the least warlike of the students. You have uncertainties and insecurities that crop up in stressful situations and it is _past _time you got over them."

Aimi hung her head.

"Our plan is simple," Kushina intoned. "We get to Akatsuki, get to _Madara, _and you take us into his timeline quickly. Right now, before we begin, I need you to prepare a Genjutsu to cast at the teacher."

"What kind of Genjutsu?" Aimi asked.

"Not really a Genjutsu," Mikoto amended. "More like a condensed ball of memories and information, one containing all that the teacher would need to know in order to help you. We don't have time to sit in his timeline until he's caught up on decades of history. Need to be in and out and off this world as quick-"

Several large black creatures jumped from a shadow and threw themselves at the trio of talking humans.

Mikoto was cut down. Kushina leapt back and sent a bar of scorching water at two of them. It bounced harmlessly off their carapaces. Aimi screeched shrilly in fright, before gathering her wits enough to send chakra from both her hands at the charging aliens.

* * *

"I…I don't know if Granny Mikoto is alive," Raiden was whispering. He was acting as a radio, transmitting information along his connection with Aimi, and relaying the information to the silent crowd of family and teachers around him. "Granny Kushina is shielding herself with chakra…her shield just gave out. They're too strong, too many…no wait-"

The crowd inched a little closer, breaths held.

"-Aimi," Raiden sighed in relief. He was sweating profusely, worry and transferred fear making his voice wobbly. "Aimi's over her initial shock now. She is _killing_ it over there…Way to go, sis!" Raiden shouted as if she could hear him. He jerked his fist in approval.

* * *

"Nyaag!" Aimi roared, sweeping her arm toward the new wave of aliens. Her chakra washed over them in a rolling flood, wiping them and the plant life around them out.

Some of the aliens thought to sample Mikoto's carcass, only to be startled by flames erupting from her entire body. She turned over, a long gash over her face and her right eye missing. The aliens, at first startled by this sign of life, proceeded to walk right through the fire.

Aimi directed her chakra at them, obliterating them where they stood, but stopped short of harming her grandmother. The rest of the aliens hesitated, stopped. They stood motionless in the hot storm of wind and rain, almost invisible in the night. Aimi saw Kushina rush to Mikoto's side. She joined her, glancing about fearfully for another attack.

"Status?" Kushina asked sharply.

In answer, Mikoto stood up. The gash ran from her right temple, over her chin, and halfway down her neck. Bone showed at her cheek. Her left eye held an unflinching Sharingan, though, and she seemed steady enough.

"Aimi," Kushina barked.

Before folding, Aimi transformed. She wanted to be as prepared as possible. She would not be caught unawares again.

-oOo-

Madara and the rest of Akatsuki watched as the vine unwrapped itself from Zetsu's hand. "Well?" Madara asked.

**"Through the complex root system on this planet, I'm able to pinpoint their location. It would seem that they are four days from this very spot. They have one of the children with them, the one with that chakra that destroyed so many of our minions."**

By minions the dark half of Zetsu meant the aliens. Having displayed their superiority on that fateful day, Akatsuki now commanded their entire race. They had an army hundreds of thousands strong, possibly over a million. They brought Akatsuki food and guarded their tree shelter from predatory animals. Not that Akatsuki couldn't do this themselves…but it was nice to have subordinates.

"Were any destroyed now?"

"Yes," Zetsu answered. "And the plants fear the girl."

Nagato scratched his chin. "Why are they here? Who is with the girl?"

Zetsu shrugged in answer to the first question. "I have an image of a red-haired kunoichi, and a woman with Sharingan. She strikes me as Uchiha. The red-haired one has strong chakra. Very strong."

"And Raiden is not with them?" Madara asked. "You are certain of that?"

"Positive."

Madara clapped his hands briskly. "Well! They are obviously here to destroy us or attempt to do so. Lets-"

Aimi materialized right in the center of their little confab, with Mikoto and Kushina to either side of her. Madara and the rest reacted instantly, though they were heartily surprised.

* * *

"Ohhhhh, shit!" Raiden squeaked. "Granny Kushina's taking on Konan and Deidara…_sweet_, she soaked Konan's paper shit, and now she's duking it out with Deidara…man, granny Kushina is hella strong! Did you guys know she was so-"

"_What about mom?_" The Sasukes shouted in unison. Rasta-Sasuke sat apart from the entire group, gazing up at a cloud.

Raiden paused. "Granny Mikoto's just socked Kakuzu, Hidan and Kisame with a massive joint Genjutsu thingie…damn, Orochimaru just stepped in and she's facing him…oh no."

* * *

Madara let the chaos erupt around him as he and the girl stared at each other. He wondered what her name was, but didn't really care. He began a leisurely walk toward her, noting the long, white, curly hair and the Sharingan she carried. He looked behind her and hid his smile.

Aimi recalled past encounters with Madara and realized she'd never actually cast a Genjutsu at him successfully. She devised one now, specifically tailored to what she could see of his mind, inverted it, reversed it, then inverted it again. She hurled this invisible, undetectable Genjutsu at Madara, just as Sasori's bludgeon came down on her head.

"What the _fuck_?" Sasori murmured in shock.

A ball of fire engulfed his weapon, which consisted of solid rock, and heated it until it was melted to a puddle of lava-like consistency. This glowing orange goo seemed to lift itself and soar toward his face.

Aimi turned at hearing the scream right behind her. She felt Raiden's presence in her mind. _–Careful, sis-_

Madara paused, sensing something had been slipped over his senses, but unable to detect anything at first. He frowned…then his eyes widened. "No…"

Aimi had returned her focus to him. Her Genjutsu safely in place, she let it expand and explode to its full effect and watched as Madara's face grew slack. "Now!" she screamed.

Kushina and Mikoto landed at her side and she tugged them with her into Madara's timeline.

* * *

Raiden sagged, unaware that he'd been holding himself stiffly. "They're gone. I can't even sense Aimi. I think our connection is severed or something."

The rest of his listeners sagged with him. "Were they all right?" Itachi asked.

"They seemed like they were," Raiden confirmed. "Lucky none of the Bijuu were released, neh?"

* * *

That oversight, if it had indeed been an oversight, was seen to the moment Madara broke out of that Genjutsu. He took a moment to contemplate it, wondering how on earth such a Genjutsu could even exist. He would never admit that he'd gotten out of it purely by chance. His red eyes narrowed to slits. Under no circumstances would he let that girl best him in such a manner again. He would fight her blindfolded before he did that.

He looked around. His cohorts were standing as if expecting him to do something. "Where are they? Don't tell me you let them escape!"

"They vanished," Konan said. "They disappeared into the air behind you."

Madara actually turned to survey the air behind himself. "I doubt they'll come back…they probably only wanted to test themselves against us. Released states, just in case, though. And call our minions." He paused. "I love saying that word, _minions. _We've come up in the world, wouldn't you say?"

The others agreed that they had as they each released their demons and proceeded to wait for the possible return of their attackers. Before long, droves of aliens began gathering around them.

* * *

Aimi carefully watched the river of moving images and stopped it when her Granny Mikoto told her to. "I'm glad I studied clan history well," Mikoto said. "Quickly, Aimi."

-oOo-

Aimi stepped into the image, and saw the surprise on both Madara's face and the one chosen to be the new teacher. She made sure she was in her normal form, with her Sharingan in place, so as not to arouse suspicion in them.

"A kinsman," Madara commented. He was much younger, and apparently a lot less evil. "I've never seen you before. Who's child are you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke's child," Aimi answered respectfully. She bowed toward the teacher. "I need your help, please."

Madara and the teacher looked at each other. "Sasuke?" the teacher said curiously. "I don't know anyone named Sasuke, do you Madara?"

"I don't." He turned to Aimi. "But I will of course help a relative in need."

Aimi steeled herself against his smile, remembering what he was truly like. "I just need him. I'll bring him back shortly." She bowed again.

The teacher shrugged. He let his hand be taken by the pudgy girl and then he was in an odd place with obviously wounded women present. He looked at the one who had a single eye, also sporting Sharingan, and felt at ease; he concluded that he was amongst relatives of the child, and so-

"Now, Aimi." Kushina gestured toward the man who stood calmly.

Aimi shot the condensed ball of memories and information into the teacher's brain with a hard mental shove. The teacher's head snapped back, then forward, then he stood still with his chin on his chest.

It seemed like a long time passed. Aimi and her grandmothers waited without speaking. When the teacher at last lifted his head and looked at them, he seemed just as calm and pleasant as before, but with a hard glint in his eyes. "I see," he said quietly. "I now understand everything. I would never have believed Madara capable of these things. I agree to help prepare you."

"Good," Mikoto sighed. She turned to Aimi. "Am I right in thinking things will be worse for us the moment we step out of this timeline?"

Aimi took a moment to sense Madara's surroundings. She felt her insides quail at all the Bijuu. "Yes. They're released, all of them. And there are more aliens. A lot more."

"Do you still have your connection to Raiden?" Kushina asked. When Aimi shook her head, she frowned. "Right. Try to Boom us the second we step out, clear? The very _second._"

"I'll try," Aimi quavered.

-oOo-

In the end, she performed admirably. They stepped out andwere immediately set upon by aliens, while the Bijuu lumbered toward them. Aimi froze them all in their tracks, stopping time. The devastating chakra attacks the Bijuu had collectively launched hung large and menacing in the night sky, aimed toward them.

The teacher turned, searching among the horde for one face, and found it. He walked up to Madara's frozen form and stood looking at him. "When she sends me back, I'll make sure to stop you before you can do all those terrible things," he said quietly.

Aimi hurriedly Boomed them a moment later.

* * *

The transition from night to day had Aimi and the three adults with her blinking in the bright light. The students all stood, avidly taking in their first sight of the teacher. Raiden, Demon and Sasuke ran to Aimi and hugged her. Fugaku went to Mikoto, with Wyatt right behind him, and Kushina went to Minato and received his relieved hug that she was safe.

Konohamaru squinted. "That's the teacher?" He looked around. "Don't we have enough of him?"

Juro spoke up. "Yeah, seriously, he looks just like uncle-"

The teacher stepped forward to introduce himself. "Forgive me for not speaking sooner. I had to take a moment to come to terms with the fact that this is all that remains of my clan." He gave a short bow. "I am Uchiha Izuna."


	53. Chapter 53

A/N: Hi, readers. Something sad: I'm losing it. For this story, I really think I'm losing it. I don't like it anymore, it doesn't excite me, and I can tell the fic has suffered, and that you guys have noticed. Its not just the lack of reviews either, but some of the things said. Things not said.

I think it's this deadline I've imposed on myself. I can update by a deadline, as I've proven, but the _pressure_ to get it done is unbelievable. I do my best, but the problem is my best is no longer at the level it was before the deadlines. With other fics, it's not a problem since I'm ahead of schedule. I essentially have all the time in the world to write subsequent chaps. But for this fic, I can never seem to get ahead and I feel like both me and the fic are suffering. I don't want to hate my work, especially not this fic, and I really need to be on the top of my game for the coming chapters, the grand finale, if you will.

So. Fridays might not always see an update of this fic, but I'll work diligently on it. I won't neglect it, on that you guys have my word.

*If I pray hard enough, maybe typos will cease to exist. It's all I got.

* * *

Chapter 53

The students exchanged glances, raised eyebrows, shrugging of shoulders. "He's Madara's brother," Aimi hissed in a stage whisper, one hand cupped beside her mouth.

"Ohhhh," the students chorused. Then they frowned.

"Wait, _what?_" Kaito yelped. "Madara's _brother?_ Isn't he, oh I don't know…evil?"

Izuna fielded the question. "I can understand where you would get such a notion, Kaito, but as I was taken from a time when my brother wasn't evil, you can rest assured that I am not. Nor would I have followed him down the path he's obviously taken." He held up his hands to halt the sudden flurry of conversation. "Please. I know you all want answers, but right now isn't the time. I believe your teachers have a few parting words."

He turned from them and walked away to sit under a small tree. He noticed another kinsman lying under this same tree and offered a greeting. The young man didn't answer, but merely gave a sneering glance at Izuna. Izuna, for his part, recognized him as the one called Rasta-Sasuke now that he was close to him. He left off looking at him to watch the students make their goodbyes.

* * *

Kushina and Minato were surrounded by the Narutos, Fugaku and Mikoto by every Uchiha present. 'Bee and the Shinigami stood apart. Chibi-Gaara pushed himself between the Uzumaki crowd until he could press his face into Kushina's breasts. As she was currently being hugged by all the Narutos, this went unnoticed for a few minutes. When it _was_ noticed, it was Minato who dragged him away by a fist in his hair.

"Do you have to go?" Psycho-Naruto wailed at both parents.

"If we don't, history will be changed forever, possibly in ways that could destroy many lives," Minato said gently as he turned from kicking Chibi-Gaara. "Time is not something to be toyed with, and the past must never be interfered with."

-oOo-

"But I need you," Psycho-Sasuke was sobbing. "I lost my whole family. I don't have a wife or kids like the Sasukes here. Can't you stay?"

The actions this particular Sasuke had been guilty of had angered Mikoto, but she had developed a real soft spot for him. She tsk-ed tearfully now and cupped his cheek. "Oh, honey, I wish I could."

"Then let me come with you, let me live in your world. I won't cause problems or-"

Fugaku silenced the blubbering boy with a hand on his shoulder. "We were pulled from Death, son. When we go back, we have to make sure things end as before or the future won't be as it is."

"But-"

Sasuke watched his psycho counterpart be hugged by his father. He'd suspected as much, but hearing that his parents were going back in time to die left him raw and breathless. His father had died when he was really young, so it hurt less now, but his mother…. He and his mother had been through a lot before she'd died. She'd supported him, gone into exile with him, helped him when he'd been pregnant with Raiden. She'd shown herself here to be a singularly strong kunoichi, something he hadn't known before she'd died. If she stayed, what else could he learn about her? She was good with Aimi and Raiden, and though he knew he was lucky to have what the other Sasukes didn't by having Itachi, he'd really missed his mom through the years.

"Don't go," he whispered.

She didn't hear him. The other Sasukes we crowding her, kissing her cheeks and touching her a final time.

-oOo-

Jiraiya stood and addressed the students when the other teachers finally stood back. They were all, students and teachers alike, a weepy mess. He raised his hand and the students tried to be silent long enough to hear what he had to say.

It wasn't much. He seemed to be a bit worked up himself at the prospect of going back. "Fight well," he intoned. "The ties that bind you will be your greatest strength in the coming war." He gave a jaunty wave, then turned to let Aimi take him into Minato's timeline.

* * *

They went back in the reverse order that they were brought. When Kushina was the last, she stopped Aimi before the girl could lead her into her father's timeline. "Kenpachi."

Kenpachi looked up from where he was lounging. The bland expression on his face still had a sullen cast to it. "What."

Kushina said she'd be needing him along. He didn't ask for an explanation, but got up and loomed at her side. Aimi took their hands and walked into the flowing yellow smoke that was her Daddy's existence.

-oOo-

They came out in her bedroom in the home she'd shared with Naruto. It was early morning. Her son would be returning from celebrating his success at passing the Chuunin exam. Aimi and Kenpachi watched her as she left them to rummage through her drawers.

"Naruto will be home soon," she said as she withdrew and held up a tunic and pants. She examined them. "I can't very well have him find me looking like this." She disappeared to her adjoining bathroom, where they could hear her washing up. "Things have to play out here as they did in his past or his entire life will be changed. If I'm around, he might not be as diligent in going after your Papa when he gets kidnapped, which might cause a host of unforeseen problems. Who knows what would happen if Sasuke remained with Orochimaru. You and your brother might not be born, and that's just one scenario out of thousands." Kushina stepped out of her bathroom, clean, and handed her dusty buckskins to Aimi.

Aimi took them absently. "I don't understand."

"You have to leave me as you found me," Kushina said quietly.

Kenpachi grunted inaudibly, finally understanding why he'd been brought along. He watched Aimi blink up at her grandmother until she too began to understand.

"What…you're going to _die?_" Aimi cried. "No! I won't let you!" She made a grab for her grandmother's hand, perhaps intending to take her back to safety.

Kushina stepped out of reach to go sit on the edge of her bed. She looked at her pillow, where she would shortly be taking her last breaths. Then she looked to where Kenpachi had a restraining hand on Aimi's upper arm. The girl clutched the dirty clothing in her hands tightly. "You have to. All the others had dangerous situations to go back to. It was discussed. Mikoto and Fugaku would make sure they received fatal blows in their battles, as would Jiraiya. Minato is already dead; I have the memory of it in my mind. When you brought him to the plateau that area of my memories had been blank…after he brought Naruto back to me when Madara had taken him there was just…nothing. Emptiness. But now the memory is there again, so I know he is gone, as he's supposed to be.

"Aimi, you have to kill me."

Aimi was already shaking her head wildly, biting down on the clothing she held.

"You can't refuse," Kushina said mildly. "This is the life of a shinobi. You have to harden your heart to do your job sometimes, but it needs to be done. You won't have to actually watch me die, but a fatal blow needs to be dealt. You can do this with your abilities. You can injure my heart."

"What about _my _heart?" Aimi shrieked. "How can you ask me to kill my own grandmother? I can't! I _can't!_" She ran and through herself at Kushina's knees, bawling into her lap. "Please don't make me. Please, please, please. I love you, and I'm sorry for being bad, and leaving, and not listening sometimes. Please, I'll do anything. Just don't say that, don't say I have to kill you, okay? Please."

Kushina stroked the black hair lovingly. She reflected that her heart was already scarred from the force of Aimi's pleas, and would soon be hurt further when Naruto came in and begged her not to die. She allowed a minute to go by as she felt the strong arms squeeze around her waist, the hot tears wet her lap. She breathed deeply, her heart thudding at the prospect of giving up her vivacity to willingly die. She then kissed Aimi's hair and looked over at Kenpachi. He nodded.

Aimi was pulled aside gently by Kenpachi. "All right," Kushina said to her. "I understand that you can't do it."

A smile trembled its way onto Aimi's face. "I'm sorry. But it will be okay, you'll see."

Kushina nodded. She looked up at Kenpachi. "Give me a hug, you brute." Kenpachi bent and gave her a strange, one-armed hug. Kushina was briefly hidden from Aimi's view by his broad body, but then he straightened up and told Aimi they needed to go. Naruto could be heard entering the house and calling softly to his mother.

Aimi waved happily to her grandmother, who waved back with less energy than she'd had a minute ago. Kushina slipped under her blanket as her granddaughter and the Shinigami vanished.

-oOo-

In the Corridor, Aimi watched the scene play out, eager to see her Daddy's reaction to a healthy mother after so many years of seeing her sick.

But Kushina bade her son farewell weakly, told him how proud she was of him and how much she loved him. She died with her young son weeping beside her.

Aimi slowly turned heartless, merciless yellow eyes up to Kenpachi. Her voice was a low whisper that throbbed with suppressed rage and dawning suspicion. "What did you do?"

Kenpachi regarded her stoically. Under cover of the hug he'd given Kushina, he'd put his hand on her back, over her heart, and shot a lethal blast of reiatsu into it. "I did what you were too weak to do. She knew you'd bellyache about it too, or she wouldn't have brought me along. Get us out of here," he finished.

After a few fuming seconds, Aimi complied. "I will _never_ forgive you, and never _ever _forget this. Ever. I hate you, Zaraki Kenpachi."

She went directly to her Daddy when she stormed out of his timeline and buried her face in his stomach. He swallowed hard; the memory of his mother's death had just resurfaced in his mind. He knew it had to have been rough for Aimi and hugged her tightly, taking comfort in the feel of her.

* * *

Izuna allowed them a few minutes before standing up. He looked down at Rasta-Sasuke. "Come."

"Fuck off."

Izuna noted the comment, turned, and walked to where his students were standing around and giving comfort to each other. They grew still and quiet as he paced calmly between them, watching him with wary eyes. "Shinigami and those with the Shinigami, please stand aside. You will not be part of my lessons." The Shinigami retired to the tree Rasta-Sasuke was lying under and sat down. Izuna resumed his pacing, stopping here and there to look a person over sometimes.

The children fascinated him. He stopped in front of Emiko and Etsuko, who stretched their noses up to sniff at him like animals. He could tell there was a large amount of Kyuubi in them, but they also had Sharingan. Looking into their eyes, he could see that their minds had a primitiveness that was inhuman. He clasped his hands behind his back and located their brother with his eyes. He strolled over to where Lee was holding up Yo-chan's tunic as the toddler pissed an arc of urine into the grass. Lee straightened up with Yo-chan in his arms and stared at Izuna with wide-eyed watchfulness. Izuna turned Yo-chan's head to look into the baby's eyes. The boy whimpered, but he kept his grip on him.

He and Madara had learned to be able to tell which Uchiha would manifest Sharingan, and which wouldn't. It took Sharingan to be able to see deep enough into the eyes, but it was possible to know who had the trait. Yo-chan didn't. Izuna saw something else, though, and lifted a finger from his other hand. A flame sprang up on his fingertip. He touched this small fire to Yo-chan's bare forearm.

"Hey!" Lee shouted. His hand shot out automatically and delivered palm-thrust to Izuna that should have sent him flying. Lee's hand was caught instead, but Lee hardly noticed. His attention was taken up with Yo-chan.

So far, only Raiden had seen a glimpse of the fact that the baby was more than just a baby. Now everyone, Lee included, saw how Uchiha Yoichi fell to the ground on all fours, mewling in distress at being burned. They all gasped loudly.

Yoichi wasn't humanoid anymore. He had paws and soft, downy orange fur. His eyes were red, and his face was slightly elongated, with a canine snout. Nine little stubs quivered in fear on his tailbone as he scuttled over to Lee. Lee backed away immediately, his face stretched into a look of shock and horror. Yo-chan saw this rejection from the one who never turned him away and stopped. Fat tears welled in his eyes and his pointed little ears drooped as he cried. His voice sounded like the bleat of a bear cub.

Izuna looked to where Stud-Sasuke and Fem-Naruto had run forward when their son had been burned. "That child needs to be put down. You're raising a tailed beast."

Stud-Sasuke snatched up his howling son angrily. Yo-chan continued to stretch his paws out to Lee. "You watch your mouth," he spat. "Before I rip your tongue out."

Izuna watched him try to shush the baby without success. The thing persisted in reaching for Lee, who finally overcame his shock enough to come hesitantly toward it. He took the creature gently, uncertainly from Stud-Sasuke and awkwardly bounced him up and down. Yo-chan quieted at once, his arms securely around Lee's neck. Just as quickly, the fur receded to leave white skin behind and black hair on the boy's head. Yo-chan sniffled pitifully, and Lee rubbed his back in apology. He kissed the baby's cheek.

Fem-Naruto pushed himself into Izuna's face without warning. **"If you ever suggest my kit needs to die again, I will feed your innards to my girls."**

Seeing as Fem-Naruto's eyes were also red, Izuna deduced that it was the demon speaking to him and not the man. He didn't answer, only waited until Fem-Naruto bared his teeth in a warning growl and swept off to nuzzle his son with Lee. Izuna turned to Raiden and Aimi.

These two were the ones that fascinated him the most. He stood in front of Raiden, who wisely kept an eye on his hands. "You're Senju more than anything else. You have the Uzumaki vitality and some of their traits, but I can see Senju strong in you. But you," and here Izuna turned to Aimi. "You are more Uchiha. Your abilities…"

"Aimi can do anything," Raiden interjected proudly. He left out her lack with Ninjutsu, not wanting this Izuna guy to say his sis needed to be put down.

Izuna smiled, shook his head. "What she can do is use her Sharingan to a degree not even I or my brother can. She has perfected Izanagi."

"Huh?" Raiden looked behind himself to his Pop and uncle Itachi, but they shook their heads in confusion.

"Izanagi," Izuna explained as he laid one fingertip beneath Aimi's right eye. "Is the ability to make imagination reality. Those who wield Izanagi can only do so for a short time. Ideally, it requires a genetic link with the Senju clan, as well as Sharingan. The precious few Uchiha who have mastered the jutsu did so through forbidden means, stolen DNA, including my brother. But Aimi here has the blood of the Senju and the Uchiha in her veins. She can use Izanagi to an extent that no other living person can, without canceling her Sharingan. To you and everyone else, it looks like she can do anything, but what it is is one technique. With Izanagi and Genjutsu, it's quite acceptable that she can't wield Ninjutsu. Yes, I know about that," he said to Raiden's dismayed expression. Izuna looked up at the rest of them. "I know about all of you." He smiled benignly. "Well! We have a month. Plenty of time to carve away the soft edges and see your true strength. Shall we get started?"

Demon stepped forward. "What will we be doing?"

Izuna undid his shirt and shrugged out of it. "Ah, yes. I can see you're the leader here. To answer, we will be putting all you've learned up till now to use." He turned and did a few swift kicks, loosening up.

"How long will we be training?" Demon wanted to know. "What is our new schedule?"

Izuna tilted his head. "I already said we'll be training for the next month."

"Nonstop?"

"Nonstop."

"What about food?"

"Eat what you can, when you can."

"Sleep?"

"Same thing."

"Our kids-"

"Are far stronger than you give them credit for."

"But what are we supposed to _do?_"

"Survive." Izuna's red eyes slid amongst the members of the large group. "Quite simply, you are to survive for the next month, and see to it that everyone else in this group survives. Look after yourselves and each other."

Kei raised a hand. "Even us? Are we-" he gestured at himself and his brothers "-going to be doing the same training as the adults?"

"To be sure," Izuna nodded. "Anyone not able to survive, in other words anyone who is caught and incapacitated, will be dropped off with the Shinigami to await the end of the month, out of the way of the rest of the participants."

"Who will look after Yo-chan?" Lee asked worriedly. "He won't go to any of the Shinigami."

"That cre- Yo-chan," Izuna corrected himself, "is a participant. He will need to survive like the rest of you."

"He's just a baby," Stud-Sasuke snapped. Fem-Naruto growled menacingly.

"Either he fights for his survival or you leave him with me," Izuna said calmly. "Your choice, but he is not to be attached to any adult. Everyone starts out alone."

"Or what?" Stud-Sasuke asked aggressively. "I'd like to see you take us all on to try to get to my son."

When Izuna didn't answer, Itachi laid a hand on Stud-Sasuke's shoulder. A suspicion that had been forming in his mind solidified at the confident look Izuna gave Stud-Sasuke. "What, exactly, are we supposed to be surviving?" he asked.

"Me." Izuna gave a small bow.

Which meant that not only could he take them all on, but that he could probably wipe the floor with them, Itachi thought.

* * *

Izuna gave them an hour to prepare themselves. He spoke to them while they did so.

"This hour will be the only time I will not be actively trying to kill each of you. After this, if you see me -be I wounded, smiling, or even if I say from my own lips that the training is over- you are to assume that I am on the offensive and still trying to kill you. Training stops in thirty days, at sundown. Only then. If you're caught, then you'll know you wouldn't have been much assistance in the coming war. Consider yourself caught if I can land a killing blow that you can't defend against. No one will actually be killed," he said with a look at Aimi. She relaxed. "If you manage to catch me you may consider yourselves released from training early. There is no one area where we will be confined to. You have the run of the entire world. Base is that tree where the Shinigami are. If I catch you, you will be deposited there. You have five minutes left."

-oOo-

Stud-Sasuke, Fem-Naruto, Emiko and Etsuko clustered around Lee, who was crouched on the ground and rocking Yo-chan back and forth. "I can't leave him," Lee howled feelingly. "I can't leave him to fend for himself and be prey to that…that…" but Lee had to admit it was excellent training strategy that Izuna suggested. He buried his face in Yo-chan's neck. Yo-chan whimpered, sensing the impending separation. He clung to Lee desperately.

Fem-Naruto gently pried Yo-chan's arms free and took the baby into his lap. "It's okay, Lee. You've done a bang-up job of looking after our son while we've been here, but we're still the one's who know him best. Trust us when we say he won't be as vulnerable as you think."

Lee tried to dry his streaming eyes. "But who will feed-"

Stud-Sasuke hushed him. "Sh. Let his Mother handle this."

"His mother?" Lee asked in confusion, not hearing the capital. Then he saw Fem-Naruto's face. "Oh…my."

Fem-Naruto deliberately let Kyuubi come forward in his mind so that she could connect psychically with Yo-chan. He held up a single thread of material, something he'd snatched from Izuna's clothing when he'd been in the man's face earlier. Izuna hadn't even noticed. He opened his mouth, but it was Kyuubi that spoke.

**"Take his scent, my kit, that's it." **Yo-chan sniffed busily at the single thin blue thread, his eyes reddening briefly as he unconsciously concentrated chakra to his little nose.** "He is the enemy. At all** **costs you are to evade him. Find me or your father if you can, your den mates if you can't. We will protect you."** Kyuubi put away the thread and bent to lick Yo-chan's tears away.

Stud-Sasuke and the girls cuddled or nuzzled him in turn. Lee reluctantly gave him a last hug and set him down. Yo-chan managed to keep quiet, though his chin and lower lip wobbled. He seemed to have calmed down considerably through contact with his Mother.

-oOo-

"I can't believe he said everyone has to be alone," Masaru said glumly. He looked at Kei and Ryota. "Outside of our teams back home, we're always together." Kei nodded.

Ryota shrugged. "Just between us, I'm kind of glad I'll be taking a break from that damned spell. I'll actually get to use magic for something fun for a change."

His brothers stared at him. "How can you possibly see this as fun?" Kei demanded.

"Are you kidding? This is one huge game of tag. I can't wait to prank Izuna-sensei. Haven't pranked anyone in ages!" Ryota's normally boisterous attitude seemed to have partially returned at the prospect of surviving for an entire month on nothing but his wits. Kei felt like peeing himself. Masaru hoped he could somehow manage to find his dad and stick by him.

-oOo-

"We're so gonna put him out of commission," Raiden smirked as he joined hands with Aimi briefly. "He can't beat our connection."

"Ready?" Izuna called.

-oOo-

"Woohoo! _Party!_" Chibi-Gaara whooped.

"Set!" Izuna glanced around to make sure no one was trying to remain with anyone else.

-oOo-

Shouta glanced at the tree, where Yachiru sat calmly. He waved to her and she waved back. He saw her sneak a peek at her Captain before discreetly blowing him a kiss. His face got hot. He wondered how much trouble they would be in if anyone found out they'd lost their virginity a few days ago.

"Go!"

-oOo-

All the students disappeared, scattering in different directions. Raiden and Aimi folded. Yo-chan ran into the forest behind him.

Izuna streaked for the tree, and straight for Rasta-Sasuke.


	54. Run, baby, run

A/N: I tried to put all of this stint with Izuna in one chap, but that would have made it between 50-75 pages long. Facing such a daunting task grew discouraging after awhile. I found myself wanting to rush and skip some parts. The whole purpose of me setting aside the deadline for this fic was to avoid that. So I decided to break it into two parts. Next chap will be part 2 of this and hopefully won't take me as long to submit.

On another note, things are coming along on the facebook page. I have someone offering fanart there, in case anyone wants to check it out. Masaru is up, which is a nice coincidence since he has a part in this chap. I'm happy for those who visit and chat with me there.^^

*I tried to catch all the typos...ignore the ones I missed.

* * *

Chapter 54

Run, baby, run

Rasta-Sasuke had been dozing off when the Shinigami settled around him. He roused himself briefly to make sure they weren't doing anything fishy, before rolling to his side and drifting to sleep again. The sounds of the new guy talking, and the others responding from time to time only reached him dimly. He was glad his parents were gone, and Blondie's parents. He figured that now there was no one to force him to do anything. He could get back to waiting for Blondie to be ready to go home. In the meantime, he had catching up on his sleep to do.

The distant sound of someone shouting ready, set, go kicked off a brief little dream in his head: he remembered races run at the academy back before his parents had tried to kill him. The sun was hot on him where he lay in the grass, as it had been hot during those races. He smiled faintly as he burrowed deeper into his dream.

He was dead to the world, that was the truth, or his senses might have picked up on the danger sooner. As it was, the only reason his eyes slid open again was because the Shinigami had each done their little Shunpo number; the faint sounds this made roused him. He was alone under the tree.

Well, good.

No, wait. Why would they be-

The sensation of a massive impending threat descended on him so that he was turning, opening two gates, and getting to his feet all at once. He was suddenly wide awake, registering everything in exquisite detail, down to the veins in the leaves on the trees, and a stick bug near his hand in the grass. And still he hadn't completed his turn, still that threat loomed. His heart had beat only once in all this time, and he could feel it contracting to pump out another beat.

_Finally, _he was facing Izuna. He was straightening from his crouch, Izuna was running, and his own arm was lifting, slowly, to send a bar of Fucker at this trick's head. Fucker even began zooming out of him, traveling as if through syrup, but Izuna was leaping to evade, still coming toward him, and Rasta-Sasuke realized that he was quite probably screwed.

-oOo-

Blondie ran for the trees at Izuna's command to go. He sensed rather than saw the others speeding off in various directions. At the tree line, he glanced behind himself to see who Izuna was going after first…and saw that he was closing in on Sasuke.

He pivoted, running in Izuna's wake, but even he could see that he wasn't going to make it in time. He ran anyway, pushed himself, called heavily on the Kyuubi's chakra to give him speed, and still he was out of reach when Izuna landed from his jump to evade Fucker. He reached for Sasuke with both hands coated with fire.

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke leaned backward, still moving as if in a dream, as those fiery hands reached for him. Izuna's face was pleasant, the eyes wide, gauging his reactions. He could feel the heat of those hands as they inched toward his face. His muscles gathered to leap, but he was too slow. The hands filled his vision-

Someone landed with a crash between him and Izuna.

Rasta-Sasuke was shoved out of the way. He fell, got up, ran, turned and saw that it was Itachi. Itachi deflected Izuna's fiery hands before delivering a powerful kick that Izuna back-flipped away from. A moment later, Blondie slammed into Izuna, and the two rolled, exchanging rapid blows.

Itachi landed next to Rasta-Sasuke and took his arm. "Let's go."

Rasta-Sasuke wrenched his arm away. "Get off me, I don't need your help. And I'm not playing you guys' little game, either. I'll be sure to tell that bitchass once Blondie's done schooling him." He turned to watch the fight.

-oOo-

Blondie was not schooling anyone. He was being served his own ass with a thoroughness he'd never experienced from any opponent in his memory.

Another crushing blow from Izuna that pulverized his shoulder, making that arm useless. Blondie could have withstood these, evaded or blocked them, if he was able to see them coming. As it was, he was fighting while off kilter; Izuna hit him with small doses of Genjutsu, nothing big, just enough to confuse him. He'd think Izuna was coming from the right, when in fact he was behind him. The Genjutsu were subtle enough, delivered and withdrawn so quickly, that Kyuubi couldn't anticipate them or neutralize them. By the time he became aware of them, Izuna himself had lifted them. In the second or two Blondie would be oblivious, Izuna would deliver a wealth of powerful blows that crippled the teen. The Kyuubi chakra worked at healing the damage caused, but more damage was done in the time this took, and Blondie just couldn't get his balance. He'd never gone up against such a fighting style, or against anyone so strong. It was a slaughter.

When Izuna was done, he stood looking down at the unconscious boy, not even winded. He performed several hand seals and placed his hands on Blondie's chest. Blondie's chakra swirled up and into him in billowing clouds. He noted how Blondie's Bijuu did not interfere or revive him the way it would have in Demon. Unlike Demon, Blondie had complete, unwavering control over his Bijuu. From Aimi's thoughts and memories he knew that Demon did not access Kyuubi accidentally anymore, and that he could now access all of its chakra without transforming, but still, he and his demon had a relationship that Blondie did not share with his. Izuna was able to suck out every drop of his chakra without interruption from the Bijuu. He straightened up with Blondie slung over one shoulder.

The Shinigami had crept back to the tree when Rasta-Sasuke had run in one direction, and Izuna was dragged in another by his fight with Blondie. They watched as Izuna dropped Blondie at their feet.

Izuna turned to look at Rasta-Sasuke and Itachi, standing some distance away. He smiled.

-oOo-

Itachi moved to grab Rasta-Sasuke's arm. "Come. Quickly, before he catches us."

Rasta-Sasuke blinked, finally closing his mouth. Blondie had been taken out. He was down. He'd fought hard, and Izuna had handled him as if Blondie wasn't shit. Ignoring the hand on his arm, Rasta-Sasuke accessed Mangekyo, started to open all the gates, then stopped. Lee had drilled into him time and time again, often painfully, that eight gates were not to be used under any circumstances, not unless he was in the thick of the war itself. Rasta-Sasuke had learned that lesson well. He kept it to half that.

With four gates, he was at Izuna's side before the man could blink. He swung his fist at the man's throat, but Izuna dodged.

What-?

He swung, punched, kicked, and Izuna dodged each blow. _He can follow this speed, _he thought. _He can see me._ But he could also see Izuna and the speed he used to press his attack now. Rasta-Sasuke ran, trying to evade, but Izuna was on his ass. A punch to his kidneys had him rolling and tumbling through the grass for several hundred yards. He came to a stop right at Itachi's feet. Itachi bent down to give Rasta-Sasuke a hand, but the younger Uchiha slapped it aside weakly. He winced, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt his back. Two ribs broken, he was sure. He snapped his eyes open again and found Izuna walking calmly toward them. This time he held out both hands and sent thick bars of Fucker to his head, pumping as much chakra as he could, which was less than all; the amount of pain he was in had him nearly blacking out.

Izuna was there, then he was gone. Fucker zinged without impediment to the trees on the far side of the field. He reappeared next to Rasta-Sasuke, who looked up at him dumbly. Izuna's hand shot out, going for his face.

Itachi filed away the information that Izuna had the same space/time jutsu Madara used as he lashed out with a kunai. The move was as quick as he could make it. Izuna still saw it coming and skipped aside to avoid it…which allowed Itachi to snatch Rasta-Sasuke by the scruff of his neck and streak out of there.

-oOo-

Izuna let them go. For the moment. He wanted to fight Itachi when he was alone, so the man could go all out. He understood from Aimi's information that the current patriarch of the Uchiha clan was some sort of former prodigy. He would assess the veracity of that for himself. He turned to look at where Blondie still lay unconscious, releasing his own Mangekyo as he did so. He frowned. He'd planned to go after all the weakest ones first, or who he thought of as weak based on Aimi's information, and then set out after the strong ones. He'd classified Blondie as belonging to the latter group. Instead, he was the first to go down and thus miss out on the rest of the training.

Ah, well. Onward.

Izuna turned away from the tree and closed his eyes, tracking his next victim. When he had him, he smiled, teleported, and came out a mile away from his target. He would let the man come to him.

* * *

Hiroto crept silently through the forest, scanning carefully before each step he took. His Sharingan was on. He didn't sense anyone yet, but that didn't mean he was alone. The area between his shoulder blades tightened and itched, which meant he was being either stalked or watched. The feeling refused to go away. He finally stopped on a patch of bare earth beneath one of the enormous trees. He tracked his eyes slowly from left to right, staring intently.

Something. A glimmer. Concentrating, He saw the faintest fold of reality and illusion. Recognizing an exceptionally fine-cast Genjutsu, Hiroto held the first two fingers of one hand to his mouth. "Dispel," he muttered. He kept his eyes peeled as the Genjutsu rolled away to reveal an exact replica of the forest trees and undergrowth it had concealed- with the addition of Izuna standing five feet in front of him.

He saw the punch coming, but let it hit his jaw in order to use Izuna's momentum against him. He took hold of the hand that had hit him and trapped it beneath his own arm. Twisting his body sharply, Hiroto snapped the arm at the elbow, kept twisting and eventually ended up with Izuna in front of him, his arm around the man's throat. He wrenched backward sharply-

-and was holding nothing but empty air. Hiroto dropped his hands slowly, looking around him with all his senses opened wide. He kept his teeth clenched tightly to prevent his dislocated jaw from moving. His head ached from that punch, but he ignored it.

-oOo-

Izuna materialized high up in one of the towering trees, completely healed. He'd had to resort to retreating to avoid having his neck snapped. The time between the punch and when he'd vanished couldn't have been more than a second. Hiroto was lithe despite his size, something that surprised him pleasantly. Seemed he'd be able to use a bit of force. He took a few moments to observe this cousin Aimi seemed to think was weak, but who was far from it.

Hiroto was a thick man. Very solid build, solid fighting style. No frills, no fancy executions. Straight-forward and quite powerful. Rolling his shoulders, Izuna dropped down to land behind Hiroto, who turned and lashed out with a kick before he'd completed the drop, which sent him crashing through a tree.

Good-natured. Teacher. Artistic. Liked to read and enjoyed _Ikebana. _This was the description he had of Hiroto from Aimi's mind. Izuna tried to reconcile these words with the cool, black-eyed human tank who smashed a hole through the tree he'd crashed through with a chakra enhanced fist. Izuna opted for Taijutsu for the moment, wanting to see what Hiroto was capable of with his strength.

Interesting. The strikes Izuna delivered were simply withstood, or else countered with an equally forceful move. Hiroto had pretty decent speed as well. Nothing to equal Rasta-Sasuke with his gates, but certainly nothing to sneeze at. Hiroto's body was just so hard and dense. He fought while injured as if he felt no pain. This was the mark of any true ninja, but Izuna had purposely slammed his heel against Hiroto's broken jaw, and the guy didn't even go down. He did, however, come after Izuna with both Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. He calmly and effectively channeled pain and anger into his attack. Izuna was impressed.

The Genjutsu were fair, not great. He was able to ignore or neutralize most of them. The fact that Hiroto layered some of them as he cast them was also interesting. Layering was something done by only the most skilled Uchiha in his time. He and Madara were capable of it, but often their Genjutsu were powerful enough without this aid. Hiroto layered easily, as if taught by a master. Scanning the information from Aimi's mind, Izuna realized that Mikoto had taught all of them layering. Well, then.

The Ninjutsu was quite engaging. He was able to learn that Hiroto's chakra types were earth and lightning when Hiroto used _Shinra Bansho Doka no Jutsu _to make his skin rock-like. Izuna wisely left off the Taijutsu after that. Hiroto used Genjutsu and Sharingan to augment his attacks, fighting with a great deal of heart. Izuna finally stopped toying with him and got a little serious. He landed up in a tree again as he prepared several hand seals.

-oOo-

But Hiroto was also preparing hand seals. It would cost him a great deal of chakra, and was ideally done with another, but he had to risk it; Shouta, a fellow earth chakra type, wasn't here to aid him this time. "_Doton: Kaido Shokutsu!"_

Some of the techniques Izuna had witnessed from Rasta-Sasuke and now Hiroto were undoubtedly the product of a newer generation, as was the case with whatever Hiroto had just done. He didn't know the technique except to recognize it as an earth jutsu. The ground rumbled beneath his tree, before erupting in a great fountain that shot him, the tree, and all manner of odd, slug-like creatures high into the air. These creatures, obviously underground dwellers, emitted a high-pitched screeching at being brought to daylight. Two landed on him as he tumbled in the air. Besides discovering that they were huge, each the size of his leg, he saw that they had no eyes. Instead, they had a huge gaping maw of needle sharp teeth. They bit juicily into him and immediately began sucking the blood right out of him.

By the time he'd used his space/time jutsu to lose the giant leeches or slugs or whatever they were, and repaired the damage to his body, Hiroto was gone. Taking a moment to sense his location, Izuna found that he was far away and still running. Conceding this round to him, Izuna shook his head with a small smile of pleasure. Seemed he'd officially been beaten this time. Refreshing.

On to the next one. He wondered if this one, also presumed weak by Aimi, would surprise him with strength and skill.

* * *

Juro jumped to the lower branches of the tree and surveyed his surroundings. All was in order, he decided. The trap had been hastily set, but he thought it would be effective. As an added precaution he cast a cloaking Genjutsu around himself and the surrounding area. He settled down on his branch to begin the lengthy process of layering it, then inverting it to make the Genjutsu itself undetectable. After, he would also mask his chakra.

He made sure to be extra vigilant. He and Yukio were known as the slackers in the family just because they'd rather build things than fight. That didn't mean they _couldn't_ fight. They were Uchiha, after all. And everyone seemed to regularly forget that their IQs were right up there with Sumiko's. Sure they were generally lazy, tended to goof off, and were a couple of capitalists, but when the chips were down, as they most definitely were now, they could be just as serious as the next Uchiha.

He sensed Izuna. The man appeared from thin air roughly two miles east of where he sat in his tree.

-oOo-

Izuna studied the swamp with interest. He could feel the Genjtusu even if he couldn't see it. More layering. My, my. If the children were this adept, he could only wonder what Itachi must be like. He lifted a hand to dispel the illusion and frowned at just how intricately it was layered.

The swampland was deserted. He walked calmly through bogs, scanning for any additional signs of Genjutsu. He knew Juro had to be in the vicinity, even if he couldn't sense him anymore; fleeing unmasked one's presence. He took his time, clasping his hands behind his back as he walked. Such pleasant weather on this world. Nice and brisk.

Having scouted every inch of the swamp, Izuna stood and surveyed the lone tree in the area. Directing his mind at it, he found that it somehow prevented someone from latching onto it with their senses. He couldn't sense a Genjutsu, either, but concluded that one had to be in place. He felt certain that Juro was in that tree, though the bare, black branches looked to be empty. Testing his theory, He launched a fireball at it. Ninjutsu were capable of passing through Genjutsu, if done correctly.

He didn't even know what hit him. His fireball struck an invisible barrier and both he and it were instantly teleported several hundred feet beneath the surface of a huge lake. The water churned and frothed from the heat of his now-diffused fireball, but when the bubbles cleared, he saw a kunai with kanji written on it tethered to a boulder that sat on the bottom of the lake. He swallowed a bit of water before he managed to teleport himself to dry ground. He stood looking at the lake, trying to analyze the jutsu.

-oOo-

Juro was in the process of running like hell from the swamp. Yukio dropped down beside him and pelted at his side, both grinning hard. "He didn't see the inverted Genjutsu, just like you said," Juro panted.

"Nope, and the _Jikuudan Kekkai_ Minato-sensei taught us worked perfectly." Risking a glance behind himself, Yukio added, "Oof, let's hope he goes after someone else next. He hasn't even gotten serious yet."

That hope was shot to hell when Izuna fell from the sky and landed on Yukio's back. He actually rode the scared youth piggyback for a few seconds before he squeezed with his legs, making Yukio gasp for air, and delivered a chop to his neck that broke his collarbone.

Juro swerved and charged at his brother. Izuna calmly flipped away. He landed lightly and waited to see what Juro would do. Yukio was down, groaning, but conscious.

-oOo-

Uchiha Juro. What Izuna knew of this particular kinsman could fit in a thimble. Architect, talked a lot, that was all he'd gotten from Aimi. Honestly, that child was clueless about her own family. Beyond names and rough ages, Izuna was left with large blanks. At least he now knew the boy to be capable of some stellar Genjutsu casting. By the time he'd realized the Genjutsu around the tree had been inverted (a process he simply _must _learn) he'd already tracked Juro again and found him with his twin.

For someone supposedly hyper and possessed of a short attention span, Juro displayed remarkable intelligence and foresight in not attacking. He stood in a shallow crouch, keeping his body between Izuna and Yukio. His Sharingan was in place. Izuna felt pride and gave a small encouraging nod.

-oOo-

Juro had been watching the whole time, but even so Izuna seemed to flash, and then he felt that iron-like arm around his throat from behind. He grabbed the arm, and swung his legs up and over, so that he was the one with a choke hold around Izuna's neck. Izuna twisted, and from there the fight was a battle between one extremely skilled man, and one terrified, but intensely strong teen.

Yukio was proud of his twin. Juro gave it his best, blocking, kicking and lashing out whenever he had an opening, while managing to defend his pressure points and vital organs. But he was losing. Summoning his concentration, Yukio blocked the majority of his pain and launched himself at them with a roar.

In the brief nanosecond Izuna was distracted by the roar and Yukio's heavy body colliding with them, Juro grabbed his head and shoved both thumbs deep into his eyes.

Izuna vanished just before his eyes could be put out. Yukio dropped painfully to the sandy ground, holding himself stiffly. Juro stood over him, looked around. "Come on." He lifted his twin to support him with an arm. Casting one last look around, he leapt swiftly away.

* * *

Urahara lifted one of Blondie's lids. "Out like a light," he muttered. "Who wants to bet he'll be up and after Izuna the moment he comes to?" He sat and crossed his legs. The weather was too cool to fan himself. In any case, that beloved accessory had been destroyed soon after he'd arrived here.

"He won't remain under this tree as per Izuna's rules," Yoruichi agreed. "He'll be worried about Rasta-Sasuke."

Kenpachi paced, aroused in more ways than one at the beast Izuna had shown himself to be. "Did any of you feel his reiatsu? I have to fight that fuck." He shrugged his shoulders in agitation, panting openly through a toothy snarl of need. All eyes dropped to his rampant erection, clearly visible through his buckskins. "I can still feel him, little spikes erupting in various spots around this world. Some not too far from here…I bet I can find him…"

Byakuya stood resignedly. "Zaraki. I think you and I need to go for a walk."

The others looked curiously back and forth between them. Kenpachi was not known to undertake peaceful pursuits such as 'going for a walk'. They fully expected him to respond with a sneer, but Kenpachi surprised them all by looking hard at Byakuya and nodding. They didn't even walk, but flashed away with Shunpo. And at the end there, Byakuya had seemed a touch…eager. Strange.

* * *

Kei hadn't gone far. They'd been in a field when they'd all started out, with that one tree as base. He'd simply run the two or three miles to the edge of the field and now sat huddled miserably in some tall grass. He wasn't a fighter. He'd learned some basic things with his grandpa Fugaku, some summoning, some Taijutsu. He'd just made Genin when they'd hopped to this world, for crying out loud. He had aspirations to be an ambassador, or else one of the strategists who advised the council. He had no intentions of being a battle-oriented ninja…which was a paradox, when you thought about it. A ninja was designed for combat. He would make sure he was competent, or more accurately, his dad would see to it that he didn't shame the family name, but honestly, people expected so much from him just because his IQ was the highest anyone had seen since-

What was that noise?

A snake. Whew. Performing a simple check to make sure it wasn't a person in disguise, he fried it with a bolt of lightning he aimed from the first two fingers of his hand. This left the snake resembling something like a charred stick. Kei picked it up and absently drew in the dirt at his feet. Where was he?

Oh, right. Yes, just because he was smart didn't mean he was a natural born killing machine. Not even Ryota was. Masaru had gotten all the killing intent out of the three of them. And here he was, stuck in some maniacal training method _for the next thirty days, _waiting to be cut down by some madman from the past who, by the way, happened to be the brother of the very one trying to kill them all for real.

Awful. Just awful.

He'd already calculated his odds for survival. They weren't great. He fully expected to be planted firmly under that tree before nightfall. At least then he would be able to relax, maybe have an interesting conversation or two with Urahara-sensei. Such a mind that guy had. That was the plan, anyway. In the meantime, though, here he sat raising his blood pressure by worrying-which he couldn't help. Cloaking and layering an invisibility jutsu around himself would have to suffice.

* * *

Izuna tracked his next victim to some sort of enormous bug's nest. He looked, but did not see any inhabitants currently present. He abruptly sensed Masaru behind him, and turned to behold the preteen riding on top of the biggest beetle he'd ever seen. It was literally taller than Izuna himself was. Masaru had it by the antenna in one hand, while his other hand directed the horde behind him to charge. The beetles trundled toward Izuna at his command, clicking and buzzing with a deafening sound.

In his shock, Izuna counted more than a hundred of the things. Then he was teleporting away before they could overrun him.

But not before Masaru communicated to the beetle he was riding to shoot a jet of venom at Izuna. Some disappeared through that space/time jutsu with him, he was pleased to note. He pat the beetle's carapace with an approving hand. "Good boy," he said shakily. "Good boy." He'd half hoped Izuna would go after all the adults first, but no such luck it seemed.

-oOo-

Izuna howled between his clenched teeth as the venom burned away the skin of his back before he could heal himself. He came out of his dimension with a particular desire to teach Masaru a lesson. Then he would praise the boy for his innovative use of his surroundings.

Unlike Juro and Yukio, Masaru and his two brothers where people he actually knew quite a bit about, probably because Aimi had grown up with the triplets. She did not, however, know what the boys had been up to since being on this world or he might have had a clue about those insects.

No matter. He sensed Masaru still riding not far away.

-oOo-

Masaru yelled as his beetle, a specimen that had been his friend since it and the rest of the herd had hatched three months ago, was vaporized from beneath him with a katon. He rolled, ignoring his tears as he grasped his left wrist with his right hand. Izuna was stalking toward him. He hoped he had enough time…his uncle Sasuke had taught him this move only two weeks ago, saying he was the only one of the triplets finally strong enough to master it.

Izuna recognized Chidori forming from Aimi's information on her father. He stopped stalking to give Masaru a chance. He wanted to see how proficient he was with this interesting technique.

His bugs were hidden, Masaru saw with a flick of his eyes. Good. He'd sent them a message to hide and attack only when he gave the signal. These particular bugs had the neat capability of camouflaging themselves to match their surroundings. If Izuna sensed them he didn't show it. Chidori took shape in his palm. _I only got one shot with this. _Pumping an extra burst of chakra into it, he gave the signal to his bugs with a wordless, buzzing screech.

Izuna had noticed the bugs. Since he was aware, he felt confident that he had plenty of time to react. He kept his eyes on Masaru's yelling, running form.

He was disappointed. Such an obvious mode of attack. No stealth whatsoever. Sighing, he prepared to-

The ground beneath his feet dropped away to reveal a host of those bugs and the tunnel they'd dug while he'd been watching Masaru. He began to fall, leapt up, and came face to face with dozens more of the things leaping from their hiding places. The moment he'd looked down, they'd attacked. _Masaru has complete control of their minds, _he realized. He phased out of harm's way, landed behind Masaru, realized it was a clone, and felt Chidori slam through his back, demolishing most of his internal organs.

-oOo-

He stayed in his dimension longer this time. Note to self: the triplets were raised by Sasuke and Demon. It would behoove one to remember that Kage Bunshin no Jutsu could and would be performed by children, especially these.

-oOo-

Masaru shook Izuna's blood from his hand. One of his pets came and nuzzled his back. He turned and rubbed his face on one chitinous leg, leaning on it for support. He felt completely drained, both by the clone and Chidori. His pets, who basically saw him as their mother, clustered around him, making fluting sounds of distress for his weariness. As one, they turned and clicked angrily at the air behind Masaru. He turned around, tensed.

Nothing was visible for a few seconds…then Izuna swirled into existence. _They can sense him before he comes. _That was all he had time to realize, before Izuna struck him a blow to his face that broke his nose. His pets closed in and Izuna prepared several hand seals. Masaru shrieked at him not to hurt them.

Ryota stumbled out of a small gateway beside Masaru, which had Izuna halting briefly. "Whew! Those locator spells don't get any easier, let me tell you." He looked between Izuna, the bugs, and his brother. Then he grinned. "Looks like I'm just in time."

Izuna lunged, but Ryota took Masaru's limp hand, held up his other, and blasted him miles away with a simple wave of energy.

Ryota put his hand down uncertainly. "Man. Keep forgetting how much of a boost contact with you gives my magic. Shall we?" he asked when he'd turned to his fainting brother. "Kei's probably worried himself sick by now. Over-thinking things, as usual."

Masaru passed out with a groan. Ryota took the time to heal his nose with a simple incantation before he slung him over his shoulders. He staggered under Masaru's hefty weight as he awkwardly opened the pages of his book to the locator spell. For some reason this one spell always gave him so much trouble. Masaru's pets closed around him, touching them both with their large feelers. Ew.

* * *

Kei shoved the fingers of one hand into his mouth to stifle his sudden scream, but it was only Ryota and Masaru…though Masaru seemed out of it. He looked at his brother's bloody face and scooted forward on his knees. He wiped the blood away with a tuft of grass he pulled up. "Thank God you're here! Did Izuna get him?"

Ryota put a hand theatrically on his chest. "You actually thought I'd leave you alone? Of course I'm here! And yeah, Izuna's been at him." Ryota flopped backward in the grass. "Isn't it cool how I can enter your Genjutsu without dispelling it? Now me and Masaru are cloaked to be invisible, too. Did you mask your chakra?"

Kei shook his head, going to lay next to his brother. He propped his chin on his hands. "Glad you're here. I feel safest when you're around. Are we sticking together the whole month?"

"Don't see why not." Ryota dug one filthy finger deep in his nose, scratching at an itch.

"Our odds for survival are highest if we're together," Kei said with a wide-eyed nod. "Your magic, my brain, Masaru's strength. Together we're the perfect unit. Do you have a spell that can tell where Izuna is right now?"

"I'm not doing another locator spell right now. Anyways, I figure-"

"I hate Izuna." Masaru said as he woke up. He rolled over and lay on his stomach, blinking his eyes to clear them. "He killed Obos."

Kei and Ryota looked at him. Ryota snickered. "Who the hell was Obos?"

"His pet," Kei said with a smack at Ryota's head. "I'm sorry to hear about that. Did you run?"

"Put Chidori through him."

"Wow, really?" the other two exclaimed. Masaru described his brief encounter with Izuna as they listened attentively.

Ryota shook his head in bliss, gazing up at the sky. "I'm telling you, he's ripe for pranking. Soon as I feel like it, we're getting up and going after him."

Kei moaned. "_Why? _Why can't we just avoid him with magic or defend ourselves if and when he comes after us again? Why in the name of God would you want to actually go _after _him?"

"It is good strategy to take the fight to the enemy if you have superior weapons like magic. You boys should know that by now."

"But even with magic," Masaru said, "he's too strong. We're kids. What can we hope to do?"

"Oh, now come, that's no way to think. Kids can be excellent fighters, as you've demonstrated to me, Masaru. And Ryota, it is wise to press an advantage if you think you have it."

"Thanks," Ryota said absently. "And look at Dad, Masaru. He was a prodigy when he was a kid. Besides, who said anything about fighting? I said I want to prank Izuna. Doesn't he look like somebody good to prank?"

"He looks scary," Kei snorted.

"He _is _scary," Masaru confirmed. "Used my best moves against him and it was like nothing."

"Well, they certainly weren't nothing, Masaru. I'm quite proud of you for being so creative and thinking on your feet. The clones were a nice touch, and the way you're able to master the minds of so many insects at once is impressive."

"Actually I just have to master the leader of the pack," Masaru clarified. "They're insects that operate in a hive mentality, so they always attack or retreat as one."

"And can you summon them at will?"

"Well, I keep them close enough so that I can…though now that Ryota brought me so far away, I don't know…"

Kei and Ryota looked at each other. "Uh, Masaru?" Kei asked. "Who are you talking to?"

"You guys, who else?" Masaru looked to his right at Ryota, who looked to his right at Kei, who looked to his right and found Izuna pleasantly looking back.

-oOo-

Kei screamed and leapt backward. Masara was with him, though managing not to scream. Ryota only rolled over and propped his chin on both hands. "How'd you get in without alerting us? We were cloaked."

"You've been visible for quite some time…and the Genjutsu was child's play, forgive me for saying so."

Ryota waved a hand. "Kei's deal, not mine."

Izuna regarded the blue-eyed boy shrewdly. This was supposedly one of the stronger ones of the group. He was a child that loved nothing better than to annoy and aggravate people through his jokes and pranks. Izuna planned to see just what he was capable of when pressed.

To that end, he lashed out with his foot and caught Ryota in the face before he could see the move coming.

Masaru and Kei shrieked.

Blood flew from Ryota's face as he went soaring backward in a graceless sprawl. Izuna stooped and picked up the book that had fallen from the waistband of Ryota's pants. When he straightened, it was to find the triplets arranged on the ground as they had been, with himself stretched out with them.

How was he looking at _himself?_ "What on earth…" he began as events replayed themselves.

They were all on their backs, their heads together like the spokes of a wheel. Masaru looked at Ryota, who looked at Kei, who turned to find Izuna. The same screaming and brief conversation followed. Izuna saw himself kick Ryota, who went flying, and then this second Izuna was standing, staring at a _third _Izuna as he lay with the triplets, the conversation repeating itself.

Not a Genjutsu, he quickly realized as a fourth Izuna appeared. What then? None of the Izunas saw the each other…was _he _even the original? He resisted the urge to look behind himself. If he wasn't frowning in fierce concentration, he would have noticed the 'book' in his hand became a rock with a small _poof._

-oOo-_  
_

Ryota laughed uproariously, slapping his thigh. Kei and Masaru joined in after a minute of staring. The shimmery bubble that encased Izuna, his replicas and the copies of themselves was a large dome that sat in the tall grass some feet away.

"Brilliant!" Kei hiccupped between tears of laughter. "What is that, a temporal loop? How ever did you manage it without it duplicating us as well with each loop?"

"Good old cloning. When he bent for my book, I switched us out. I'm a novice at temporal shifts and the like. In fact I'm pretty sure I screwed that one up, but that's why I took the precaution of encasing it in a bubble of protective magic. Otherwise the loop might've become a rift that spread, which would have ended up swallowing the whole blessed dimension." He turned and began skipping away.

Kei and Masaru stopped laughing to exchange a glance.

"Wait…not _this _dimension, surely?" Kei yelped. "That was a risk? When are you going to start telling us these things in advance, huh?"

They ran to catch up to Ryota, who was pulling his spell book out.

* * *

Raiden watched the sun going down in shock. "Fucking wuss! He's scared to come after us!"

Aimi sat in the grass beneath a tree with enormous, far-reaching branches. "No, he's not. He wants us to get comfortable so that we'll let our guard down. He's going after the weakest first."

Raiden whirled to face her. "How do you know that?"

"Peeked into his mind when he was giving us his speech." She yawned.

"Huh. Well, I'm bored."

"Want to practice?"

"I suppose," he grouched with ill grace. "Was really looking forward to fighting him."

"Just because it's night doesn't mean he still won't." She hesitated, looking up at her brother's annoyed countenance. "He's going to target you when he comes after us, you know that right?"

Raiden glanced down at her, before resuming his stare across the small lake they were camped beside. "Me? Why?"

"Because of the two of us, you're weaker. And the way to get to someone strong is to go after their weakness. You're my weakness, Raiden. And Genjutsu is your weakness. He'll attack you with Genjutsu, and Izanagi or not, I don't know how I'll do against him. He knows of our connection. He might see some weak point in it that we don't know about yet."

This time Raiden sat down in front of her, thoughtfully pulling up a blade of grass. "So…what. You're worried we can't take him?"

"I'm just saying don't be so eager to fight him." Raiden nodded after a moment. She felt a wave of love for him sweep through her and she suddenly threw herself at where he sat, knocking him backward.

"Hey!"

"I worry about you," she said as she pushed her face into his bare chest. She bit him until he slapped at her head in pain. "Sometimes you're so stupid."

"_What!_ You little-"

"Let's practice some more." She sat up, straddling his waist.

Raiden studied the teeth marks on his chest before letting his chakra sweep over the area. "Fine."

But first he decided to get her back. Her shrieking laughter echoed around lake and surrounding mountains.

* * *

Seventeen hours, forty minutes and twenty-eight seconds after Izuna had stooped to pick up what he'd thought was a spell book, he staggered out of the odd bubble. He did so with a blast of every chakra type he possessed, Mangekyo Sharingan, and several exploding lightning-based jutsu. He turned swiftly to see if he would witness the same events, but no. Nothing remained except a scorched circle of grass and dirt.

He fell to the ground, clutching the rock, his only proof while he'd been trapped that he was, in fact, the original. None of the others had held a book, though they'd stooped to pick one up. It had taken him ages to realize they didn't pick one up, because one had never been there. It had been a Henge from the first. Which was also why there hadn't been hundreds of triplets as there had been Izunas; techniques weren't duplicated it seemed…they were only replayed, or reflected.

Actually he didn't know. If the jutsu were replayed then the Henge disquising the book should have been replayed, which meant the Izunas should all have been holding a rock. Ryota had likely performed his technique imperfectly.

Still, once he'd realized it was magic at work, and that it was time-based, he'd tried to escape to his dimension. He couldn't. He couldn't do anything but stand and watch, as the others stood and watched. He'd tried for hours upon hours, finally summoning all his strength and breaking free through brute force. He'd discovered a tiny, infinitesimal window between the loops where such a strategy might possibly work. Luckily it had, or he might still be trapped. Trapped until whenever that boy chose to release him.

He turned over with a groan and stared at an earthworm two inches from his face. It was the second day, afternoon. So far his tests were meeting with some truly note-worthy responses. The next time he went after the triplets he would make sure to keep his distance and use long-range attacks. That decided, he picked up the earthworm, slurped it down, and sat up.

Yosh! Brand new day. Next on his list was…

* * *

Kit lay beneath the shallow surface of a mud pool, breathing through the reed he had in his mouth.

Izuna had looked carefully, missing him at first because his chakra was so weak. He'd actually almost stumbled over him. He reached down without a word and yanked the reed away, which brought Kit up swinging. Izuna took the blows, waiting to see if Kit would call on the techniques and abilities he'd learned on this world. But it seemed Kit required time to concentrate and do those. Since Izuna was present, Kit opted to go with what he knew. Izuna shrugged mentally and moved to oblige him.

He fought hard, but the moves were common street garbage. Once in awhile he threw a jutsu that seemed to spring out of him by accident. The most that happened was his eyes turned red and a bit of Kyuubi chakra leaked out. Izuna had Kit down and out in under ten minutes.

-oOo-

Blondie wasn't under the tree when he showed up to drop Kit off. The Shinigami informed him that Blondie had woken up last night and promptly disappeared. "I see," he said. "Make sure Kit stays here under this tree. Anyone who disobeys will be incapacitated permanently. I will deal with Blondie."

And he did. He located and teleported to him immediately, surprising the running teen with an iron-clad Genjutsu.

But this time Blondie had Kyuubi ready to deflect. Izuna wrested control of the Bijuu from Blondie with extreme difficulty, and even when he'd managed it, Blondie snatched it right back and accessed all the demon's chakra without transforming. Izuna teleported before his head was swiped from his shoulders, reappeared and performed a few rapid hand seals. A sealing Kanji appeared on the palm of his hand. He slammed this on Blondie's back, which disrupted the chakra briefly. Long enough for him to grab the bigger kid by the waist of his buckskins and send him successfully to one of his dimensions.

Izuna leaned his hand on a tree trunk, catching his breath. Then he prepared to locate his next victim.

* * *

Yo-chan trotted along, through the underbrush of the forest, muzzle to the dirt. _rabbit, bugs, big wild scary thing, deer, deer, deer, rabbit, (?Lee-sensei where are you?), snake. Ooh. _

-oOo-_  
_

The snake in question slithered down the wide bole of the tree trunk, tasting the strange scent of the small orange pup that had frozen at the sight of it. The pup looked and behaved as other such mammals did, but its scent was of something that the snake should perhaps stay away from. The snake was hungry though, and the pup looked defenseless enough to eat. He drifted closer, tasting, tasting the strange, foreign scent of it. Was it or wasn't it food?

-oOo-

Yo-chan watched the snake slide closer, its tongue flickering madly. He gazed at the beady eye that stared at him in turn. The snake seemed to hesitate, then drifted even closer, rearing up slowly to tower over his head, positioning itself to strike.

He felt something in his chest, something he didn't know or understand. It was swelling, coiling, circling in his small body as he held perfectly still.

-oOo-

The pup's scent changed. The snake could see no fangs or any other telltale sign of impending defense, but it smelled the change just the same. After long moments wherein its hunger swayed it, it decided to retreat and move on.

-oOo-

The large green body of the snake undulated past Yo-chan's face. He stared as it rustled on, then waited a few more seconds until his baser instincts told him it was safe to move. The feeling inside him went away. He chuffed, shook his head, then put his muzzle to the ground again, sniffing in a small circle.

_Snake, snake, snake, big cat, snake, big cat peepee,(Lee, Lee-sensei where are you? I'm lost and hungry and scared, scared, scared!)._

He'd seen him run into this forest, so why couldn't he find him? He began trotting again, moving side to side as his keen nose sniffed and sniffed.

_(Lee! Lee-Sensei, I found you!)_

Catching the scent at last, Yo-chan gave a quick yipping bark and ran, his body making ungainly corkscrewing motions as it did so; baby that he was, he was unaccustomed to running, much less on all fours.

The bad man. There. Standing there, looking at him with his Papa-like face. His Mother had said he was the enemy and to run away if he came, but Lee-sensei's scent was right there. The bad man stood right in the path he wanted to take. Yo-chan sat back on his haunches, whimpering.

-oOo-

Izuna was thoughtful. The boy was an animal. A wild animal, and Tailed to boot. Tailed beasts had mystical powers. He couldn't be certain this cub's powers were like Kyuubi's….

It really was a puzzle. Tailed Beasts were chakra essentially. That they were originally one creature, the Juubi, transformed with Izanagi, mattered not. A tailed beast was one thing, a host for a beast something else. If trapped in a host, they were more or less kept out of the world, the world safe from them.

But this beast was host and demon in one body. Able to be human, yet clearly not. Izuna could personally think of nothing more dangerous. This boy, this creature, could grow up and know power such as had never - _ever- _walked the earth. Worse, it had Uchiha blood and Senju blood, which would see to it that once matured, it would be unstoppable.

It _had_ to die. Its parents would mourn, but it was for the best. Such a concentration of power, such an abomination and corruption of life could not be allowed to grow up.

Izuna carefully raised his hands, Mangekyo in place. He sensed chakra gathering in the creature, and decided to work quickly. He only had to put it in Genjutsu long enough to slay it.

-oOo-

Yo-chan licked his chops nervously, shifting on his haunches. He felt an urge to lay down in submission, but that would get him hurt, he knew. That feeling was back in his chest, coiling and twisting and making his tummy hurt. Then his thoughts went away.

-oOo-

Izuna spent some time working detail into the Genjutsu before he cast it. This was a mistake. He formed a hand seal to cast it finally and the creature fifty feet in front of him opened its mouth behind a small roar.

A black ball of condensed chakra shot out from Yo-chan. Izuna let it phase through him, but then Yo-chan was running.

If you could call it that.

The speed the creature used was just short of teleportation speed. Certainly faster than anything Izuna had seen. He consciously debated going after it.

No. Once he'd neutralized all those that it could go to for help, such as its parents, sisters, or Lee, then he would go after it. He wanted no interference when he did. He'd been observing the creature for the past hour, chakra masked. He'd seen the way it searched for a scent, sniffing along the ground, had seen the snake nearly solve his troubles, and the way the creature seemed to pick up the scent it was looking for. It had begun to run then, but not nearly as fast as he'd just seen. Yo-chan was going somewhere. Izuna would let him go for now.

Looking behind him, Izuna spotted a tree with odd purple fruit. Scanning Aimi's information, he saw that they were edible. He sat and ate a few as he went over who he'd yet to toy with.

* * *

Demon hopped along tree tops, Sasuke behind him and doing the same. He knew just about all the Narutos had performed _Hiraishin no Jutsu_ and transported themselves to their Sasukes. He wondered if Fem-Naruto had done it on Yo-chan. He knew the man had learned it successfully from his father.

_-Kyuubi?-_

_**-What is it.-**_

_-Mom was your host at one point, right?-_

_**-Don't remind me.-**_

_-Well…how come I came out normal? She told me I didn't develop any of your traits until after I was your host_. _I always thought…I don't know, that I was born this way. But she really lit into me soon after Aimi brought her, about how careless I'd been to let my kids be 'tainted' as she called it. And then yesterday, seeing Yo-chan like that…-_

There was a pause, as if Kyuubi was thinking. _**–What you ask is ludicrous. I was jailed in her after she was grown. She always had complete control over me. When The Fourth's seed took root and her pup grew within her, she was especially vigilant in seeing that not the smallest shred of my chakra touched it, touched you. You, in contrast, began mounting and siring kits before you had full control of me. Even now, when you mount that Uchiha, your guard slips sometimes. With Kushina it never slipped, ever. One would not have known she housed me, and indeed many didn't. She did not even converse with me as you do. I was nothing more than a tool she used when she needed to, and otherwise kept out of sight, like those blades you use for fighting.-**_

Demon received an image of a kunai, rusted and dull with disuse. He howled laughter at the bitter resentment and insult he sensed from Kyuubi. "What?" Sasuke asked from behind him.

"Nothing," he answered when he'd swiped an arm across his streaming eyes. He leapt faster through the trees. Sasuke kept pace.

* * *

"You have got to be kidding, are you insane?" Psycho-Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs. He angled his head backward, trying to twist out of Pyscho-Sasuke's grasp. "That Izuna guy could show up at any minute and all you want to do is screw? _Let go of me!"_

Pyscho-Sasuke's hands slipped as Naruto, sweaty, wrenched free at last. That was fine…he didn't mind chasing him. Naruto usually surrendered more dramatically if a chase had preceded their activities. He sauntered toward him, shifting his weight to first one foot then the other as Naruto did the same, backing away. He smiled. "You know you enjoy it. Why fight it?"

Psycho-Naruto had to conclude that Sasuke's smiles were some of the most frightening shit he'd ever seen. No lie. He felt a hard shudder rock him on his heels as he held up his hands and tried to reason with his tormentor. "Okay. Yes. I enjoy it. But why do you always have to be so creepy about it? Stalking me and putting that scary-ass smile on your face? Why can't you just be…normal about it?"

The young Uchiha stopped. "Normal how?"

Seeing that he'd stopped, Naruto stopped too. "Like why do you have to attack me? Why can't you just touch me normally? Why can't you…just…"

"What?"

The blue eyes looked aside. Naruto shuddered a little harder. "Just tell me how you feel. Stop fighting me and just say what you feel. Not…not everything has to be a war between us, Sasuke." His voice was low, nearly whispering the last part.

Sasuke felt gut-punched. But he studied Naruto's profile as he timidly closed the distance between them. How he felt? Naruto had never before been ready to admit to feelings, either on Sasuke's part or his own. He himself had decided never to say it for fear of losing Naruto afterward. But he _was _tired of fighting Naruto. He stopped and spoke to the bare tanned shoulder in front of him. "What do you want me to say?" he said slowly, carefully. "That I love you? Is that…what you want to hear?"

Naruto turned his head and locked gazes with Sasuke. Their noses were barely three inches apart. "Do you?"

Sasuke had led them both a merry chase through the years, but it was time to grow up. "…Yes."

A breath left Naruto, as if he'd been holding it. He'd won. He'd finally caught him, finally had everything he'd been working towards for the past four years. He had Sasuke. He looked away from him, at the ground in front of his feet, and gave a shaky nod. "Okay."

Sasuke touched the shoulder with a hand. It was warm and smooth. He knew Naruto's skin now. "And…you? Do you…?"

A strained laugh from Naruto. "Since The Valley of the End."

"That long?"

A nod. Then Naruto turned into him and met his eyes with a fierce, resolved look in his own. "I'm going to be a complete bitch right now and ask that you say the words to me. Outright."

Not sure what he was getting at, but happy for the face to face, Sasuke complied. "I love you."

Naruto wavered a moment, smiling and trying not to. Then he attacked Sasuke with his mouth, kissing him hard and grabbing at him.

Sasuke moaned audibly, something he didn't usually do. His hands tangled in the filthy blond hair, holding the head still as he devoured the soft, greedy mouth in turn- until he heard a rustling sound to his right.

-oOo-

Naruto turned to see what Sasuke was looking at and saw those twin girls, Fem-Naruto's kids. They were standing there, looking at them with wide-eyed, silent curiosity. "What-?"

Sasuke shoved Naruto back and launched himself at the girls.

"Sasuke, no!" Naruto yelled…but then he saw Izuna hidden behind them.

The girls blurred in opposite directions as Sasuke sailed over their heads, swinging the sword he'd smoothly drawn from his back. Lighting rippled along its length, to shoot in a crackling bar at where Izuna stood.

Naruto was watching all this, crouched to assist Sasuke if he saw an opening. It felt just like old times, with them fighting a common enemy. He prepared to draw on Kyuubi's chakra if he needed to, but lined up several jutsu to launch before that became necessary. Sasuke was working it, attacking like no tomorrow, and Izuna was evading and dodging, as yet still holding back. Naruto kept his eyes trained on them, slowly forming the Rasengan he'd finally learned to do single-handedly. If he and Sasuke could take this fucker out, they'd have the rest of the month to relax and recuperate. He just needed an opening.

A touch on his back had him jumping out of his skin. He whirled to find the twins there, looking up at him and at the Rasengan he'd nearly finished them with. He started to ask them what they were doing, but a yell from Sasuke had him spinning back around. He infused his Rasengan with more chakra, swelling it to Oodama Rasengan, and charged to his aid.

After a moment of hesitation, Emiko and Etsuko ran to assist.

-oOo-

Izuna didn't want to get serious yet. Not with any of them. He wanted to push them, to put their guard up, and hopefully instill some nice fear in them. Spiced with fear, he could then see how they dealt with this added stress. It looked like he'd have to reconsider that temporarily. Again. Bad enough he'd had to act on desperation with that temporal loop (even now a shiver worked through him at remembering those hours).

He'd followed the girls for several miles, observing their giggling chatter as they held hands and meandered through the countryside. Then they'd caught his scent and flashed away, using speed that almost matched their brother's. This time, he'd decided to give chase. They'd stopped abruptly behind a bush and he'd stopped a few dozen yards behind them, wondering what had halted their flight. He'd barely gotten a glimpse of two people before this young kinsman had come sailing at his head, sword drawn and Sharingan whirling.

This one fought well. Still, he was able to turn his own Chidori against him, having seen the move now from young Masaru. His yell brought the Jinchuuriki he'd evidently been traveling with, who had a jutsu attached to his hand that Izuna recognized from Aimi's information. He bent over backward to dodge, then leapt upward to make sure he wasn't being ambushed. Sure enough, three clones had been closing in on where he'd stood.

A screeching drew his eyes upward even as he was leaping, to find the girls coming at him with claws and fangs outstretched.

"Kuchiose no Jutsu!"

Psycho-Sasuke swooped from the left on a giant hawk, while Naruto and a massive toad lumbered toward him from the right. The toad had two huge swords of its own.

Izuna let the girls slam into him from above, suffering their deep bites and scratches, to vanish with them and throw them in the same dimension with Blondie. He'd already brought and left food for him.

* * *

"Shit," Naruto muttered gazing up at where Izuna had vanished. "He took those girls with him."

Sasuke sheathed his sword when a few minutes had gone by. He looked around. "He's not coming back. He's targeting the weak first."

Naruto nodded. "Gives us a chance to keep running. Come on." He started walking east, in the direction they'd been heading in.

Sasuke plopped in front of him. "Actually, I was thinking we could finish what we'd started."

"No."

"He's not coming back anytime soon…"

"I said no. We should move to another location in case he does come back." Naruto side-stepped him. He began walking again, quickly putting distance between them.

Sasuke watched him walking away. "Naruto," he called.

Nothing. Naruto walked a little faster.

"I love you!" he grimaced, sure that he'd been loud enough to be heard miles away. That was the last time he was going to say it, he promised himself.

Naruto stopped, turned, and made it back in two leaps. He looked Sasuke over from the corner of his eyes, head turned aside. "Well. Since you insist. We could leave clones as lookouts, I suppose. I'm topping this time, though."

"No, you're-"

Naruto silenced him with a brutal kiss. _I liked it better before I said those words, _Sasuke thought aggrievedly.

* * *

"Stop, please…can't…run anymore." Rasta-Sasuke weakly brushed Itachi's supporting arm from around his torso as he dropped to his hands and knees. This action sent such a flare of agony through him that he screamed. He tried to hold it in, but blood-flecked spit flew from between his clenched teeth as he voiced his pain.

Itachi knelt next to him. "Let me see."

There was a large, deep purple bruise on one side of Rasta-Sasuke's back. From the way his breathing wheezed in and out of him, and the way he coughed up blood, Itachi guessed that one of his broken ribs was pressing on a lung. Perhaps even puncturing it. He had no idea. He thought maybe if the lung was actually punctured that Rasta-Sasuke would be worse off, but he couldn't be sure.

Rasta-Sasuke was weakening. There could be internal bleeding. As much training as the boy had undergone during the past five months, Itachi still had to remind himself that Rasta-Sasuke was not a trained ninja. He looked at the way the kid bit his lip in pride to stifle his moans and put a hand on his head.

"Get off me." Rasta-Sasuke brushed the hand away, then winced as the motion wrenched his side. "I hate you, just leave me alone."

Itachi removed his hand sadly. "He'll come for you."

"Let him. I can't fight him like this. At least I'll be under the tree with Blondie." He coughed up another wad of bloody mucus and spat it out.

"You would quit and give Izuna reason to say the present generation of Uchiha are weak?"

"I would save my own ass," Rasta-Sasuke mimicked Itachi's proper tone. "I don't give a fuck about the Uchiha or how they're perceived by some dick who should be dead, got it? I care about me. My own rosy red ass, not anyone else unless it's Blondie. Let Izuna show up."

"Well, I _do _care. And I won't let you quit just because Izuna is stronger. I believe you have it in you to be a good person, Rasta-Sasuke. You're better than this."

Rasta-Sasuke slowly turned his head in shock, looking at Itachi with outraged eyes. "You-" He struggled to sit up, keeping one arm clamped to his side. "Who the _fuck _do you think you are, huh? Look at you, trying to protect me and reform me with your fucking kindness. Newsflash, you _fucking prick_, I don't need your help, I don't need reforming, and I don't need _you._" He made it to his feet, swung away from Itachi's frowning eyes, and nearly walked right in to Izuna.

"Glad to hear that," Izuna said pleasantly. "How's your side?" Instead of waiting for an answer, he slammed his fist in the exact place he'd hit Rasta-Sasuke before. Rasta-Sasuke collapsed in a near faint, his mouth working soundlessly, trying to scream. Izuna bent down and spoke in his ear, while keeping an eye on where Itachi was getting to his feet. "Why don't you try telling me to fuck off now? Hm? What's wrong, can't you breathe?" He lifted his hand to deliver another blow to the damaged ribs.

A jet of black flames Izuna recognized narrowly missed him as he hastily ducked. He looked up to find Itachi walking toward him.

Itachi met Izuna's Sharingan with his Mangekyo in place…and successfully cast Tsukuyomi. He put all his knowledge and skill behind the Genjutsu, using added subtleties he'd learned from his mother to strengthen his hold on Izuna's powerful mind. It was true that Hiroko, or any of his other children who were skilled enough, could break out of this technique, as could anyone who shared his blood…but Izuna wasn't of his blood.

-oOo-

_Izuna gazed down at Itachi from where he was tied to the wooden cross. "I know this technique. I assure you, I will outlast your three days of torture."_

_"Yes, I'm sure you could," Itachi remarked as he drew a sword. In this Genjutsu he was clothed and armed as he would have been if he were back in Konoha. "How do you feel about 100 years of torture?"_

_Izuna's smile froze. "No one has the skill or chakra to alter time to that degree in this Genjutsu."_

_Itachi thoughtfully looked down at his sword. "It's a pity you never met Uchiha Mikoto properly. She was an exceptional kunoichi of great, great skill. The complexities she was capable of with Genjutsu were nothing short of terrifying. Even so, my daughter Hiroko, whom you've also never met_ _more's the pity, can alter time within her own modified version of Tsukuyomi. She can make five seconds seem like a thousand years. It's not even true Tsukuyomi, since she doesn't possess Mangekyo. Imagine what she could do if she did. Makes you grateful it's only me you're up against, I daresay. Much has changed since your days, Izuna. Allow me to demonstrate."_

_Izuna did sweat freely then as Itachi came toward him with that sword._

-oOo-_  
_

Rasta-Sasuke saw Izuna freeze where he stood. Itachi also stood without moving. He considered making a break for it, but he honestly could not move. He idly wondered if he was dying as his vision dimmed.

Apparently not. He came to his senses again to find himself being carried on Itachi's back. The way Itachi leapt at top speed through the trees had his side shrieking in protest, and him choking back blood that kept coming from his mouth. Then he just seemed to go numb.

From his upside-down position he saw that the sun was going down. The orange-ish rays made the trees they were traveling through glow weirdly. He felt like he was floating, and yet he could feel the strain in Itachi's body as he labored to travel as swiftly as he possibly could. Where was he going?

Oh hell, he was passing out again…

* * *

Izuna lay in the dirt where he'd fallen, unmoving. The sun set, and still he did not move.

* * *

Itachi stopped after full dark, sure now that Izuna had not somehow survived Tsukuyomi with his faculties intact. His left eye was noticeably weaker now, but he could still see from it. He set Rasta-Sasuke down as gently as he could near a stream and trickled a handful of water onto his face. Rasta-Sasuke came around with a mumbled curse. Itachi fed him water from his cupped hand, supporting his head. The boy passed right back out again.

Standing, Itachi did a quick mental check of himself. His chakra was depleted from the Genjutsu and from projecting 100 years instead of just three days, but he thought he had enough left. Of all the Uchiha, he'd been the only one skilled enough to copy _Hiraishin no Jutsu_. The Narutos had all had no trouble, but the Uchiha…well, no matter. He performed it now and took himself, and Rasta-Sasuke, to the very weakest of his children.

* * *

Kei nearly died at seeing his father appear beside him, carrying Rasta-Sasuke. It was the third time in the space of twenty-four hours that he'd had the living daylights scared out of him in this manner.

Ryota had a protective shield up around himself and his brothers instantly, but dropped it at seeing it was his dad. "Sweet!" he whistled. "What brings you here, Dad?"

"We're _saved_," Kei moaned fervently.

Ryota rounded on him. "I thought we were doing all right," he said, his feelings hurt. "I kept Izuna off our backs, didn't I?"

"I placed the formula for _Hiraishin no Jutsu_ on Kei, in case you three ever needed me. I know you are always together, and correctly assumed you would find your brothers first, Ryota."

"Oh," Kei and Ryota chorused.

Masaru helped his father lay Rasta-Sasuke out in their little camp. "What happened?"

"Izuna. He needs healing." Itachi watched as Ryota came forward and closed his eyes in concentration.

"Man, he's really messed up inside," Ryota commented after a moment. "Gonna need some help with this." He held his hand out to Masaru, and placed his other hand on Rasta-Sasuke. Masaru gasped as energy was sucked from him, but it was quick. Ryota had Rasta-Sasuke right as rain in no time.

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke opened his eyes and blinked around at them. He sat up and put a hand to his side in bewilderment. "What'd you do to me?" he asked Itachi.

"My son healed you with magic. Come, we're leaving."

"I'm not going with you anywhere," Rasta-Sasuke said as he stood up. "We can just go our separate ways."

"Izuna will come after you again. You're no match for him. We should stick together."

"I don't care if he beats me. Least I'll be with Blondie and out of this stupid training." Rasta-Sasuke twisted his torso from side to side, testing his new pain-free status.

"Yeah, Blondie was caught, but he's not under the tree," Ryota piped up. "We went by there to tease whoever's been caught. All we found was Kit."

Rasta-Sasuke paused mid-twist. "He's probably off looking for me."

"Nope." Ryota seemed diabolically happy to be giving this news. "We asked Kit what happened to Blondie since the Shinigami told us he'd been captured too, and he said that _Izuna _said that he'd had to put Blondie in one of his dimensions for insubordination. Said anyone who couldn't stay under the tree with the Shinigami would be treated similarly."

In the silence following this statement, Kei pulled on his father's hand. "Can we come with you, Dad?"

Itachi nodded. "I believe Izuna means for us to find and help each other. Come along, then."

Masaru and Kei immediately moved to follow their father. Ryota didn't. "I want to have fun bugging Izuna. I don't want to be all protected and stuff."

Itachi had to smile. "Your love for mischief could almost be mistaken for bravery."

Kei frowned. "Ryota, come on, don't be stupid. Stay with us."

"Nah, you go on ahead," he said. He went to sit by their small camp fire and opened his spell book. "I'll be fine."

-oOo-

Kei and Masaru left sadly with their Father. Rasta-Sasuke, after a moment of staring at Itachi's back (and considering the fact that Blondie would not be around to find and help him if he ran into Izuna alone) trudged reluctantly behind them.

Masaru glanced over his shoulder. Ryota was huddled over his book, reading by firelight. He looked so small and alone.

Itachi kept walking, but he was aware of both Kei and Masaru looking back at their brother often. Finally Masaru stopped, then Kei. He hid his smile of amusement when he turned to ask them what was wrong.

"I'm staying with Ryota," Masaru said awkwardly. "I can't just leave my brother like that."

"Me too, I'm staying." Kei looked both resigned to the loss of his father's comforting presence and relieved to be joining his brother again.

Itachi studied his two sons. "A wise decision. Be careful, all of you."

Kei ran and hugged Itachi around his middle. Masaru looked aside, in case a similar gesture would be expected of him. Rasta-Sasuke mimed gagging.

* * *

Izuna had only the barest shred of his mind left to him. This tiny seed was what fed him the will to survive. Much of his mind was scrambled still. Sanity and full awareness were a long way off.

As yet he was unable to move or function, but he finally blinked, seeing his bug's eye view of the dirt he was sprawled face down in.

-oOo-

He slept, woke, and pissed where he lay. Maybe it was the second day, maybe the third, but a grasshopper landed in front of his face and he used was little strength he had to drop his hand heavily onto it. He could feel its startled struggling beneath his palm, but he couldn't do anything beyond breathe painfully at the exertion of trapping it. A long time later, hours in fact, he found it in him to arduously drag his hand towards his face, still clutching the grasshopper, which had stopped moving some time ago.

Near his mouth, he opened his hand a bit and the grasshopper proved to be alive. Its shiny green eyes looked at him, and it's feelers brushed busily at his lips. Izuna bit the head off with a crunch, ignored the bitter ooze of its insides on his tongue, and managed to chew the rest of the grasshopper up and swallow with difficulty.

This paltry nourishment gave him the strength to call up his chakra. He sent a concentrated burst of it into the ground, which cracked beneath his head. Long minutes later, he first heard, then felt cold water swelling to the surface from beneath the ground. He weakly turned his head into it and drank in large, greedy gulps.

He slept, completely spent of energy.

* * *

Raiden tossed and turned in his sleep. His hormones, the urges he kept under strict control when he was awake, were under no such hindrance when he was asleep. His body twisted in frustration, hot and aching and in need of relief.

His arm brushed something soft. His nose caught the scent of a female. Instantly, it seemed, he'd pounced, still half asleep and horny as hell. He buried his face in the soft female, sniffing deeply. His mouth watered and he opened his jaws to bite. A low growl rumbled in his throat.

The female turned, murmuring in slumber. He knew this female, he realized. She was strong yet submissive. He leaned over her face and sniffed at her mouth.

-oOo-

Aimi woke to find that she was being kissed thoroughly, hungrily and with someone's tongue. She shrieked, turning her head away, but she was held still with claws that dug into the meaty part of her arm. Then she opened her eyes and saw that it was her own brother.

There was a quick surge of pleasure in her that he loved her this much, a feeling that made her allow the kiss for a second. But then the fact that it was her brother, that it was _Raiden, _brought her fully and completely awake and she pushed him hard.

He bit her. He sank his teeth into her neck and she could feel his chakra pump strongly through her, sweeping through her body to demand submission of her. Frightened badly, she took this opportunity to connect with him quickly and snap his senses awake.

-oOo-

Raiden blinked, not sure what he was seeing. He realized he had something in his mouth, realized it was meat, then flesh, then that he was biting someone. He pulled back with a gasp and saw his sister's wide eyes looking back at him. Then his eyes tracked to where he had his claws digging into her arm, drawing blood. Lastly, he registered the painful erection between his legs, and how even now the taste of his sister's blood in his mouth caused it to throb in longing.

He stared at the moonlit surface of their lake, momentarily too stunned to move. He heard his parent's voices drift from the archives of his childhood memories.

_'Boy, if you ever touch your sister like that…'_

_'If you ever think about touching your sister like that I'll hurt you, Raiden.'_

He suddenly sprang away from Aimi, stumbling backward as his dick wilted in fright. "Oh-" his fangs made speaking uncomfortable. He took a moment to revert to normal. "Oh god. I- Aimi…"

Aimi sat up, feeling her neck. She made her chakra heal the punctures and her arm, before she got up and slowly walked away. The night swallowed her up shortly afterward.

Raiden was left staring down at where she'd sat. He dropped to his knees, his mind still struggling with his shock. Then shame and fear had him covering his face with both hands. _What's wrong with me? Oh, god…_

He reached his mind out to the Kyuubi in his father. _-Kyuubi?-_

_**-Yes, Kitling.-**_

_-Something…something's wrong with me.-_

_-__**Are you ill?-**_

_-No, but…but this stuff…the stuff I got from you. I can't control it. It's making me do things, like with Hisa…I touched Aimi.-_

_**-I do not see the problem. You need to mate. You will continue to feel the need until the tides of your rut recede, which will likely take several months. Your den mate would be ideal; she is strong enough and immune to your bite. The pups you breed with her…-**_

Raiden hastily disconnected his mind from Kyuubi's, actually vomiting into the palm of his hand at the images the demon had called up. He breathed heavily, sweating and miserable with terror and his lingering arousal. "I need help."

* * *

Kiba jerked awake at the rapid pounding on his door. Sai stirred beside him in bed, and Akamaru could be heard woofing out in the living room. He crawled out of his warm bed with a hiss at his chilly room and went to see who it was.

The smell identified him long before Kiba reached the door, but he was still surprised to see Naruto's kid on his doorstep. "What."

Raiden bowed quickly. "I'm sorry to bother you. I kind of need your advice."

Kiba stepped aside.

-oOo-

Raiden allowed Akamaru to sniff at his crotch with interest only because he didn't want to do anything to piss Hisa's dad off. He had an idea that though he'd been forgiven for biting her, he wasn't generally well-liked by any of the Inuzuka.

Rubbing sleep from his eyes and giving a jaw-creaking yawn, Kiba gestured to the couch. Raiden sat, and he took the armchair opposite him. "Advice on what?"

Raiden didn't know where to begin. He was loathe to bring up Hisa, but couldn't see a way not to. "About the biting thing. I can't control it and it's really scaring me."

Kiba was more awake now. "Explain. In detail."

"Okay. Well, I usually feel like…feel excited and shit during the day but I can sort of ignore it by talking to someone or by training hard. It doesn't go away, but I deal. At night, though, I get these weird dreams about f-..about…stuff. Sometimes I wake up and I'm biting my own arm. This time I woke up and I was…I was biting my sister. And I…I wanted to…" But he couldn't say the rest, too ashamed of himself to continue. He looked at the floor, his face hot with embarrassment. "I don't know if I can be around her anymore."

Kiba studied the kid. He was sure Naruto had probably gone through something similar at some point. "Why aren't you asking your dad for help? He probably understands what you're going through."

Raiden went white. "He'd kill me. And Pop would kill what was left of me."

"They'd understand what you did was an accident."

"No. And anyway I already tried asking Kyuubi. He told me to…ugh, he told me to mate with my s-"

Kiba watched the way the kid gagged and choked where he sat. "Well, I don't know what to tell you. It's not something you control. It comes and goes. You fuck –excuse me, _have_ _sex_- when you need to, or else isolate yourself. Once it's happened a few times, it'll get easier for you to function while the rut is on you. Is this your first time?"

"I guess. Yeah."

Kiba shook his head. "Well, you're in for a rough time, then. First rut's always the hardest. The need to screw just about supersedes everything else. The unmarried men in my clan have to be confined or else they're allowed to be with select females among us. My mom set me loose on those females when I was around your age, bout the time my own rut first hit."

"But what am I supposed to _do_? There's nobody like that where I am and its getting worse."

"Just keep doing what you're doing. And sleep alone. Nothing else to be done, I'm afraid, though you _will_ need to fuck someone at some point. You got a girlfriend?"

Raiden was distracted from thoughts of finding a cave to sleep in. "Uh…well, there's someone…but they're mad at me."

Kiba yawned again, standing up to signal that he was done talking. "Give them flowers. I know chics like that. Hinata certainly did."

Raiden thought of Wyatt and suddenly wanted to cry. He missed him. Thanking Kiba for his time, Raiden folded himself outside the village, then Boomed back to the training world.

* * *

Wyatt felt him. He always felt him, but this time he was close. He turned to look behind himself, staring into the night. Raiden was approaching, but slowly, as if unsure of himself.

When he finally came into view, Wyatt had to stop himself from going to him. He missed him so much…just the sight of Raiden was enough to make him want to throw his anger aside and run to him. He wanted to feel Raiden's crushing hugs, and his devouring kisses, and hear his wicked giggle whenever they kissed. He could remember the feel and smell of his spiky hair, and how smooth his face was. It was a physical ache.

But so was the memory of him finding some girl attractive enough to forget him. "What do you want?" he asked when Raiden stopped in front of him.

-oOo-

Raiden nervously twisted the flower he'd brought in his hands. It was a huge exotic thing, purple, red and turquoise. The petals on it curved outward so that minus the stem, the whole flower was bigger than his head. He'd plucked it from a field of similar flowers with an idea that maybe it was pretty. He thrust it out at Wyatt now. "Here. For you."

Wyatt took it and examined it. He looked up at Raiden. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"I don't know," Raiden shrugged. "I thought you might like it."

There was a painful silence, as Raiden stared at Wyatt, and Wyatt stared at the flower. Raiden noticed that Wyatt had chosen a mountainous terrain as his place to await Izuna, if he was indeed waiting. There was a large house made of seamlessly put together stones complete with light and the smell of food behind him. Sometimes Raiden envied his friend's use of magic.

"Wyatt, I'm sorry I hurt you."

Wyatt looked up at the quiet words. "I know. But it doesn't change how I feel."

Raiden hung his head sadly. "So you'll never forgive me?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want me to take you home?" His muscles clenched in defense at the possible answer.

"…No."

"No?"

"No."

"Oh. How come?"

"Because I made a promise to you. And just because I'm mad at you and you hurt my feelings doesn't mean I'll let you fight Izanami and whatever she's bringing alone."

Raiden stepped as close to Wyatt as the other boy would allow, positively drowning in the need to touch him. "Wyatt, _please. _I need you."

"I need you too. But I can't stop thinking about what happened." He stepped away from Raiden's reaching hands.

Raiden dropped his hands. He didn't know what else to say. He supposed he should be grateful that Wyatt didn't want to leave. That Wyatt had said he needed him too. Hugging these meager comforts close to his heart, he turned and folded away.

-oOo-

Wyatt let out a breath. If Raiden had remained much longer, he would have thrown himself at him. He looked at the flower again and this time he smiled. Stupid Raiden, giving a boy a flower. But he whispered a spell that effectively suffused the plant with invincibility. He drew his sword and tested the spell by whacking at the flower's broad petals. Excalibur made a loud clanging sound, but the flower remained unharmed. Good. He planned to keep it. He slid the long stem, which was as thick as his forearm, down the sheathe that held his sword so that now the sword and the flower both were visible over one shoulder.

* * *

It was another day before Izuna found the strength to actually turn on his back. This allowed him to shoot a passing bird of some kind out of the sky with a weak bolt of lightning. It took him another two days to crawl to where it fell. He stopped and rested often, sometimes sleeping for long hours. The knowledge that his name was Uchiha Izuna came and went, but for the most part he was devoid of thought, operating on the instinct to survive. By the time he reached the bird, it was covered in ants. He put a hand on the thing and called up a feeble flame that singed the ants and feathers both.

The meat was half raw, but he took a bite anyway, chewing painstakingly. He left nothing, chewing the putrid intestines along with the bloody innards. He sucked the bones clean. Consumption of the bird took him the better part of yet another day, but once done it left him with enough energy to sit up.

He crawled back to the shallow pool of water he'd created, now muddy, and drank. As he wiped the back of one shaking hand slowly across his mouth, he recalled Itachi and Tsukuyomi. From there, the rest of his memories and his sense of self returned in fits and bursts. By nightfall he knew exactly who he was, where he was, and why he was here. Spent again, he slept.

-oOo-

It took him ten days to recover fully, the last three of which he'd spent eating heavily and meditating. He ate and drank, stocking up on energy. He estimated that nearly half the thirty days were up. On the morning of the tenth day he opened his eyes and viewed the rising sun. He breathed deeply, appreciative of his return to sanity and health. Then he went over his plan to work his way up to the strongest by dealing with the weakest first.

He'd intended to toy with them and increase the level of his attacks over time. So far that plan had gotten him beaten by even the youngest Uchiha among them. He had no hard feelings. They were family, after all. He could feel nothing but pride in their strength. But time was wasting, and he had lessons to teach.

Izuna stood and activated his Sharingan. Play time was over.


	55. Run, baby, Run pt 2

A/N: Forgive the typos, please.

* * *

Chapter 55

Run, baby, run - pt. 2

"You're kidding. She's never come once?"

"Nope. Not for lack of trying on my part, either. Kage-Gaara left before I could have a session with him, or I would have asked him for advice. I know he's some kind of sex expert."

"But Udon…I mean, shit, you've been married to her for months now. What are you doing wrong?"

"Well, that's unfair of you. Almost as soon as I married her, we were dropped on this godforsaken rock. Not exactly the best place to cultivate romance. As for what I'm doing wrong, I don't know. She never says my touch displeases her…what about Hiroko? Do you please her easily?"

"Damn straight, I please my woman! She was resistant to it the first time we had sex, but I know how to handle my shit. Have you had this issue with other women?"

Udon made a movement to push his glasses up, forgetting that his glasses had broken beyond repair sometime during the second month. "No. None of my past girlfriends complained, but…well they weren't virgins, either. They sort of…found their own pleasure?"

"Ha! That's priceless, you letting the chics ride you. Why am I not surprised? Udon, man, listen. Try-"

Udon was punched hard enough for Konohamaru to hear the crack of his bones snapping. Konohamaru himself would have looked to see where his friend landed, but he was too busy ducking the leg that swiped toward his face. The passage of it above whipped loose strands his hair around his head.

-oOo-

Izuna saw that Udon was out of commission for the moment and went after Konohamaru. He did not bother with what Aimi did or did not know about him. He relied on his own deductive skills.

Surprising, that Konohamaru was able to break out of the Genjutsu that followed. He broke out of the next and the next, which led him to believe the man had spent some time specifically learning that particular art. Strange that he did not cast a Genjutsu in turn. Why learn one aspect of the art and not the other? He debated putting one on Konohamaru that would be unbreakable, but he was here to teach, not maim. He continued to analyze him.

Rasengan. Also interesting. Powerful fighter, able to withstand pain quite well. Not bad with the Ninjutsu, either. What was this?

-oOo-

While Izuna was briefly distracted by the swarm of naked women that squealed toward him, Udon placed his fingertips on the ground and sent his chakra toward him. Izuna leapt out of the horde of women at feeling something grab his foot. He came down in the exact place Udon had predicted; he'd spent the last few minutes analyzing his movements. Izuna was stabbed through the lung by the clone Udon had waiting. The clone held on as Izuna tried to phase, held him long enough for Konohamaru to ram a Rasengan into Izuna's midsection.

-oOo-

Izuna disappeared, Konohamaru saw, with his yell lingering in the air. Udon's clone vanished with a _pop_. He saw the real Udon lying not far away and ran to him. "How bad you hurt?"

Udon's eyes widened a fraction of a second before Konohamaru was knocked out. He and Udon both regained consciousness with the Shinigami and Kit, beneath the tree.

* * *

Madara watched the stars fade high up on the tower. Morning would be coming. He knew it was nearly time. The planets would be in alignment for the space of a few hours, no more. Care would need to be taken, great care. He looked down from the tower, at the army he'd amassed. The land was black with their number.

Soon. Very soon.

He took the food one of the aliens flew up to him and sat down to begin his wait.

* * *

Shouta happened to be squatting and taking a shit when the faintest rustle behind him alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone. He feigned ignorance as he used a handful of leaves to wipe his ass. He twisted to do this, pretending to inspect the smear on the leaves. He even struck up whistling a little tune. From the corner of his eye he saw a pair of red eyes lying in wait in the tall grass fifteen feet away.

Without warning he threw the leaves toward Izuna, who recoiled. That was all the time Shouta needed to have rock spears flying toward the man, while he sank into the earth.

-oOo-

Izuna remained still, having let the spears pass through him. One could always tell the difference between fighting an Uchiha and fighting someone else, he marveled. He spread his senses wide in search of Shouta. He hoped, by remaining out in the open, to lure the boy into another attack, at which point he would finish him.

A low rumbling sound, a tremor beneath his feet… A shadow that suddenly covered the land. He turned and saw a veritable tsunami of earth, complete with uprooted trees and boulders tumbling through it, rolling towards him.

-oOo-

Shouta watched Izuna leaping away, before masking his chakra and running in the opposite direction. He didn't get far.

Izuna landed and ran after him, dodging the large hands made of earth that sprouted from the ground to grab at him from Shouta's command. The boy could perform such jutsu while running? Nice. He caught up to him and dragged Shouta to a halt by a handful of his hair.

Shouta's golden eyes glared, but he'd spent most of his chakra on that wave. He cast a Genjutsu that only made Izuna blink.

-oOo-

Udon and Konohamaru handed Shouta some water when he was dropped off at the tree. Kit was sleeping.

* * *

Izuna was unable to sense Morino Ibiki. Anywhere. He spent some time on this, concentrating, but eventually set him aside in favor of someone else.

-oOo-

Lee was sound asleep. Yo-chan was curled up by his chest. He was quite comfortable in Lee-sensei's arms.

He'd found Lee-sensei a week ago. By then he'd been nearly dead with hunger and thirst from running for three days. Lee had wept at seeing him, hugged him, kissed him and squeezed him. All very nice and good, yes. He was happy. Lee fed him well and then he was even happier. Only when he was satiated and had been cooed over some more did he finally return his body to normal. He was safe. Lee-sensei wouldn't let anything happen to him.

But having remained in his beast state for so long, he found that some of the beast-like qualities stayed with him. He woke up suddenly at smelling something unpleasant. Another sniff had him whimpering softly. It was the bad man.

A quick bite to Lee-sensei's arm brought him awake, but a huge fireball was already coming at them.

-oOo-

Izuna squinted, but could not see his targets. He sensed the boy up ahead and running, but not Lee.

"Watch me, Gai-sensei, and see how I've capitalized on my springtime of youth! _Keimon_: Open!"

Izuna whirled at hearing this roared right behind him, and was in time to run far enough away to dodge whatever attack was coming.

But none came.

None except Lee himself, that is. He was faster than Yo-chan, but that was all Izuna registered. Blows rained on him from every side, and the strength behind them was horrifying. He let some pass through him, but he couldn't just phase continuously. He tried escaping to his dimension, but was pulled back and thrown down, where more blows were starting to break bones now.

He was forced to look at Aimi's information at last. At seeing the amount she had on this guy, who was her teacher no less, Izuna felt like killing himself. He studied the salient points:

Unable to mold chakra. Incapable of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Can open the Eight Gates. Incredibly strong. Crazy.

Worse, while he'd been able to more or less follow Rasta-Sasuke's speed from four gates open, apparently anything higher than that was beyond him. He couldn't see Lee at all, and whenever he opened his dimension to enter it, he was yanked back. Once he did manage to enter it, but Lee had darted in and thrown him right back out of the closing opening, managing to escape himself, and _that had never happened before._

He'd copied Hiroto's rock jutsu and used a few tricky moves himself or he might have died. Lee was moving too fast to cast a Genjutsu at.

Finally Lee came to a stop, breathing painfully and barely able to stand. He looked down at Izuna's weakly coughing form with pride. "This first round goes to me, Izuna-senpai! Recover quickly and we will enjoy round two!"

Izuna watched as some odd hand signal was given, with Lee's thumb pointing upward. He heard a soft pattering of running paws and turned his head with an effort. Yo-chan was galloping toward him, making that odd corkscrewing motion, tongue lolling. He could do nothing but lay there as the little fiend bent, grabbed his ear between his sharp teeth, and ripped it right off. He scampered back to Lee with this prize in his mouth, his nine stubby tails waggling in delight. Lee scooped him up and whisked him away.

* * *

Raiden used the same cave he'd nearly died in when he'd fixed Hisa. He stayed there a few days. From time to time he tracked Izuna, but he kept his seventh sense firmly on his sister at all times. He was ready to fold to her the instant she was in trouble.

He barely slept anymore, not after waking one night and finding that he'd folded in his sleep. Right to Aimi's side, who was sleeping under a bush. He'd flown away, flown leagues and leagues until he'd dropped from the sky in exhaustion.

But now he thought maybe he should go back. He could sense Izuna darting around the world, taking people out. Soon enough he'd come after them, and he'd just as soon not have the man catch him or Aimi without the other.

He looked down at his hands. They were shaking. His blood hummed and sizzled, and his cock was in the state of semi-arousal it stayed in these days. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

-oOo-

Aimi didn't turn at feeling her brother appear beside her. She sat in the shallow water at the edge of the lake, watching fish nudge her toes questioningly. Raiden didn't say anything either. His sudden appearance scared away the fish.

She'd felt so strange when she'd walked away from him that night. She'd gone to the far side of the lake and sat staring at the water. She'd heard when her brother Boomed. He'd gone to Konoha, she'd sensed, to Hisa's father. She could imagine her brother maybe talking to him. That made sense.

A chill had made her hug herself then. Her brother had kissed her. That had been bad. She knew it was bad and wrong, but that was before the bite. She'd woken him up when he'd bitten her…right before his chakra had worked itself into her body and stroked her nerves to a throbbing state of arousal. She'd gotten up and walked away, feeling strange and shivery. And she'd wanted to go back and let her brother kiss her again.

Raiden didn't come back to her and she'd opted to stay away from him. Now he was sitting beside her. Was it really wrong to feel excited that he was back? If not, it was definitely wrong the way her nipples tightened and her budding breasts ached. It had to be wrong to notice that their hands were less than an inch apart in the water.

The water lapped around her waist, cooling the sudden heat she felt. She stared at her bare feet, her face burning, and her heart suddenly racing. She hadn't felt like this when Choukichi kissed her. Aimi dug her fingers into the silt beneath the surface of the water. She swallowed.

-oOo-

Raiden had expected his sister to screech and scream at him, but she only sat there with her head bowed. Her hair hid her face. The ends of the strands trailed in the water, floated in it.

Well, good. If she could ignore what he did, then so could he. Better that way. Obviously she wasn't mad at him or she wouldn't be sitting so quietly. Aimi did not hold in her anger. She shared it freely, so if she was quiet, then she was fine with the mistake he'd made. Still…

"I'm sorry."

She nodded, and that made him feel even better. Some of his guilt evaporated.

Things weren't completely back to normal with them, though. He tried to talk to her later, to joke around, but she was unusually subdued. She stared at him for long periods of time, and her look was nothing like any previous look she'd ever given him. When they linked and tried to practice, he'd been stunned at the amount of love he'd felt from her. Her entire being pulsed with it, and with a sudden hunger that frightened him. He'd extricated himself from the link quickly.

"Are you okay, Aimi?"

"Yes." She still stared at him. It was starting to seriously creep him out.

"You sure? You've been weird."

"I'm fine, Raiden."

Raiden chewed his bottom lip, looking at her carefully. "It's not…is it what happened? That night? It was an accident."

"I know."

"You mad?"

"No."

"Then what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying."

Aimi considered trying to explain that she wouldn't mind if her brother had another accident with her. In fact, she wanted him to. But she couldn't. She would be in so much trouble. And her feelings scared her a bit. It was Raiden, for God's sake. She stood there staring at his fair eyes and just said nothing.

* * *

Restored, Izuna came out of his dimension running. He jumped at the individual he'd chosen next, slamming into Kenji. There was a brief scuffle, wherein Kenji sprinkled some kind of crushed powder on him. He sent the fallen young man to his dimension and turned to face his twin, who had just walked back into their camp.

Kenta saw the combustible mineral powder Kenji had salvaged from a cave coating Izuna and launched a fireball. Izuna ducked, but a stray spark landed on him, and he went up like a firework, his howls deafening. Kenta watched as Izuna faded away. It hurt him that Kenji had been taken, but he was ready when Izuna came back.

Izuna could honestly say that this one, Kenta, was a true credit to the name Uchiha. He fought the younger man with Sharingan only, but even so Kenta pushed him hard. And Kenta strategized brilliantly. His prowess with Genjutsu was outstanding, and his Ninjutsu attacks were superbly executed. Short of Izuna resorting to Mangekyo or to treating Kenta like an enemy, it was a draw. He finally stepped back and gave Kenta a small bow, signaling that he could leave.

Kenta stood where he was, refusing to run or turn his back. It was Izuna who left, proud to have met such a kinsman. He conceded round one to the grey-eyed man.

-oOo-

Still unable to sense Ibiki, Izuna reasoned that all the weak ones were now out of the way. He would go after Kenta again, but not now. Now he would focus on the strong ones. For that he activated his Mangekyo. He would need to be quick. Prolonged use would weaken his sight.

* * *

"So. You and Hitsugaya do the nasty yet, 'Sam?" Akiko regarded her sister with bright black eyes.

Akane chimed in, rolling over to rest her chin in her hand. "Yeah, what's he like in bed?"

Asami continued to stare up at the clouds scudding by. "Our love is pure."

"The _fuck!_"

"I don't believe you."

"Is he impotent?"

"Is he small?"

"How-

"It's my choice," Asami said, cutting off their questions. "I want to wait until I know how he feels about me."

Akiko and Akane exchanged glances. Akane rolled closer to say, "Everybody can see how he feels about you. Since when do you play the romantic virgin in need of a declaration?"

"Since I've fallen in love with him."

That shut the other two up. For two seconds.

"I'm never giving my heart to anyone," Akiko announced. "As long as Ikkaku keeps giving me good dick, I don't need his love."

"And I was perfectly willing to screw Ibiki before he'd told me what I already knew. Some men just aren't the type to say it, 'Sam."

Asami sat up. "This is different. If he tells me…I'm willing to go back with him."

"To Soul City or wherever?" Akiko gasped. "Dad would shit!"

"'Sam…" Akane felt bereft already. "Cut the melodrama, you can't go live with a bunch of spirits."

"I want to be with him. Forever. Toushirou's the one for me, I know it."

Just then Hitsugaya himself appeared, coming up the hill the harpies had staked out for themselves. He stopped in front of Asami and held out a hand. "I've come to check on you. I was worried." His aquamarine eyes glowed beautifully in the sunlight. "I've missed you."

Asami smiled sweetly…right before her eyes turned red. "Get him, girls!"

-oOo-

Izuna couldn't decide what was worse: that they'd seen through his Henge the moment they'd laid eyes on it or that they seemed to take such offense to the fact that he'd used Hitsugaya as his model. He decided it didn't really matter, though he should have expected an elementary jutsu like that would be seen through.

What mattered was that he couldn't separate the three of them and his Genjutsu, all very powerful, were countered and broken out of. Some were cast his way as well, and Akane managed to snare him several times.

Asami and her medical jutsu attacks were to be avoided at all costs. Once he'd thought he'd had Akiko; he'd been in the process of teleporting her away, but Asami had hamstringed him with her chakra blade, and Akane had gotten her sister out of harm's way.

He stepped up his game.

So did they.

Oh, but it was ugly. Had he thought he'd gone all out with Kenta? Well, he had, but he hadn't been using Mangekyo. The only consolation was that if he'd faced them separately, without each other, he could have handled them. Possibly. And he had yet to resort to the major jutsu, which he was saving for the Jinchuuriki.

Actually, it wasn't much consolation at all.

Horrible kinswomen they were. Worst, was how they taunted him. Akiko said as how she wasn't married and would like to know how he compared to her boyfriend in sex. Asami said she wouldn't mind one last fling before riding into the sunset with Hitsugaya. Akane had managed to get behind him. She reached around his body to grab his privates. She'd then spun away from his crushing retaliatory blow and hooted to the other two that he was hung quite nicely, all while he was in the process of trying to murder them without actually murdering them. He had never been treated with such disrespect, and _never _had anyone dared to put their hands on him in such a manner. Unspeakable.

And yet they were serious. They fought seriously, and it was clear they had long years of experience fighting together. He could find no fault in their teamwork. He could have retreated to his dimension, but he only did that to escape mortal wounds. He wasn't being dealt any now, and he knew it was deliberate, though, as Akane crassly stated five minutes ago, they were fucking him up righteously.

Ugh, he never used that kind of language. He supposed he could concede defeat, as he'd done with Kenta. But these three just annoyed him. They were cocky, but so skilled that they could actually get away with it. He'd phased so many of their attacks through him, and yet they still managed to get him enough times so that as the sun was setting, he finally dropped face down in the grass.

-oOo-

Akiko used her last bit of strength to jump on Izuna's back. She wriggled on his ass, laughing tiredly. "Mmm, he feels like a good ride. And we now know he has stamina. Should we…?"

Akane dropped to her knees beside him. "I love Ibiki. I would never betray him. Just show me his cock so I can have the memory of it to tease ole Izuna here with when the training is done."

Asami came over and assisted Akiko in turning Izuna onto his back. His pants were tugged open. The girls stared downward in appreciation.

"Well."

"Damn."

"So glad I'm not married!" Akiko bent forward to sniff, marveling that before Ikkaku, she would have been repulsed. She couldn't say that she would actually go through with fucking Izuna now, but it was fun to mess around with his mind and make him think she would.

Asami knelt on his other side. "That is an impressive piece of meat. Wonder what his staying power is?"

Akane reached out a hand to caress the soft tip.

Izuna swung his leg, trapping Asami's head between his thighs, and grabbed Akiko and Akane each with an arm before they could react. He left them screaming and shrieking in outrage in the dimension currently housing Blondie and the twins. Those three rushed him as he was escaping. He made it out before they could reach him.

He flopped tiredly in the grass and indulged himself in a little laugh. They'd given him a run for his money, but in the end they'd fallen for the oldest trick in the world. And their own dirty minds had helped.

* * *

Raiden debated going back to his cave when night fell. Izuna was still zipping around, taking people out. He'd just felt the harpies disappear, so he knew they were down. Izuna was steadily working his way up to the strongest ones. He decided to risk staying. He would stay up, not sleep, and stay far enough from Aimi so that his baser instincts wouldn't interfere.

He knew his sister had lied to him about her feelings over what he'd done. He just didn't know what the truth was. And he didn't like her stares or how weird it felt whenever they connected now. He watched her where she was braiding her hair in the moonlight.

Earlier, he'd told her how he'd gone to Wyatt. He'd been seeking any topic to break their uncomfortable silences. Aimi had expressed interest at hearing of the stone house. She'd turned right then and made a stone house of their own. She'd gone so far as to Pull two beds from Konoha and put them in the two rooms in the house she'd made for them. Complete with pillows, comforters and soft mattresses. Raiden had exclaimed in shock, but had done her one better. He'd Pulled a wide assortment of food and drink from Wyatt's world, and they'd stuffed themselves until they'd thrown up, then stuffed themselves again. Their laughter had eased away their tension, and then they'd had a ball talking about the fit Granny Kushina or Mikoto would have had if they could see them.

After, they'd gone for a swim in the lake. It had made their full tummies ache, but they had fun splashing and diving in the moonlit water. When they'd gotten out, his dick had been stiff as a board from the cold water. Aimi had looked directly at it, then up at his embarrassed face. He'd asked her if she was scared of him. She'd said no. Then she'd asked if he would dry her hair for her.

Directing wind from his hands, he'd felt all the tension creep back again. His sister sat in the grass before him, both of them in front of the house, and calmly combed her fingers through her hair as he dried it. Something about this action, about her, had his muscles stiffening. Then there were other parts of him stiffening, and then he'd said he had to go. His hands were shaking again.

Now here he stood, beneath the large tree by their lake, while his sister still sat in the grass, now braiding her hair. He slid down the bark and made himself think of something, anything, but when he'd kissed her. It was hard. He wasn't even attracted to her. He was disgusted with the line of thought his mind was suddenly pursuing, but as with Hisa, he just couldn't seem to control what his body was feeling.

He sighed. It would have to be the cave after all. Damn, and he'd wanted to sleep in that soft bed, too.

-oOo-

Aimi lowered her hands from her hair when she heard her brother stand up under the tree. When she turned her head to look at him, she found him panting.

Raiden quite suddenly felt himself changing; the wind had brought him the scent of his sister and while it wasn't the same as Hisa's had been, it was a temptation just the same. The animal in him struggled to be free while his human mind strained to hold it back. He couldn't have Boomed then if his life depended on it. _Fuck, not again! _

He had his eyes squeezed shut, willing himself to breathe through his clenched teeth. A soft touch on his cheek had his eyes flying open.

Aimi. She gazed up at him with that look on her face that had puzzled him before, but that he now thought he understood. She confirmed it with a whisper.

"I can help you, Raiden. You can…do stuff with me…if you want. I won't tell, if you won't." She continued to stroke his cheek, making him drool right there with the unconquerable urge to bite and-

Raiden Boomed out of there in a hurry, suddenly scared out of his mind.

* * *

Demon stifled a wide yawn. The days and nights of sleep, Sasuke's body, and food had him feeling restless. He yawned because he was bored, not because he actually needed sleep. When the familiar sound of one of his kids Booming broke the silence of the valley he and Sasuke were in, followed by Raiden screaming for him, the thought that went through his head was, _Thank God, an emergency._

He rolled unhurriedly out of his tree to land in a lazy crouch. He stood and covered another yawn with the back of one hand. The blur running in his direction slammed into him. He rebounded off the tree trunk before he could put his hands on Raiden's shoulders. "Whaaa-" another yawn. "What's wrong? Izuna?"

"No. Dad…I…" Raiden licked his chops nervously. Demon took a closer look at the kid.

Definitely chops. Fangs, drooling, demonic eyes, the whole works. And Raiden was shaking like a leaf. Sasuke came over just as he was asking, "What happened? Is Aimi okay?"

"Fine. Dad, I need help. I can't control this biting thing anymore and if I don't then something will…I'll…just help me, please! I went to Kiba, but he didn't really have any advice."

"Okay. Okay," Demon soothed. "Just tell me what happened. Did you bite someone again?"

Figuring that unless he told the truth, his parents wouldn't understand how bad the situation was, Raiden blurted, "I bit Aimi."

His Dad's hands tightened painfully on his shoulders, making him grit his teeth. It was his Pop who came around him to ask, "Raiden, did you fuck your sister?"

"No!" His voice squeaked on that word. "No, I swear…" his eyes skipped away from his Pop's red ones.

Demon snorted. "Sasuke, chill. Aimi would never let Raiden do something like that. She'd kill him."

Raiden pulled away and covered his face in his hands. He made a muffled sound of misery.

"What's that?" Sasuke leaned closer to hear.

"I said she's making it worse." Raiden took his hands from his face. "Bad enough I can't control myself. Bad enough that even when I slept miles away from her, I folded to her in my sleep. Bad enough I ki-kissed her…by accident!" Raiden threw an arm up to shield his face from his fathers' sudden scowls, in case they hit him. "I was sleeping, I didn't know what I was doing. But then I bit her and…she's been weird ever since. And just now, she…she…"

"Spit it out," Sasuke ordered.

"She tried to get me to…do it again. She said she wouldn't tell. And I'm really scared I'll do it. Not because I want to, god. But because-"

"-Pussy is pussy, no matter whose it is," Demon finished with an understanding nod. Sasuke glared at him. "What? Well, it is, Sasuke, you don't know how hard it is to resist when you're going through shit like this. I know, though. I remember what it was like before you started putting out."

"I want to talk to Aimi," Sasuke told Raiden.

Raiden nodded.

* * *

Aimi was just getting into bed when she heard the house door open and close. A moment later, her brother's silhouette appeared in her doorway. "You came back," she smiled. "I thought you were mad at me."

"Pop wants to talk to you."

"You told on me?"

Raiden said nothing, she noted. Maybe he hadn't…but then why did her Papa want to talk to her? She got out of bed and crossed the room to stand in front of him.

"You shouldn't try to provoke me, Aimi." His voice was low, his breath warm on her face.

"But you love me," she said. "You kissed me. You bit me. I…I liked it."

"I didn't know what I was doing. You know that."

"You want me. And I want you."

"You don't know what that means."

Smiling to show that she did know, Aimi stretched up on tiptoe to be the one to kiss him this time.

Raiden disappeared with a _poof. _In his place stood her Papa. His Sharingan turned slowly and menacingly in the shadowy room.

* * *

Demon inspected the cave Raiden brought them to. "Same cave you nearly died in." He dropped to a sitting position on the mossy floor.

Raiden cocked his head as if listening.

"What it is?"

"Pop…uh…seems to be ripping Aimi a new one. She's really scared of a sudden."

"Let him deal with her," Demon waved a hand. "She's more his kid, anyway, though I'll be adding my thoughts on the matter when I see her."

"His kid…you mean how she's more of an Uchiha?" Raiden came and sat in front of his dad, crossing his legs.

"Sasuke and I have long speculated that our kids most take after whichever dick they came from. Crass, I know, but there you have it. So! How you feeling now?"

Raiden shrugged. "It's not so bad if I have someone to talk to."

"I'm going to stick with you for the rest of training, don't worry." He watched as Raiden wilted in relief. "You know what I find funny? That when you're looking to fuck you automatically turn to girls. It was the same way for me. And here I thought you were completely into the boy loving."

Raiden frowned, thinking. "I guess you're right, and I do turn to girls…but I don't like any."

"You like boys?"

More frowning. "…No, actually. I just like Wyatt."

Demon mimed wiping away a tear. "Just like your old man!"

Raiden snickered. Demon pulled him in for a one-armed hug, then reclined on his back. He sobered as he looked down into the sandy hair. "You'll get through this, okay? Don't worry."

"You sure? How do you know?"

"Because I went through it myself."

"You did? What happened?" Raiden settled himself on his dad's chest and propped his face on a hand. He was clearly ready to hear a story.

"Well, like I told your Pop recently, some of my rut happened when mom was alive. I channeled a lot of my tension into training. But most of it hit when I was around fifteen going on sixteen."

"Was it bad?"

"Horrendous. I used to black out and come to my senses halfway to fucking people."

"That sounds exactly like what I'm going through. Where was Pop?"

"Your Pop and I were friends, but we weren't together yet. More like messing around, making out and shit. I kept telling him I needed it and he kept telling me he wasn't ready. To be fair, he did have some baggage he was carrying around. But it got so bad that I finally told him that if he couldn't go all the way then to just stay away from me."

"Did he?"

"Yeah, that ass did. For three fucking weeks. Longer, I think. That was when the hell really started. Was out of my mind most of the time. My friends all stayed away."

"How could pop leave you for that long?"

"Ah, right, I forgot to mention that I'd almost killed him before I gave him that ultimatum. He might have been scared. I only lost control the way I did because I was stressed, though."

Raiden lowered his eyes. "I don't want to hurt Aimi."

"And we won't _let _you hurt her, trust me."

"How'd you...you know, get better?"

"Wrote a letter to your uncle Gaara in one of my lucid moments. He came and I got stoned."

"What!" Raiden cackled. "No way!"

"Way. That uncle of yours in a pervert. Him and his 'mood enhancers' or whatever the fuck he calls his shit. He drugged me up so good I was soft as a noodle for weeks. Couldn't get hard if my life depended on it, and no thoughts on sex whatsoever."

"And then what happened?"

"And then the infamous club incident. Gaara took me off the drugs and your dad came to his senses. Told me he was ready. When we got back to Konoha, we spent four of the best days of my life getting…physical."

"_Four days? _And I thought you guys' all-nighters were bad!"

"Good times," Demon mused to the cave ceiling. He had one arm behind his head as a pillow. He dropped his gaze to Raiden again. "The point of all that is that you _will _need to fuck someone at some point. I calmed down a lot once your dad was giving it up."

"Yeah, Kiba said the same thing. Even Kyuubi said so. Though he told me to go ahead and screw Aimi. Something about having strong puppies or some shit." He sighed. "But Wyatt's still mad at me."

_-You're lucky you're out of reach, you fucker- _Demon thought at his Bijuu in rage. He sensed Kyuubi snorting in derision at the threat. "Actually, Raiden, I'm not talking about appeasing your desire. Or at least not only that." Demon paused, looking down into his son's eyes. He took hold of one spiky forelock, twisting it as he thought. "You're really young. Younger than I was when I first had sex. I wish that you could wait until you were older before beginning that stage in your life. Until you fully understand that sex is much more than a physical act. So much more. I want it to be more than just fucking for you. I want you to know the feeling of joining to the person who has your heart, to feel what it's like to have that person trust you and give you their heart. Am I right in thinking that you and Wyatt feel that way?"

Raiden nodded, eyes wide.

"Thought so. You're a kid, Raiden. Too young to be in a relationship or understand what being in one entails. You don't know how to navigate around another's personality or interpret things that aren't said, or things that are said for that matter. Relationships stump even the most experienced adults, so don't feel bad about this rift between you and Wyatt. There are things about you he just doesn't understand. You don't even understand yourself, so how can he?

"But there's also a part of you that's fully grown, Raiden. It's mature and needs to be satisfied. And that part makes up too much of who you are to be ignored. So even though you're a kid, I get that you need to fuck and I'm okay with it. Not that you'd wait on my permission."

"It's nice to have it," Raiden giggled.

Demon chuckled, making Raiden bounce on his chest. "Ah, well it helps that you're interested in a boy. Don't have to worry about any accidental grandbabies. Unless you feel like you can go for someone else?"

"No."

"What about Jinta?"

"_Hell_ no!"

"Ururu?"

"Dad, please, you're killing me. It has to be Wyatt. No one else."

Demon rubbed his son's back in a calming gesture. "All right. I understand. It's just…the sooner you do it, the better."

"Why? You won't let me do anything to Aimi, right?"

"I'm not talking about that. Raiden, we have a shitload of bad coming our way. Bad with a capital B. You're one of the strongest ones here, one of the fighters who will help swing this thing. We kind of need you focused, kiddo."

"Oh."

Demon studied the worried frown on his son's face. He ruffled the boy's hair. "No use bitching about it, I guess. If worse comes to the worst, we'll just aim your deprived ass at Izanami and see what she makes of you in your stressed out state."

* * *

Neji belted his robe tighter as he ran for the gate. Whoever it was, was ringing the hell out of the bell and it was barely three in the morning. "Shit," he said when he'd torn the gate open. "Did the war start?" He looked past his visitors into the village, listening for sounds of combat.

Sasuke shoved Aimi ahead of him into the courtyard. "No. I need to see your wife."

"Ino?"

"Did you marry someone else while I was gone?"

Neji closed the gate. "Don't get bitchy with me; you're in _my_ house at this unsociable hour, I'll thank you to have some respect." He dropped his eyes to Aimi, taking in the clear imprint of a large hand on her cheek. Her eyes were teary. "Come on in, I'll wake her up."

-oOo-

Ino sipped her tea as she listened to Sasuke. Aimi was in another room with Neji. "I'm not sure I can do what you're asking. Implanting suggestions like that require years upon years of expertise."

"I'm pretty sure Raiden's chakra is wearing off on her, but until then, and in case another accident happens, I want it so that she'll repel him effectively. No matter what he does or tries to do." Sasuke drank his tea with a stare over the rim of his cup, silently demanding that Ino help him.

"Are you sure you want to mess with your child's mind like this?"

Sasuke glowered. "No, I don't want to do this, but I don't want either of them traumatized by Raiden's appetites, either. This isn't like Kiba's clan. I can't lock either of them away, not with their powers, and I can't put a Genjutsu on her that's strong enough. I even took her to my father so that he could try with Mangekyo, and it didn't work. Ino, please."

"My dad could possibly do what you're asking, but he'll likely refuse, just as I'm refusing. I don't delve children, Sasuke. I'm sorry. Psychological tampering like that is to be avoided if it's not an enemy you're doing it on."

"Fuck."

"I'm sorry," Ino said again.

-oOo-

Sasuke dragged Aimi out of the Hyuuga estate and just stood in the road a moment, looking into the distance.

"P-P-Papa, I'm s-sorry," Aimi began sobbing again. Her voice hitched with hiccups from the amount of crying she'd already done. Fresh tears traced down her face. "I w-won't do it again, I _promise_. Please, please, don't let Ino's father into my head."

He was inclined to believe her. He just couldn't count on Raiden having any control if he somehow got away from Demon, and neither he nor Demon would be able to stop the kid if he took it into his mind to fuck his sister. And Aimi, it had been proven, could be swayed against her will. Why the hell had they ever had kids?

"Suna. Now."

Aimi Boomed them.

* * *

Izuna took a moment to sense the others. Still no sign of Ibiki. He hoped the man hadn't died. The Narutos were all with their Sasukes. Itachi was still with Rasta-Sasuke, and the triplets were all together. Excellent.

-oOo-

Kaito handled the dart with extreme care as he slipped it into his reed. He set the reed aside to mix more of the black paste he'd used to coat the tip of the dart with.

Since Zetsu had kidnapped him off the mountain that time, he'd had an interest in botany. Specifically, plants that aided or hindered survival. Zetsu had once stopped him from eating a poisonous shrub. He'd gone on to point out how one could tell the defining characteristics of a poisonous plant by surrounding wildlife, coloring, etc.

Nothing on this world resembled plant life back home, but Kaito has come across a plant he'd suspected was highly toxic. He'd tested it on a rabbit-like creature he'd caught and the thing had died immediately. More, its mouth and tongue had bubbled and blistered at contact with the plant extract. He'd prepared a paste with the leaves, careful not to touch it except by clone.

Done, Kaito straightened up and settled down to wait. Thus was he nearly killed with his own darts; three shapes appeared at his elbow and startled him badly enough for him to drop the reed in his lap. He froze, checking to see if he'd been scratched by the dart peeking out the end.

No. He was okay. Kaito turned.

"Yo, Bro!" Ryota gave a merry wave and shoved his book down the back of his pants. "What are you doing?"

It took a considerable amount of effort not to backhand his baby brother. Kaito spoke through clenched teeth as he picked up his fallen reed between two fingers. "The fuck are you three doing here?"

"Came to see how you were doing," Ryota chirped.

"And we were bored," Masaru intoned.

Kaito looked around, before regarding the three faces looking up at him. His shoulders slumped. "I know what you mean. I'm bored too. Izuna come to you guys yet?"

It was told how Masaru had fought the enemy and how Ryota had trapped same in a temporal loop of some significance. "And Dad said we're supposed to stick together, so we figured we'd begin with you and just sort of round everyone up," Kei finished.

Kaito agreed by saying he had nothing better to do.

-oOo-

Izuna stopped himself from appearing by Kaito's side at sensing the triplets. He waited, monitoring the way they disappeared from his perception, only to reappear with Juro and Yukio. When this new group disappeared again, he hastily teleported.

* * *

Hiroto and Kenta watched as Ryota mended Yukio's collarbone. There was a snap of healing bone that caused Yukio to swear between his teeth. Hiroto turned his jaw for his brother's small hands next.

"An excellent skill to have mastered," Itachi commented. He looked around at them all. "Were none of the girls still free?"

Ryota shook his head. "The harpies are gone. I keep thinking I sense 'Su, but I can't find her, not even with magic. Which should be flat out impossible."

"Just us, then," Juro said.

Masaru had one of his large insect pets with him. He stroked its head between its eyes as he watched Kaito explain something to their father about his darts. His pet began making a high buzzing sound, its antenna waving madly at the air behind his father.

"Ugh, shut that thing up, will you?" Rasta-Sasuke complained. "Bad enough we all have to look at it."

Masaru was on the verge of doing just that, but he suddenly remembered what this behavior meant. "Izuna's coming," he shouted.

Itachi had sensed the same thing just as Masaru shouted. He was able to twist and shove Rasta-Sasuke down as Izuna leapt out of the air in their midst, already reaching for him. They backed away, but didn't run. The circle they formed around Izuna was tense, each of them ready to spring at the lone man.

-oOo-

Izuna held in his pride, scanning their set faces. They were crouched, arms held out slightly. He could see that Yukio and Rasta-Sasuke were healed and especially vigilant. Rasta-Sasuke in particular looked at him with venomous hatred. Izuna felt a delicious sensation of bloodlust settle in him. This was rare; he usually fought with a cool head, like most Uchiha, but Rasta-Sasuke was enough to quicken his blood.

In time. First…

The weak link in their chain of solidarity was displaying his nerves by visibly trembling where he stood. Izuna smirked.

-oOo-

So fast. They were still turning their heads to follow Izuna's movement when Kei's shriek rent the tense atmosphere. Masaru leapt and grabbed onto Izuna's waist, being the closest, but he was too late. Kei had been sent to one of Izuna's dimensions. While they were all blinking through that shock, Izuna pivoted and went after Rasta-Sasuke. This time he was serious.

Rasta-Sasuke didn't have a chance to call up his chakra or open any gates. Izuna didn't give him the opportunity, landing one crushing blow after another. He found himself in a Genjutsu with his brother coming at him, naked.

_"Little Brother…how about you and I have some fun?" Itachi gestured to a small girl no older than two._

_"No…" Rasta-Sasuke moaned. He backed away from his advancing brother. Everything was the same, down to his Akatsuki cloak and his thin necklace._

_"I could show you ways to hurt her, Sasuke…"_

A slap on his back as the real Itachi broke the Genjutsu on him with his chakra. Rasta-Sasuke dropped to the dirt with a gasp. He was shaking. He saw, from this position, the way this other Itachi stood between him and Izuna.

-oOo-

For most of them, it was the first time seeing their dad in action. It was one thing to hear old stories about what a genius your father was, quite another to see him take on an opponent like Izuna.

Under no circumstances did Izuna let himself get trapped in Tsukuyomi again. Itachi, he saw, didn't try. Perhaps he knew Izuna wouldn't fall for it again, perhaps not. In any case, Itachi had quite a few other jutsu in his arsenal.

Masaru backed away with a tearful Ryota. "Kei," Ryota hiccupped. "God, I failed him!"

"Should we try and help Dad?" Masaru whispered, also very upset.

"I think we'd get killed," Ryota said after a moment of staring towards the battle. He winced as his father took a hit meant for Rasta-Sasuke.

Juro and Yukio were under no such restraints. They attacked Izuna from opposite sides, as Itachi coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Izuna delivered a kick that forced Juro to duck. In the moment Izuna's back was exposed, Yukio landed with his knee, feeling something in Izuna crunch. Then Hiroto was there, going for Izuna's throat. Kenta circled, then latched onto Izuna from behind. Between the four of them, Itachi was able to step back and breathe for a second. He kept himself in front of Rasta-Sasuke, who was still sitting on the ground.

Kaito took careful aim, and blew his dart between the struggling bodies holding Izuna down.

Izuna stiffened. Yukio looked down into his suddenly wide eyes. "Hey, are you-?"

He was gone.

"Careful," Itachi warned around a wheeze. "He'll heal himself and come back. Excellent work, boys." He turned to Rasta-Sasuke to see if he was all right.

-oOo-

The sky darkened. Storm clouds gathered, lightning sizzled, and thunder boomed loudly. Itachi blinked through the sudden downpour that sprang up. Rasta-Sasuke was gone, as were his children.

"Itachi…"

He turned and found Sasuke coming toward him, holding his mid-section. He was bleeding.

Understanding came. "Genjutsu," Itachi muttered darkly.

* * *

Ryota screamed as his father kicked him viciously into Masaru. He and Masaru tried to run, but their father was relentless, chasing them and yanking them back. He proceeded to beat each boy to a pulp.

* * *

Kaito stood in shock, staring around at the dead bodies of Hanabi and his girls. Taro was in his arms, breathing his last breath. He too died, with Kaito too stricken to do anything but stare down at his broken little body.

* * *

Juro and Yukio looked at each other. "I don't get it," Juro said.

"Me either."

They were standing in what appeared to be a vast maze. Just as suddenly, Juro was alone. "Yukio?"

"Juro!"

His brother's voice was extremely faint. It was followed by a yell of pain. Juro began running.

* * *

Kenta eyed Yumichika cheating on him with Kenji. Then he turned his back and looked around carefully. He closed his eyes and concentrated on throwing off the Genjutsu.

* * *

Izuna was crouched several feet from the immobile group, hands held in a formation to focus his chakra. He had his eyes closed for this Genjutsu. It was no easy thing to hold so many minds in thrall. Kenta and Itachi were proving especially difficult, forcing Izuna to frown and begin perspiring. His skill with lifting images and thoughts from peoples' minds was limited at best, and required extensive use of Mangekyo, much like Tsukuyomi did. He took an application of that jutsu now and applied it to Itachi.

* * *

Kei looked up from where he'd been thrown and found himself surrounded. Blondie showed the first expression Kei had ever seen on his face by scowling down at him. The harpies snorted in acute rage at finding their baby brother to be Izuna's latest victim.

"Wanna play?" Emiko asked brightly.

Kei burst into tears.

* * *

Sasuke and Aimi materialized in the cave. Aimi was immediately shoved toward the back wall and told to stay put if she knew what was good for her.

Demon got to his feet. "I gather you talked some sense into her?" he looked at where Aimi sat crying softly.

"I went all the way to Konoha. Ino won't help me."

Sasuke's agitation surprised him. "Why so stressed? Aimi won't go against us." He let Kyuubi show in his eyes as he turned to speak to her. "Will you, princess?"

Aimi shook her head frantically.

"Normally, she wouldn't let Raiden get as far as he did either, but look what happened. This is beyond their control, Demon." Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck in worry.

Demon looked behind him to where Raiden was napping. The boy was truly entering puberty, horny one moment, conked out the next. "Eh, I say we got this covered. Between the two of us, I think we can handle our own kids." He walked over to Aimi and squatted in front of her.

Aimi cringed against the rocky wall. "Daddy, I'm sorry!"

"Tell the truth, Aimi, and things will go easier for you. You want your brother to kiss you again?"

"No!"

"Swear?"

"I swear!"

Demon nodded. "That means if I catch you anywhere near him while this rut has him I'll be going Sage Mode on your ass. _With_ Kyuubi. You really don't want me coming at you full strength, do you?"

"Daddy, noooo!" Aimi screeched, blubbering. She tried to throw herself at him, scared. Demon gently pushed her back.

"See that I don't have to," he said. Then he stood up and turned to Sasuke. "And _you _make sure you keep her under control. I'll handle Raiden."

* * *

Years passed. Sasuke died in front of him, by his own hand, in his arms, because of him, and in countless other ways. Itachi, forced to witness his brother's demise everyday for years, had trouble remembering he was in Genjutsu sometimes. Some of the ways Sasuke died were gruesome, tearing at his heart. As time wore on, he weakened from the effort of resisting the Genjutsu. He couldn't break out. In that respect it was like Tsukuyomi. Izuna-

_(Who was that?)_

-had apparently layered the technique heavily as an added precaution. All he could do was try to maintain his own mind and remember that it wasn't his brother dying over and over again.

But Sasuke's screams were so real, especially the versions of him that were still children.

-oOo-

Good. They were all snared, Izuna saw. Taking a breath to balance the strain of holding the Genjutsu, he straightened up and began walking toward where Rasta-Sasuke sat staring into space.

* * *

"-should be able to sense Izuna through this dimension." Kei was lecturing to his listening audience. "Having seen it at last, I have to say it's quite simple. At least in theory it is. Theoretically, anyone with an evolved enough perception of extra-sensory input should be able to sense and travel through the myriad dimensions or, like Izuna, create their own little pockets like this outside of time and its flow. This dimension has to be connected to him and his chakra some kind of way, or-"

Akiko held up a hand. "I have trouble believing I'm even related to you, you retarded little nerd. All I asked was how the fuck we're supposed to get out of here, not for you to give me a goddamn lecture."

"Let him speak. The information may be useful," Blondie said with quiet authority.

Akane looked him up and down, smirking. "Well go on with your butch self, Blondie!"

"What I meant," Kei resumed, "was that we should be able to feel Izuna if we concentrate. We're not in some dimension that's just off floating in space, we're in some pocket connected to its creator. We can therefore sense him."

"We?" Asami asked.

"Well, maybe not we…I know I can't, I don't have the kind of power that would take."

Akiko hadn't stopped smiling at the blank look Blondie had given Akane. She said, "How much power are we talking?"

"Lots. And I'm thinking it will have to be refined. Someone with complete mastery of their chakra.

"Fugaku-sensei said you have excellent chakra control, Kei," Etsuko commented.

"Yeah, I do, but nowhere near the kind of power it would take to sense and possibly break out of this dimension."

"I have power," Blondie said, stepping forward. "Show me what to do."

Kei frowned in thought. "Not sure if I can. Undoubtedly, Izuna is using a basic application of the fourth dimension, but even so, the complexity of this technique would require a Sharingan user of some skill at the very least-"

"You have Sharingan," Emiko piped up. "Me too. And sis."

"Great," Akiko drawled. "Now all you guys have to do is smoosh yourselves together and we'd be out of here." She turned away with a roll of her eyes.

Kei cocked his head in thought. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."

* * *

Hiroto found the barest crack in the Genjutsu and slithered a tendril of his consciousness through it. His chakra widened the crack, then burst it open and he was free. Taking a moment to look at his brothers and father, he could see that Izuna had put the weakest Genjutsu on him, thinking him insignificant. He studied the landscape grimly.

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke was in the process of numbly watching Izuna draw closer when the ground suddenly yawned open and sucked him under. He saw Hiroto not far away with his hands to the ground, but then Izuna was leaping out of the dirt.

-oOo-

Itachi blinked when the Genjutsu was suddenly released. He needed a moment to shake off the impression that years had passed, and the feeling of grief that swamped him. Kenta and his other sons came to and immediately went to Hiroto's aid. After a moment, Itachi followed suit, his Mangekyo firmly in place.

* * *

Demon was watching his son carefully. Night had fallen. Raiden tossed and turned, soft growls and whines escaping him. Even as he watched, Demon saw Raiden's fangs lengthen…along with other parts of him. The boy's hands clenched and flexed repeatedly, before he rolled lithely to a crouch. He was awake and drooling…and staring at the only female around.

Sasuke, too, was watching carefully. He watched the way Aimi's eyes were fixated on her brother, saw how her pupils dilated at the swell in Raiden's chakra. They all felt that swell. Sasuke kept his Sharingan on.

Raiden leapt suddenly and powerfully. His body became an arrow of need as he flew at Aimi.

Demon caught him around the waist and hung on tightly. He locked his arms, gripping his wrists beneath Raiden's stomach as the boy growled and snarled, and gouged long, bloody grooves in his arms.

Aimi whimpered where she sat, her own hands digging into the mossy cave floor. "You're hurting him," she whined at her father. She licked her lips nervously.

Sasuke placed himself between Aimi and Raiden. "You got him, Demon?"

Demon's eyes turned red. "Fuck, this kid is strong," he said between gritted teeth. His head snapped back as Raiden's elbow caught him in the face.

Sasuke swallowed as the growls shook dust from the cave ceiling. His Demon was doing his best to hold the wildly struggling boy without hurting him. It hurt Sasuke to see his son going through this, and to know that Naruto had gone through it himself.

Aimi could contain herself no more. Raiden needed her and she would risk her fathers' anger to go to him. She darted around her papa's leg.

Sasuke caught her by her flying braid and reeled her back in. He held her firmly by her shoulders against his front. "Aimi, no."

"He needs me! I feel it! Can't you feel how bad he needs me?" she wailed.

Sasuke met Demon's eyes. The knowledge that Raiden's chakra was still acting in their daughter was small comfort. Especially when Aimi lunged toward Raiden again, and Raiden suddenly folded out of Demon's grasp.

Sasuke caught Aimi and slung her away, just as he caught Raiden when he re-materialized at Aimi's side. He tried to put him in a Genjutsu and had the unpleasant sensation of feeling it rebound off what felt like a steel wall in the kid's mind. "Shit. Raiden!"

No use. The boy was deaf. Demon reached him again and this time enlisted the aid of the cause of all this trouble. _–Do something, you shit!-_

_**-Not sure that I'm able to.-**_

_-You son of a…-_

_**-As if you have the power to carry out a threat. Very Well. Kitling?-**_

Demon listened to Kyuubi trying to reach Raiden through both mind and chakra to no avail. He knelt on the kid's back, just barely holding back from using Kyuubi chakra himself. Raiden clawed up handfuls of the rocky floor in rage, roaring. Demon looked up at Sasuke helplessly, one hand on Raiden's head, the other pressed to the back of his shoulder.

Sasuke held a sobbing, shivering Aimi and felt just as helpless.

* * *

Izuna, for once, indulged in anger. One by one, Itachi's remarkable sons were sent to the Shinigami's tree. Ryota, crushed at the loss of Masaru, disappeared in a flash of blue smoke. Itachi weaved and tottered where he stood, dripping blood and sweat, but still standing.

And still between Izuna and Rasta-Sasuke.

* * *

Blondie sat and held his hands out. Emiko took his left hand and Kei took his right. Etsuko closed the circle.

It was an unpleasant experience to feel the girls in his mind, searching for his perception of dimensions and the nature of time and space, but Kei bore it. He felt when Blondie's mind was brought into the fold and his power slowly siphoned. He supposed that the girls, part Kyuubi themselves, felt nothing untoward, but Kei felt as if pain exploded along every nerve in his body at feeling Blondie's chakra mixed with his Bijuu's.

Kei hoped this wouldn't take too long.

* * *

"You are a superb fighter, I'll give you that," Izuna intoned as he strolled toward Itachi. He was freshly healed from yet another lethal blow Itachi had dealt him. By rights, the man had killed him a dozen times over. "But you and I both know you've reached the end of your rope. Come quietly. Concede defeat. And the training can move forward."

"No…no Uchiha," Itachi paused as blood drizzled from his mouth. "No Uchiha ever gives in."

"That is true. But we are not on a battlefield. Not a real one. Have your son or Wyatt heal you and-"

"If you want me, come get me," Itachi rasped. He was bent nearly double.

Izuna's eyes moved between Rasta-Sasuke and Itachi. It disgusted him that Rasta-Sasuke would sit and let himself be defended instead of defending himself. It sickened him that the miserable wretch had the inimitable Uchiha powers. And it flat out infuriated him that the bastard saw the noble clan of Uchiha as nothing but a pestilential perversion of the lowest form of filth. It would give Izuna great pleasure to put the youth out of his misery. He might just do it yet.

But Itachi deserved the respect of having his perseverance acknowledge. True, he'd been a bit angry that his sons could best him, had behaved pettily enough to resort to jutsu he knew they couldn't combat. That was done now. He would finish Itachi with dignity. He started toward him.

-oOo-

Itachi closed his left eye; it was too taxed to offer more than blurry vision now. Keeping his forearm against the deep gash in his side, he stood straighter, putting the majority of his weight on the leg that wasn't broken. He watched the space between himself and Izuna, unable to meet his eyes and risk taking another Genjutsu. He summoned the last shred of his chakra.

Izuna smiled sadly. He lifted a hand crackling with an odd mixture of fire and earth chakra-

-And threw back his head to scream as he was swallowed in a sphere of scorching heat. His pants crisped off of him. His skin reddened, then blistered. It cracked and began to bleed, until he hastily made his body insubstantial. He lowered his head to see how Itachi was capable of this.

The answer was that Itachi wasn't. Quite shockingly, Itachi was passed out in the grass. Rasta-Sasuke stood over him, his eyes blood red and surprisingly neutral.

"What-" Izuna began.

"I know," Rasta-Sasuke said. "It's not Fucker. This is actually a step down from that. The jutsu I used to kill my worthless brother, in fact."

Izuna eyed the way the grass combusted and wondered how much longer the technique would hold.

Rasta-Sasuke cocked his head. "Bet you're wondering how long I can hold this. I honestly don't know. Never did it for more than an hour at a time…which is a hell of a lot longer than the five minutes you can hold that insubstantial form. See, while you were kicking ass and taking names, I wasn't just contemplating my navel. I was watching. You can't hold that shit for more than five minutes, and you need to be solid before you can skip off to one of your dimensions. But here's the thing. That stunt you pulled with the Genjutsu? The one with my brother coming back to-" Rasta-Sasuke looked down for a moment, licked his lips. He looked back up at Izuna, murder in his eyes. "You'll pay for that. The second you're solid again, you're history."

Izuna held Rasta-Sasuke's gaze, forced to admit he'd underestimated him. Vastly. And at great cost. He'd thought the boy a dunce, and no Uchiha ever, anywhere, no matter their upbringing, could be considered stupid. He had roughly ninety seconds left.

Rasta-Sasuke let a thin, sickle-like smile carve his face into an ugly expression. "Burn in hell, motherfu-"

"No."

Both Izuna and Rasta-Sasuke looked down. Itachi's eyes were swollen shut for the most part. His tongue licked at his dry and bleeding lips. "Don't," he hissed painfully. "Don't kill…him."

Twenty seconds. Izuna met Rasta-Sasuke's eyes as the last few seconds ticked away. Itachi groped painfully for Rasta-Sasuke's ankle and the insufferable heat disappeared. Izuna dropped to one knee, refusing to look away from where the younger man stood.

Rasta-Sasuke stooped and carefully draped Itachi's limp body across his shoulders. He took a moment to flip his middle finger at where Izuna knelt panting, before zooming off at high speed.

* * *

Izuna sat for a long time in the blackened circle that had almost become his funeral pyre. There were perhaps twelve days left to the training. He located and caught two of the strange rabbit creatures that populated this world. He skinned them, roasted them, and ate them thoughtfully. He sat staring into the flames long into the night.

When morning came, he was standing resolutely before his last hurdle. The last group. For this, his Mangekyo was in place. He'd stopped off at the Shinigami and acquired another pair of breeches. He was primed and ready.

So were his opponents.

"'Bout goddamned time," Fem-Naruto quipped. "Seriously, how much longer were you going to keep us waiting?"

Kage-Naruto shook his head briefly, excitement making him grin in a feral manner. "Can't wait to rip you to shreds, Izuna. I've fantasized about it."

"Yeah, we got together days ago and decided we were going to own your ass," Psycho-Naruto said cheerfully. "It's the only way to make up for how you've ignored us. And look who decided to join us!"

Wyatt waved. Ryota glared hatefully. Killerbee merely looked at him, and Chibi-Gaara sneered.

"Then there's us," Stud-Sasuke added with a complicated twirl of his sword.

"Can't forget your blood relations," Jailbird-Sasuke nodded.

"I just have one question," Psycho-Sasuke stepped forward. "Have you ever gone up against Eternal Mangekyo?"

Izuna hadn't. Until coming here, he'd never even heard of it. He knew that Psycho-Sasuke had it, thanks to Aimi's information, but he did not have many details, a fact he considered to be a potentially fatal situation. Looking at all the strongest members of the trainees, a small frown knit his brow. "Where are Demon, Sasuke, and their two exceptional children?"

"Not here," Fem-Naruto shrugged.

A storm of churned dirt and dust made a beeline for them. This resolved itself into Lee, who had Yo-chan on his back. "Excellent," he panted. "Yo-chan's sensing abilities are without equal! Did I miss the fight?" he asked brightly, looking around.

_All things considered, it's probably a blessing they aren't here, _Izuna thought. He rolled his shoulders and advanced, as the others began spreading out.

* * *

Itachi regained feeling in his body before he felt able to open his eyes. He didn't have the energy to groan even. Not all the pain was due to Izuna, either. A large part of it was from overuse of his Mangekyo.

Cool water was daubed onto his eyes with a gentle hand. He felt dried blood being gently rubbed away. When he could, he slit his eyes open and shut them again at the searing pain of sunlight.

"Just take it easy," the owner of the gentle hands admonished softly. "I didn't lug your ass for miles and watch you all night to have you undo my tender care. Sit tight, I'll be right back."

The presence at Itachi's side left. Only then did he realize that it had been keeping that half of him warm. When several minutes had gone by, he opened his eyes a fraction and turned his head.

Rasta-Sasuke knelt at a small pool of water, filling his flask. He looked up, met Itachi's eyes.

Itachi lost consciousness again.

* * *

Raiden trembled in the locked arms and legs of his father, gusting out air between his clenched teeth.

Demon had him in a choke hold, one large hand on his son's forehead to keep the boy's head pressed to his chest. He felt Raiden's straining body finally relax from the tension it had maintained since noon yesterday. Without letting up on his hold, Demon risked a question. "Raiden?"

"Hng," he grunted.

"Better?"

"A little."

Demon started to relax his arms.

"No, don't," Raiden gasped. He caught sight of Aimi sitting behind his Pop and felt the boiling sensation of his uncontrollable need come roaring back. He tried to hang on to his thoughts, but her _smell_…the way his chakra pulsed in her…It told him she was his for the taking and _nothing_, no matter how hard he screamed in disgust in his own mind, could convince his body otherwise.

Demon cursed softly as Raiden's body stiffened and went rigid in his arms. The boy threw back his head and howled madly in rage and need. Demon could see tears sliding down the sides of Raiden's tortured face, even as he tightened his grip once more and prepared to hang on through yet another wave of his son's anguish. He felt tears prickling his own eyes.

Sasuke felt useless. The one consolation was that now Raiden was too far gone to fold or Boom or use any of his other powers. "Hang in there, son," he whispered.


	56. Chapter 56

A/N: To **Kanazerosukenaru** and anyone else who's left an unsigned review, I deeply regret not being able to respond. That's the trouble with unsigned reviews, I can't reply to them. As for this chap, I tried to keep the het to a minimum. Next chap will have some yaoi in might be the longest chapter in this fic -.- Also, there's more art on the facebook page for the characters.

*Tried to get the typos, I really did.

* * *

Chapter 56

Raiden was sleeping. His body had given out and he'd simply passed out snoring. Demon stood up painfully, stretching his sore and cramped body. His back popped and creaked, and Sasuke gave a rusty chuckle. Aimi was also sleeping.

"Why, Demon, you look like-"

"If you make any cracks about my age, I'll rip your dick off."

Sasuke's smirk was smug. "Fine. How long do you think he'll be out?"

"Dunno." Demon studied Raiden a moment. "He's sleeping pretty deeply. What about Aimi?"

Sasuke ran a hand over his daughter's hair. "I think his chakra has mostly worn off, if not completely so. I guess we'll know when she wakes up?" He sighed. "Too bad we're missing the training."

Demon nodded, inspecting his hands. "Our kids need us. This is more important than the training."

-oOo-

Ryota appeared in their midst, but neither man did more than glance up at him. They were used to their own kids coming and going in much the same manner.

"Training's over," Ryota beamed.

Sasuke and Demon stared. It was Sasuke who spoke. "Don't we have…" he did a quick mental calculation. "Around ten days left?"

Ryota nodded happily. "We beat Izuna. Well Ibiki and Su did. You shoulda seen it, it was incredible!"

The two adults were speechless. Ryota noted the way Raiden and Aimi were both asleep and offered to transport them all back to the Shinigami tree.

* * *

Demon studied everyone. There were curses of resentment and outrage, tears of hilarity as some battles were recalled, and a few fearful, awed glances cast Izuna's way. Everyone milled under or around the tree, talking and recounting their perceptions on the training. Izuna stood off alone, apparently lost in thought.

The gist of the final climax of the training was simple. Demon gleaned the following from overheard conversations:

The remaining Narutos had had Izuna surrounded, along with their Sasuke counterparts. Killerbee and Chibi-Gaara, not to mention Lee, had also joined the mix. An ungodly brawl, consisting of several Susanoo, Shukaku, and Kyuubi-enhanced Narutos took place, with Lee and Killerbee rendering serious damage of their own. Bijuu-dama had abounded. Lightning, Fire, Wind and Earth attacks, not to mention Shukaku's air blasts, and various permutations of Rasengan, had been doing a fine job of restructuring the entire landscape. It looked like the Jinchuuriki group was winning.

But Izuna was capable of some truly underhanded shit, they discovered. The first to be teleported away were the Sasukes, one by one. While the Narutos were reeling from that blow, Lee and Yo-chan had been taken out. Then Fem-Naruto had been done away with. Chibi-Gaara went next. It was down to Killerbee, Kage-Naruto and Psycho-Naruto, but then Psycho-Naruto and Chibi-Gaara were gone too.

Killerbee attacked while Kage-Naruto, finally bested, was being teleported away, and ended up being taken himself. That was sad. Izuna turned at last to the two who'd held back, arguably the two strongest ones.

Ryota tried not to let his nerves show. Wyatt merely drew Excalibur.

It sucked the way Izuna could teleport attacks away from himself, or let them phase through him. He held his own against the various magicks so well that Ryota was forced to re-think his assumption that Izuna was a pushover. Wyatt comforted himself with the fact that Izuna had information on them, knowledge of how they fought, and so was able to counter smoothly. When the war started, their opponents wouldn't have such advantages.

Izuna was losing it, though. The two boys briefly thought they were winning, but in the end Ryota was captured and sent off. Wyatt stood alone against a wheezing Izuna.

And that was when the air opened up behind Izuna and out spilled Blondie, the harpies, Kei, and the twins. To say they weren't happy would have been to say the sun was but a warm lemon drop in the sky.

Shit had never hit the fan the way it did when Blondie and the harpies latched eyes on Izuna. Wyatt took a much-needed break and sat to the side, out of the way. He'd been forced to rely on swordsmanship a lot, seeing as Izuna was capable of countering his magic by making himself insubstantial. And Izuna did not let himself be caught by the same spell twice. The twins came and sat with him. They watched in frank amazement as Blondie went quietly, purposefully insane. The harpies were already crazy, so that was nothing new.

Maybe it was the fact that Izuna was just about dead himself, or maybe there was something to be said about revenge. Whatever the case, it looked like Blondie and the harpies would be the victors.

But Izuna wasn't down yet, and he was able to heal himself. Always, he was able to heal himself, even if his strength was just about gone and his attacks weren't quite as jaw-dropping as they had been. Wyatt was about to step in, rested now, but then two more people materialized and that was that.

Sumiko appeared behind Izuna with a shimmer, Ibiki beside her. She placed her hand on the back of Izuna's neck. He froze long enough for Ibiki to place his fingertips against Izuna's brow, and then various holes in the air opened up to release all the people Izuna had teleported to his dimensions, the ones who weren't under the tree. They clustered around the immobile Izuna in a tight circle.

When Ibiki and Sumiko released Izuna, he was quiet. Then he bowed his head and declared training to be over. A cheer had gone up that had shaken the ground.

-oOo-

Demon shook his head now. To think he'd missed such action. Wyatt had located and brought Itachi and Rasta-Sasuke back to their base. Itachi was healed, his failing eyesight restored. Rasta-Sasuke immediately left his side to join Blondie in an exuberant reunion. Akane walked around bragging about how it was her hubby, with the most unremarkable talents, that brought down the fearsome Izuna. Not to be undone, Udon, also healed, said as how his own blushing bride had been part of it.

"How _did _you two manage it?" Itachi wanted to know. He had an arm around his favorite child, Sumiko, his eyes gleaming with pride.

Sumiko ducked her head at all the stares. "It was simple, actually." Her voice was low as she recounted her impression of Izuna when she'd first seen him.

Apparently, Sumiko had not simply run off when given the word, the way everyone else had done. She'd hidden and watched the battle between Izuna and Blondie, and the brief scuffle between Izuna and Rasta-Sasuke. Ibiki had also hidden and watched, and the two had been not far from each other. When Izuna had gone, Sumiko stepped out of hiding, along with Ibiki.

Due to her abnormally high IQ and Sharingan, Sumiko had been able to deduce the basic workings of the teleportation jutsu. It was as Kei had explained sometime later, though she hadn't been present for that particular conversation. Anyone with an evolved enough perception of extra-sensory input could sense and travel through dimensions to some extent, or create their own pockets outside the flow of time. Sumiko did not have perception of extra-sensory input, per se, but it had been discovered, during her training with the teachers, that she has some ability as a senser. She could sense chakra and mask her own sufficiently enough so that she could hide within plain sight of an opponent.

It was this ability, coupled with her Sharingan, which allowed her to copy the space/time jutsu. That and the fact that most laws of physics were nothing but highly advanced mathematical equations. She'd gone through a number of failures before hitting on the exact amount and placement of her chakra. Ibiki, standing with her at the time, had been sucked into the pocket of reality she'd created.

And there they had remained while it became obvious that Sumiko could not immediately return them; her chakra had been completely drained.

She'd attempted, and finally succeeded, at opening the portal for short periods of time. She practiced with the dimension, honing her tolerance for the enormous drain on her chakra, until she could enter and exit it at will. Finally, Sumiko and Ibiki decided to leave the dimension completely when she sensed the grand battle taking place between Izuna and the Jinchuuriki.

"Yeah, but how'd you put Izuna out like that?" Wyatt wanted to know.

"I know the human body better than anyone except for perhaps a medic-nin," Sumiko stated. "Necessary for Taijutsu. I merely touched a few nerves that induce temporary paralysis."

All heads turned to Ibiki, who was striving mightily not to appear affected by his wife's adoring kisses to his arms and chest. "As for what I did, it is also relatively simple. Being skilled in interrogation has afforded me some skill with manipulation of the mind and its workings. I entered Izuna's mind, an ability I refined with the help of Yamanaka Inoichi, and located the various dimensions he was maintaining with his prisoners inside them. I reversed his hold on them, which had the dimensions opening. The rest you know," he finished humbly.

"My hero!" Akane shrieked. "Let's fuck like mad to celebrate!" She dragged him away by a hand.

Itachi was beside himself. "I have never been so proud," he said huskily to Sumiko's red face. "Never."

His other children quite rightly set up a howling din of outrage at this perceived slight to their capabilities. Udon pulled Sumiko into a warm hug.

-oOo-

Fem-Naruto held Yo-chan, who was babbling away in baby nonsense and showing a wizened piece of skin to an attentive Stud-Sasuke. Lee was explaining how admirably the boy had weathered adversity. Both parents tendered their heartfelt thanks to Lee for keeping their son safe. "But what _is _this new toy he's holding?" Stud-Sasuke asked.

"I believe that's Izuna's left ear," Lee said delicately. "Yo-chan's been using it as a teething ring, I'm afraid."

Izuna turned and surveyed them all for a moment, before walking farther away to settle down. He was in desperate need of sleep.

* * *

The next day, Raiden was the first one awake. He felt like shit, and already his body was humming. He might be enjoying a low point in his rut at the moment, but he knew it would come zinging back at full strength before too much longer. He rolled to his side and found his Dad sleepily watching him.

"How you feeling?"

"Okay," Raiden said hoarsely. He got up to head for the woods. He saw Wyatt coming back from there, closing his pants. He also saw the huge flower he'd given him poking over his shoulder with Excalibur. Their eyes met, then Wyatt looked away. Raiden made it to the trees and freed himself to piss.

When he got back to the sleeping group, he saw that Aimi was sitting up and yawning, rubbing at her eyes. He remembered going after her, how she'd enticed him, how he'd bitten her. He owed her an apology for all that had happened in the cave. Now was probably a good time to give it, while he was in control of himself. He walked up and stood in front of her.

"Aimi, I-"

He only caught a glimpse of yellow eyes. After that, he was knocked out of sight by a kick that would have killed anyone else.

Aimi's shriek of "Stay away from me!" woke everyone else up, but Demon had already been awake. He didn't think Raiden had a clue as to what had hit him, poor kid. He met Sasuke's relieved grin, watched Aimi storm off toward the trees in a huff, then rolled back to find what sleep he could. He'd been up all night keeping an eye on Raiden, in case he lost control again. Now that Aimi was back to herself, he and Sasuke could relax their guard a bit.

Raiden didn't come back.

-oOo-

Izuna slept all that day, all that night, and only felt himself recovered the following morning. He addressed the trainees.

"I've seen what you can do. And now that you've seen what I can do, I know beyond doubt that I would not best you again. I very nearly didn't the first time. That I did, I can owe solely to the fact that my techniques were new to you. So then. Let us now take what we have learned and improve it. Sons of Itachi, step forward. The rest of you, watch."

Using all of Itachi's boys, including the triplets, Izuna re-created every encounter he'd had with them, down to each blow and evasion. He lectured the spectators on what had been done wrong, why it was wrong, and what should have been done and why. This took hours, but held everyone in rapt captivation. He held mock battles with the boys, tested them further, but always stopped and corrected them if they were about to execute a move that would have gotten them injured or captured. "Remember," Izuna stated at the close of that day. "Madara will not be looking to train or instruct you, should you come across him. He will kill you." He went on to explain many of his own powers and techniques in detail. Every wielder of Sharingan had their Doujutsu in place.

The next day it was the Sasukes' turn. Rasta-Sasuke sat apart.

The next, it was Itachi's daughters. It was Sumiko's first time battling Izuna, and she did so alone. For himself, Izuna admitted right away that her Taijutsu was to be feared. It was so advanced, coupled with her Uchiha body and Sharingan, as to almost be classified as an art form separate from Taijutsu altogether. Indeed, she combined medical attacks she'd learned from her sister, and her abilities as a senser, to locate and destroy weak places in a person's body. Her personality was so calm and controlled as to make fighting her seem like fighting a stone wall. There was no taunting her, no enticing her to recklessness with insults. She did not make a mistake twice, and every twinge in her opponent's expression or alteration in their breathing was noted, filed away, and used later to the opponent's detriment. Her intelligence only ensured that her blows were accurate to the finest degree.

And that was merely Taijutsu. When Sumiko asked to fight Izuna with weaponry, every person present sat in mute absorption, sweat coating their faces at their strained excitement.

She borrowed a sword from her own uncle Sasuke. Izuna took Stud-Sasuke's blade. The Shinigami were especially vigilant, since they'd never seen this particular Uchiha engage in swordplay.

Izuna wondered if Itachi's seed carried some sort of special element that only manifested itself in his daughters. He could now say that each and every one of them was most likely spawned in hell, and weaned on ruthlessness. He didn't know a single shinobi, outside himself and his brother, who could match these females. It galled and impressed him until he felt sick.

Still, he dug deep and gave a proper account of himself. Sumiko, he could tell, relished this opportunity to go up against a worthy opponent. And the fact that she'd been able to copy his space/time jutsu made his testicles tingle in admiration. An exceptional woman. Rare.

Married.

That was unfortunate. When he called a halt to their battle and declared Sumiko the superior weapon's master, Izuna decided that he did not want to meet Itachi's final daughter, Hiroko. She was probably just as fearsome as the rest, in her own way.

The following day it was the Narutos' turn. Here, too, their battles were reconstructed. Strict attention was paid, questions were asked and answered. Demon got to fight Izuna for the first time, just as Sasuke had done when it had been his turn with the other Sasukes.

The day after that it was Killerbee and Chibi-Gaara, and then Konohamaru, Ibiki and Udon.

-oOo-

Finally, on the last day of training, Izuna stood before Aimi.

She looked at him calmly, her hands clasped in front of her. He saw that she had the presence of mind to not come within twenty feet of him without her yellow eyes. He examined the information he had on her down to the finest detail.

Such a perfect creature, a true blending of Uchiha and Senju. If he thought he could get away with it, he would take her back with him. With such a child, the Uchiha would know power the likes of which had never been theirs. No one in creation could equal her, unless it was her similarly formidable brother. Only the Sage of Six Paths himself could even be considered to have come close.

Izuna clasped his hands behind his back in a gesture like to Aimi's and walked in a slow circle around her. He noted the way she tensed when he was behind her, and how she kept her eyes focused anywhere but on his own. Smart. Tense and wary, but not afraid. "How I wish you were mine," he breathed. He saw her pulse quicken in her throat at hearing that.

Of course taking her was out of the question. It was that kind of thinking that had them all in this predicament to begin with. His brother had wanted Raiden and now Izanami wanted Raiden and Aimi both. He spoke loud enough to be heard by the watching audience, all of whom were sitting in a wide circle around them. "Where is your brother, Aimi?"

"He's unavailable." Her voice carried in the still air.

"How so?"

"He's off losing his mind."

"Indeed. Bring him."

Sasuke objected to that. "Izuna-sensei, Raiden is going through something right now…"

Izuna listened to the explanation, then shrugged. "A true shinobi doesn't let his shortcomings interfere with his duties. One such as he is doubly responsible for maintaining control." He turned back to Aimi. "Bring him. Now."

Aimi Pulled Raiden from his cave.

Raiden was having one of his worse moments. He was hanging onto his mind by a thread, and thus hadn't been tempted to come to his sister again. It also helped that her scent had now changed to one of such pointed aggression that the beast in him chose to steer clear of her. Suddenly in her presence as he was now, Raiden crouched away from her, his red eyes narrowed and his fangs bared.

But there were other females around…

His head swung as he sniffed at the group. Three of the women smelled too combative, too dangerous to be appealing. One smelled too vigilant. One had a distinctly feline scent that made him bristle in disgust. He paused, feeling an urge to chase that one and maul her, but then his attention was caught by a light scent of utter subservience, and meek femininity. He stared at her.

Ururu met Raiden's gaze with some trepidation. She bit her lip.

Izuna watched Raiden with interest. "Aimi."

"Yes?"

"Attack him."

Aimi nearly choked. "Wh-what? But he's-"

"Out of control, I know. This is excellent practice. Suppose your own brother turned on you at some point? Fighting him seriously may become necessary. Do not use Genjutsu or Izanagi."

"But that's the only defense I have against him!" Aimi exclaimed.

Izuna met her pouting face with a hard look.

Aimi sighed. "Can I at least transform?"

"If he does first," Izuna nodded.

Raiden had eyes only for that female. He was just tensing to spring when a knobby fist slammed down on his back. He turned with a snarl, saw who it was, and leapt mindlessly. It was a pure relief to let loose his violence.

Izuna ran commentary. "Notice how Aimi, unable to use Ninjutsu, and not currently linked to her brother, counters Raiden's jutsu with the raw form of her chakra. See, also, how she shapes her chakra into whatever she needs. Was that shield not clever? A pity she took that blow, but look how she recovered so swiftly. Did you see how quickly Raiden transformed and flew away when faced with Aimi's true wrath? Not that it helped him any. That jump Aimi did to snatch him from the sky was nicely done, I must say. Come closer, students, so you can see how she lands her blows to major pressure points. What is that jutsu Raiden did there, does anyone know? Kagutsuchi? Thank you for providing that information, Sasuke, it has been noted. Fearsome attack, that. Was anyone burned? No? Best if you all back away again, then. Ah, that was beautiful, what Aimi did just there, did you see? For any who wonder why Aimi's shrieks make the ears bleed, it is due to her Kyuubi traits. She has few of these traits, but it is said that Kyuubi was able to destroy anything in its vicinity with its roar alone. Young Aimi's voice is far less powerful, but still capable of damage, were she to hone that ability."

And on he went, moving aside when he had to, or dodging the deadly chakra Aimi and Raiden put out. When he asked Aimi to try putting a Genjutsu on Raiden, she exclaimed that she couldn't, that it was as if his mind wasn't there. Izuna thought this noteworthy and called everyone's attention to this fact. Finally he told Aimi to step aside, and she flopped out of her brother's reach with a tired huff.

Izuna walked to the snarling Raiden, reached out a hand, and managed to tap his head before the boy could do more than open his mouth to growl. He shot an intricate web of chakra into Raiden's brain, cancelling out the mating signals he was currently hung up on. Raiden dropped like a load of bricks, dazed. Izuna took the opportunity to touch Raiden's head again and perform a more refined version of what he'd done, one that would last more than a few minutes.

Demon and Sasuke were impressed. Sasuke came up and asked to be shown how to do that.

-oOo-

When Raiden came around, he seemed like his normal self. "It's almost exactly like what Gaara did to me," Demon marveled. He looked at Izuna suspiciously. "You wouldn't happen to be a sex pervert, would you?"

Izuna did not dignify the question with a response, instead turning to the group to announce that his time with them was at an end. It was midmorning of the thirtieth day.

That silenced the group. They stood looking at Izuna somberly. If Izuna had any thought that the silence his announcement caused was due to the fact that he'd be missed, he was quickly disabused of this.

"Who's supposed to go with Aimi to shove Izuna back into Madara's timeline?" Raiden wanted to know.

Some discussion followed this. Raiden was suggested, but this was shot down. Kushina and Mikoto's plan to leave him behind last time was done for a reason; should Aimi be in serious danger, Raiden would need to be removed from the same danger in order to bail her out. After some argument, it was decided that Rasta-Sasuke would accompany her.

"Tomorrow will be time enough," Izuna said. "First thing in the morning, when Aimi is rested. Sumiko, will you walk with me a moment?"

Startled, Sumiko rose from her seat beside Udon and went to Izuna.

* * *

They walked quite some distance, until they were out of sight of the group surrounding the tree. As they walked, Izuna went over his change of heart.

He'd never seen or met anyone like her. The women of his clan, in his time, were proficient fighters true, but none possessed the sheer excellence that Itachi's girls did. Clearly the X chromosome of the Uchiha had undergone some evolutionary process to produce such specimens. And Itachi had mentioned something about his own mother being a prodigy? Still. In his estimation, neither Mikoto nor Itachi's other girls could come close to Sumiko.

He'd never loved before. He took his pleasure where he found it, between wars and during the world's brief times of peace. Trading blows with Sumiko, witnessing her exemplary character -a character he felt was a perfect compliment to his own- he'd been smitten.

Sumiko showed no nerves, but inside she could not imagine what such a man as Uchiha Izuna could possibly want with her. Compared to him, she was nothing.

They stopped near the edge of the large field that stretched to the forest. Izuna turned to her. His long ponytail tossed in a sudden breeze, just as Sumiko's own hair blew across her face. He lifted a hand to move her sable strands aside, and tucked them behind her ear before she could do so herself. She couldn't say why, but the gesture disturbed her. Especially when she noted the way his hand lingered on her neck, and the way he stared at her unblinkingly. She kept her face composed.

But Izuna saw the faint blush on her cheeks, and felt how her pulse throbbed against his palm. Ordinarily he did not go after what wasn't his. Madara, however, had always said that as leaders of the Uchiha clan, they were entitled to whatever the world had to offer. If someone had something you desired, Madara had often lectured, then the object need only be fought for. Izuna did not necessarily believe as his brother did, but Sumiko was too magnificent for him to ignore.

"Uchiha Sumiko," he began formally.

"Yes, Senpai?"

Her voice was respectful. Pleasing. "I would lay claim to you," Izuna stated boldly, but in an equally respectful voice.

Sumiko blinked, afraid to interpret these words at face value. "I…don't understand."

"I would have you to wife," Izuna clarified with a touch of embarrassment of his own. He was unused to courting women.

Sumiko frowned in earnest. "I'm married, Senpai. To Udon. I- I thought you knew that?"

Yes, he did. He knew it very well. "Your husband is unremarkable. And unable to pleasure you, I've heard. I am a better man, better suited to your perfection…and I have knowledge of bed matters." He lowered his voice. "I could pleasure you to screaming madness, if you wish. You would lack for nothing at my side, Sumiko. I am a good man."

That he thought her perfect flustered her greatly. That he seemed to know of her marital problems when she'd told no one left her feeling ashamed and exposed. His declaration of pleasing her…she had to consciously force herself to breathe through her mortification. How could he want her? Outside of Udon's gentle pursuit, she had never been coveted by men. She was not gorgeous like Hiroko, or sexy like the harpies. She was quiet, possessed of an intensely shy nature. "I'm plain," she stammered in utter confusion. What on earth did he see in her to put that light in his eyes? She felt her cheeks burn and put her palms on them, now beginning to tremble.

"Plain? Sumiko…" Izuna stepped closer to her, and slid the hand he had on her neck to her nape. He pulled her slowly against him and held her there. He stared down into her wide eyes. "You are nothing short of exquisite."

"You frighten me," she whispered. In truth she was terrified. No man had ever dared say these things to her, or handle her like this. She had bested Izuna in Taijutsu and weaponry, but she was under no illusions that she could beat him at Ninjutsu or Genjutsu; she did not try to pull away, uncertain as to what his reaction would be.

Izuna offered a smile. "I do not mind your fear. It is healthy for a woman to fear a man, though I will give you no cause to. I will not treat you cruelly."

He was quiet then. Sumiko could not help but be aware of the heat of his lean body, or the way it was steadily warming her own. She realized he expected her to leave Udon and was waiting for her answer. "I- I refuse."

This did not immediately discourage Izuna. "Perhaps I can change your mind?" He leaned down to kiss her, hesitated to see if she would fight or resist, and saw only how frightened she was.

His lips were warm and masterful, but they did not succeed in coaxing Sumiko's apart. Izuna pulled back after awhile and sighed regretfully. He rested a fingertip on the tiny beauty mark under the corner of her left eye, then reluctantly released her and stepped back. She turned and began quickly walking away, hugging herself.

_You take my heart with you, Sumiko,_ Izuna thought with a dull pang in his chest.

He decided to leave that very night. Now, if Aimi was up to it. If he had to spend any length of time around Sumiko, he would resort to Madara's ways and abduct her. The irony of falling in love with a woman the day before he was set to leave was not lost on him. It was fitting that his first love should be so tragic. He began slowly making his way back to the group.

* * *

Once there, he had the remaining trainees gather round while he addressed them. His eyes lingered boldly on Sumiko as he spoke. "I've decided to leave immediately. I feel it's best. Once I am returned, will do everything in my power to stop Madara. It may be that I am successful, and everything will change. The war may never occur."

"Whoah, wait a minute." Demon held up his hands. He wasn't the only one frowning. "If you stop Madara, then you're right. Everything will change. Which means he might not attack the village with Kyuubi when I'm born, which means my mom would go on housing it, and my parents would be alive…but that also means, I might not be who I am, might never be with Sasuke, might never have my kids…a million things would be different, good things. Madara plays too big a part in history for you to try stopping him, Izuna."

There were troubled mutters of agreement to this. Izuna frowned. "This war has the potential to wipe out creation as we know it. Is not an altered existence better than no existence?"

"We might win," Blondie said. "And even if we don't, Sasuke has changed here. I wouldn't have that undone."

It _had _been noted that Rasta-Sasuke seemed different since Izuna's training. He still didn't speak to anyone, but he didn't remain apart from the group now, either. He was most often seen at Blondie's side, but whispers of how he'd saved Itachi had been circulating. Itachi also made sure to tell everyone how Rasta-Sasuke had cared for him.

Itachi spoke now. "My brother wouldn't have died, which means I'd have never met Willow. My triplets would never be born, my daughter Asami might never have been forced to confront what happened to her. So much else would be different. No, Izuna. We will take our chances with the hand we've been dealt. Bringing you here was risky enough."

Izuna saw that their minds were made up, and was finally convinced. He inclined his head. "Very well. I wish you all success. It has been my pleasure meeting all of you."

Udon noted the way Izuna had eyes only for his wife, saw that Sumiko was blushing, and frowned.

Aimi walked up to Raiden, who looked back at her sheepishly. "You okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, feel mostly in control. Izuna's deal is still working in me. I'm sorry about before, Sis. Really." He held up his hand

"It's okay," Aimi smiled. She took his hand in preparation to link with him. "I'm sorry, too."

Tensioned settled around the diminished group. Aimi walked off a short way with Rasta-Sasuke and Izuna. "Be careful," Blondie had whispered to him.

-oOo-

Rasta-Sasuke eyed Izuna and Aimi. "Before you go bombing us-"

"Booming," Aimi corrected.

"Whatever. Before you do, I want to get something straight," Rasta-Sasuke said. "Last time you did this, you came out miles from where Madara was, right?"

Aimi nodded.

"Why?"

"My grannies said not to materialize in their midst. They might get the drop on us before we could react."

Rasta-Sasuke tugged on his bottom lip. "But that's bullshit. You can sense, like, an ant on another world. Which means you can sense where Madara is and exactly what he's doing."

"So?" Aimi blinked up at him. Izuna merely listened to all of this.

"So before you go sending us there, try sensing what he's doing."

Aimi eyes remained open, but now appeared blank. She looked through Rasta-Sasuke. After a moment she spoke. "He's not doing anything. He's sitting on some weird tower thing."

Rasta-Sasuke edged closer to her. "Who's around him?"

"No one."

"At all?"

"Not very close. He's the only one on the tower. The rest of Akatsuki are on the ground."

Rasta-Sasuke put a hand on Aimi's shoulder, bringing her back to the present. "Okay, then listen. You bomb- Boom us to that tower. Get in and out of him as quickly as possible. Freeze time as soon as we land, if you can. Got it?"

"Got it."

The trainees, including one nervous Sasuke and Demon, watched Aimi's chakra swirl away. They turned immediately to Raiden, but he was frowning. "Wow," was all he said.

* * *

Aimi heeded Rasta-Sasuke's instructions well. It was tricky and taxing, but she'd taken care to transform before she Boomed. In this state, she was able to freeze time before her chakra had cleared from the tower. Madara didn't even have time to react.

Rasta-Sasuke and Izuna looked down at the amassed army, all frozen in Aimi's light. "Fuck me," The younger man whispered in awe. "This shit's really going down. What _are _those things?"

"Creatures indigenous to this world. The aliens Raiden and Aimi spoke of." Izuna turned to Aimi. "Quickly."

Rasta-Sasuke saw the way Aimi and Izuna seemingly walked into thin air behind Madara's frozen form. The second they did, Aimi's time freeze vanished.

-oOo-

Madara blinked up at him. Then he smirked. "Come to-" he cut off when Rasta-Sasuke opened several gates, at feeling the heat that blistered his skin.

"I know I can't kill you," Rasta-Sasuke said calmly. "But I can destroy everything here, including a large part of that alien army you got down there. In fact, I think I will."

But Aimi appeared then, froze Madara again, and Boomed them both away.

* * *

Madara frowned at the empty space in front of him. There had been someone standing on his tower, speaking to him. And now the person was gone. He stood hastily and looked over the edge of the tower.

His army was intact. Nothing seemed untoward. Madara sat back down, lost in thought. That person had threatened to destroy his army. And he'd had Mangekyo. Before Madara could do more, a memory surfaced in his mind, one that hadn't been there before. It was of the day he'd decided to take his brother's eyes.

-oOo-

_He'd brought Izuna to an area in the woods that was a favorite spot of theirs. Large mossy boulders formed a wall on one side of a small, burbling brook, while willow trees grew on the other side. He and Izuna were talking idly of this and that, while he worked up the nerve to tell his younger brother why he'd brought him here._

_A girl had appeared and requested Izuna's assistance with something. He'd never seen the girl before, but she was clearly Uchiha. Once she'd taken his brother away, he'd frowned in puzzlement._

_As far as he knew, only he and Izuna could teleport in that way. Who was that child, and what did she want with Izuna? Before he could think further on it, Izuna was returned by the same girl, whose hair was now in a braid instead of lose the way it had been._

_And Izuna looked very different._

_The clothes he'd left in were gone, for one thing. He was tanned, for another, and looked as if more than just two minutes had passed. And the way he looked at Madara, as if he no longer recognized him…_

_Abruptly, he'd decided to take Izuna's eyes without asking, without explaining how it would be better all around for the clan. _

_Strangely, his brother didn't fight him. And when he lay bleeding and eyeless, he'd said something cryptic:_

"_Your obsession with power will one day destroy you. They'll see to it."_

-oOo-_  
_

On the tower, Madara felt a cold shiver wrack his body hard where he sat. That girl. He hadn't known her then, but now he recognized her as the one who was sister to Raiden. The implications turned his bowels to water.

Time. The girl could travel through time, not just worlds. Who knew what she'd learned from his brother? Izuna had never spoken of where he'd gone with her, no matter how Madara had tortured him afterwards. Izuna had died years later with a strange name on his lips. Sumiko. Madara had no idea who that was, but if his enemies knew of his abilities…

No. Focus. He had to focus on the mission at hand and the coming alignment. It would be soon, probably tonight.

But as he closed his eyes and tried to shut out unwanted thoughts, Madara felt a line of sweat trickle down his temple. What had that girl wanted with his brother?

* * *

"That was fast," Raiden commented when his sister came back.

"There was no trouble?" Demon asked.

Rasta-Sasuke was staring into space. "It's really going to happen," he said dreamily. "The war. It's really going to happen."

Blondie went to him and put a hand on his shoulder, but it was Itachi who walked up to him and addressed him. "What did you see?"

"An army." Rasta-Sasuke's voice was losing its trance-like quality. His eyes focused on Itachi's and there was no hate, just fear. "Hundreds of thousands of those things Raiden and Aimi said are so hard to kill. I was about to unleash Fucker on them, but Aimi brought us back. Should I…should we have her send me there again? Take 'em out?"

Itachi put his hand on Rasta-Sasuke's other shoulder and noted how his touch wasn't found repulsive this time. He wanted to ask when the turning point had come for Rasta-Sasuke, when he'd stopped hating him, if he had, but instead answered the question. "I don't think going back there is wise."

"Neither do I," Demon said as he came up. "You might get some of them, but they might overpower you…and anyone who went with you. We're not all going there, either, just in case we don't succeed. That world is hostile, an unknown to us. If we lost, there'd be no one to defend our world when Akatsuki goes there. And I do think they'll be going there regardless. No, we fight them later, as planned, on territory we choose."

Rasta-Sasuke nodded. It was some time before the shock of his news wore off.

-oOo-

"We should be heading back too, I'd like to get a head start," Asami eventually announced. "Need to catch up at the hospital and see if Sakura and Ino are doing any preparations."

"Kenta and I need to get to our workshop," Kenji added. "No telling when this war will hit. We need to stock up on explosives and see that Konoha is supplied-"

"And I should check in with ANBU," Akiko interjected.

Ibiki nodded. "We both should."

Further discussion followed, where it was decided that Kenji, Kenta, the harpies, Juro and Yukio…in fact all Itachi's children save Sumiko, Shouta and the triplets, would return to Konoha. Naturally, their significant others wanted to accompany them, which meant Yumickika, Ikkaku, and Hitsugaya also went. Aimi lifted a hand and Boomed them away.

Demon looked around. "Huh. Seems sort of anticlimactic, our epic training coming to an end with so little fanfare. Aimi, sweetie, how you doing on chakra?"

Aimi shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Why?"

"I just got an idea." He leaned down to whisper in her ear.

Aimi smiled broadly, showing her dimples.

Demon clapped his hands. "Yosh! Aimi and I have a surprise for everyone. Aimi, if you would be so kind?"

Aimi took her brother's hand and concentrated. "Good thing we're linked. Never Pulled from multiple worlds at once. This should be interesting…"

For Raiden, it was a relief to be joined to his sister and feel nothing from her besides her own calm thought processes. He could detect a faint bit of his chakra in her still, but it did not sway her as it had before. And his own brain still hummed with the effects of whatever Izuna had done to him, so he felt okay. He was able to study the novel experience of the way Aimi sought out alternate realities. The drain on his chakra as she Pulled several individuals at once was heavy, but thankfully brief.

* * *

There was a clap of thunderous sound that had everyone quickly throwing their hands over their ears. When Aimi's chakra cleared, the trainees stood staring at the newcomers.

Hiroko stood bewildered with an equally puzzled Queenie, Kage-Gaara and Yanagi.

Inuzuka Hana stood holding a boy and girl in each arm. Hyuuga Hinata stood next to her, cradling another boy in her arms. All three children looked to be one year or thereabouts, and both women looked around warily. Hana was visibly pregnant.

Kage-Naruto was the first to react, running towards Hana with a glad shout. Then the triplets stampeded toward Yanagi, while Kit went running toward Queenie. Hiroko spotted Konohamaru and commenced a wobbly trot in his direction, hair flying.

-oOo-

Itachi walked up to his life partner, who was staring around at all the enthusiastic greetings. "I've missed you, Gaara. I heard about Yanagi…"

Kage-Gaara's attention was snagged. "Yes," he said dazedly. "Itachi, you do realize I was in a meeting? What must those people think at seeing me vanish before their eyes? And at such a critical time in our security too? They'll look high and low for me, be unable to find me, and sound an alarm in all five Great Nations."

Itachi blinked. "You won't be gone long. Come, didn't you miss me? Can't you spare a moment for me?"

Kage-Gaara's worry eased into concern. "Are you all right? Of course I missed you, but the six months are over, and-"

"Just a short time, Gaara. Let me forget everything but what I'm fighting for, for just a short time. Please. That's all I ask."

The crease between Gaara's faint brows smoothed out. He reached up and ran a hand over Itachi's hair, let it trail down his neck and shoulder until it rested on his solid arm. "All right." He smiled suddenly. "Did you know I had my harem closed?"

"You don't say," Itachi smiled against his mouth.

-oOo-

Hiroko ducked her head after her initial wild hug to her husband. "What," Konohamaru asked. He tried to lift her chin so he could kiss her. "You can't be shy all of a sudden, can you? Baby…"

"I'm hideous," she squeaked, torn between laughing and crying. She was so happy to see him, but she'd changed so much…

"Stop saying outrageous things and kiss me already." Konohamaru buried a hand in her hair and gently pulled her head back. He frowned at her wet eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fat!" she burst out, her tears winning over. They ran down to her second chin. "I'm so fat now, look at me!" She covered her face with her hands.

Konohamaru did look, long and hard. He stared from her feet to her head and back, missing nothing. "You certainly are fat, precious. But guess what." He tugged her hands down until she was sniffling up at him. "That just means there's more of you to love."

She blinked doubtfully. "R-really? You don't think I'm ugly?"

"I think you're the most gorgeous creature to ever draw breath. No matter what size you are. How could I see you as anything else?"

"But I'm so heavy!"

"And I'm so strong," Konohamaru laughed. He bent and caught her under her knees, his hand behind her back, as he swung her around. He even threw her into the air a bit so that she bounced in his arms. He didn't seem to struggle at all.

"Oh, Kono-chan!" Hiroko threw her arms around her his neck and kissed him viciously.

Konohamaru indulged himself for several heavenly minutes, before pulling back slightly. "The baby?" he asked softly.

Hiroko smiled. She rested a hand on her mound. "Growing prodigiously."

"And you're okay? When Raiden told me Kabuto had hurt you…"

"I'm fine, darling. Queenie is such a dear to me. He killed Kabuto with this gun-thing he has…"

-oOo-

Queenie was in fact in the process of being inspected most keenly by every Sasuke present. They stood in a tight circle around him, arms folded, Sharingan blazing. They did not look pleased. The differences in Queenie were noted with beady intensity:

His posture was completely different. Instead of standing hip shot, he stood equally on both feet, weight balanced in what was recognizable as a stance of readiness; He carried what the Sasukes knew to be called a gun on one hip, and another, much larger one strapped to his back; He had a weapons holster strapped to one leg, with ninja equipment in it. It was assumed e knew how to use the weapons therein.

But the biggest, most unsettling change of all were his eyes. He had Sharingan, and he had all three tomoes. It was all the other Sasukes could do not to snatch these prized orbs from Queenie's head. Lips were pursed in bitter, bitter resentment.

"And how the fuck did this happen?" Stud-Sasuke wanted to know. He leaned over Queenie's shorter form aggressively.

"Hiroko helped me out," Queenie replied.

His voice, devoid of its high, girlish register, startled them with its masculinity. In fact, the face was also composed and set in lines that could almost be considered…well, not threatening, never that. Perhaps unfriendly. Gone was the fright Queenie usually showed when faced with all the Sasukes.

"Well," Rasta-Sasuke sneered, looking Queenie up and down. "Seems this thing grew a pair. I say we check to see if they're a legit pair or not. After all, having a pair could be faked."

There were sanctimonious nods to this pronouncement. The Sasukes edged closer still, tightening the circle. "Couldn't have put it better myself," Sasuke declared. He 'accidentally' bumped Queenie with his folded arms, making Queenie stagger slightly. "Oops. How clumsy of me."

Kit watched from some feet away. He longed to go to his husband's defense, but knew this was something his partner would have to work out on his own if he was ever to gain any respect. He'd been just as shocked to see the new eyes, and proud to the point of tears. He stood aside with the little girl Kage-Gaara had come with, Yanagi. His jaw clenched when he saw the other Sasukes also bump Queenie deliberately, with false apologies following.

Queenie calmly tried to remove himself from the circle of bodies. The Sasukes didn't budge. He met each pair of menacingly red eyes. "Let me pass."

"Or what?" Jailbird-Sasuke asked casually. He pretended to inspect his sword, drawing it leisurely with a protracted hiss of metal.

Queenie drew and fired almost before the other men could blink. He got each of them in a part of their anatomy that hurt like hell, but posed no immediate danger. He slid the 9 mm back into its holster and turned to step over the five screaming men. "Or that. For starters."

Wyatt ran over to the fallen Sasukes, with the Narutos following closely behind. Hinata also ran to her injured husband, her baby boy handed temporarily to Sumiko. "Sasuke-kun!" She fell to her knees beside Jailbird-Sasuke.

Queenie walked up to Kit, paused, then dissolved into giggles he muffled behind a hand. "That was so much fun."

Kit pulled him into a tight hug. "I am so hot for you right now," he hissed.

"Aw, Sweetness," Queenie chuckled. "You're always hot for me." He let himself be dragged away.

-oOo-

Healed, Jailbird-Sasuke got to his feet looking for revenge. "Leave him, whoever he is," Hinata admonished gently. "You haven't seen me or our son in months. Do I mean so little, then?" She tenderly turned his face until he was looking down at her.

Jailbird-Sasuke reluctantly forced himself to forget Queenie. For now. But the remembered pain of being shot in the leg did not leave his mind. That was for later. He drew Hinata into his arms, resuming the reunion he'd cut short when he'd caught sight of Queenie. "You know you mean the world to me."

Kage-Naruto strolled up with the boy he'd taken from Sumiko, Hana, and his own two children by her. "I've missed you too," he husked. He leaned down to peck her lips, while Jailbird-Sasuke took his other son from Hana and nuzzled the baby's stomach. Hana handed Kage-Naruto his daughter, before leaning in to nip his nose in a playful bite. Kage-Naruto gave an approving growl before drawing her closer and kissing her soundly. He splayed one large hand on her stomach.

-oOo-

Demon watched with envious eyes. "Christ, would you look at that? That bastard has got the ideal set up!"

Sasuke, also recovered from his leg wound courtesy of Wyatt, glared at Demon. "Ideal, huh? Having a man and two women you mean?"

"I mean _think _of the sex they must have! Foursomes, oh _God_." Demon groaned in acute jealousy. "Hana. Think of it. The hottest chic, and Hinata, the second hottest chic, at his fucking beck and call. _And _a Sasuke of his own, Jesus. See what being Hokage gets you? Lucky son of a bitch!" He elbowed Sasuke while never taking his eyes off Kage-Naruto and his reunited family.

"So what you're saying is that you wish you had Hana for yourself. Do I have that right?"

Demon glanced distractedly over at Sasuke. "C'mon, she's hot. You can't say she isn't."

"Oh, I can't?"

Demon finally caught on to the frosty tone of Sasuke's voice and turned to him. "What?"

"You'd rather be with her than me?"

"Are you shitting me? You're pitching one of your bitch fits now when-"

"Bitch fit-!"

"-we've finally finished the training and should be united against the coming war? All I said was the man was lucky. How can you possibly hold that against me?"

Sasuke wanted to punch him. "You also said Hana was hot."

"I've always said Hana was hot."

"Maybe. Just hadn't realized you were lusting after Hinata as well. So you want her too, then?"

"You are _un_believable. I'm with you, aren't I?" Demon started to turn away peevishly.

_Poof. _"Maybe you'd like me better if I looked like this."

Naruto turned back and found an annoyed, scantily clad Hinata. Scanty as in she only had on the buckskins Sasuke had been wearing for the past few months. Demon drooled. "Hells yeah, baby, come to _daddy!_" He reached eagerly towards Sasuke/Hinata's chest.

Sasuke did punch him then. By now everyone not off reuniting with loved ones was starting to take notice of the escalating argument.

Demon wiped blood from his lip. He spoke while looking at the red stain on his thumb. "Why is it that you fucking Neji all those years ago was fine, but me even thinking about some woman is tantamount to the vilest betrayal? Yeah, you look like a woman right now, but it's still _you _asshole. I'm not cheating on you." His voice held a thoughtful quality that made Sasuke's scalp prickle; his demon was good and pissed now.

"It's because I look different that you're all excited," Sasuke explained tightly. "Like a woman. Women excite you. Hana excites you. I fucked Neji, but you were right there. You digging this Henge is like I'm not there at all. Like you prefer the women to me. Like I'm not enough for you."

"But I'm _with _you," Demon said in puzzlement. "If you weren't enough, wouldn't I say so? Only an Uchiha- no, scratch that. Only _you _would come up with such bullshit reasoning."

Sasuke bridled dangerously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you're a drama queen of the first degree," Demon said succinctly. "It's okay for you to fuck another man, but not okay for me to think women are hot. You are such a fucking hypocrite."

Sasuke stepped right up to him, mashing his breasts against Naruto's stomach as he looked up at him. "Well if you like this body so much, maybe I should wear it all the time," he challenged. He felt reckless anger all of a sudden, a need to indulge in violence. His nipples tightened with it and moisture pooled between his thighs.

Demon caught the signs of arousal mixed with aggression, and searched Sasuke's now-pale eyes. "I wouldn't mind spicing up our sex life," he said carefully. "I always indulge your weird kinks…but let's be clear: I didn't ask for this. You started it."

Sasuke let out a growl of outrage that came out sounding like a shriek. He spun away in a whirl of blue-black hair. "I knew it! You just couldn't refuse, you horny fucking bastard!"

_Poof. _"How 'bout a compromise, then?" Demon asked.

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder and felt his jaw drop. In Demon's place stood one topless Hyuuga Neji, smirking sexily.

There was stunned silence. Heads looked back and forth between the two topless Hyuuga. Raiden covered his mouth and concentrated on not throwing up. Aimi bounced on her toes, clapping happily. She thought it was a fabulous show.

"Well," Sasuke said slowly as he faced Demon again. "I suppose…that…might be all right. Just this once, though."

The spectators watched the way demon and Sasuke flew at each other, kissing madly. Raiden folded himself away. The original Hinata turned her face into Jailbird-Sasuke's shoulder. He stroked her hair comfortingly.

"Does anyone else find the sight of two Hyuuga kissing to be grossly disturbing?" Konohamaru said with a gulp.

* * *

Lee, who'd opted to return to Konoha with the others after a very tearful, very heartfelt, and very painful goodbye to Yo-chan, leaned in the doorway to the small office physicians on call used. He studied the entire back of the pink-haired woman inside with critical eyes. He could see stress and overwork in the way she bent over the desk to scribble something in a file. He caught the nervous, absent way she tucked a lock of her hair behind one ear. It was long, and even as he watched, the bun she had it done up in fell out of place. It unrolled in a thick tail to the middle of her back, where the coil quickly spun loose. The pen that had been holding the bun in place clattered to the linoleum with a faint sound.

-oOo-

Sakura just rested her hands on the desk, atop her files, and sighed. She was so exhausted. She hung her head and felt the muscles in her neck and back pull with a twinge that actually felt good. Her arms trembled with fatigue. She was too tired to even fix her hair.

A foul smell of unwashed skin hit her nose, just before a pair of strong, hard hands settled on her shoulders. Chakra gathered in her fist at the same time she pivoted to defend herself.

Her deadly blow was caught easily.

"Lee!" she cried. Then she sagged into his arms, her brief rush of adrenaline leaving her. "You scared me…oh my god, you're _here_!"

Lee chuckled softly throughout her frenzied kissing of his cheeks and eyes. He withstood the hands she sent running over his neck and arms good-naturedly, but he soon took hold of her shoulders and held her at arm's length. "And you're over-worked. As usual. Are there really so few medics here?"

Sakura looped her hands behind his neck and pulled herself closer to his stinking, solid body. She pressed herself against him, liking how soft and feminine he made her feel. "It's not hospital duties. It's prepping the village for war, inventorying supplies, all the things Kakashi-sama has every able-bodied Jounin doing. We're all exhausted, not just me. And it's not his fault," she rushed to explain when Lee stiffened in her arms. "The Daimyo is leaning heavily on him; all the Daimyo of the major countries had to be informed about the threat of Akatsuki. Every nation will be affected, and thus every nation is leaning on their military might to make sure they're ready…which happens to be the hidden villages…which means Konoha is being pushed just as hard. There just aren't enough people to go around."

Lee passed his hand over her hair in a soothing gesture she ordinarily found very irritating. That she allowed it now spoke volumes. "Well, I'm here now. Training is over. I'll help in whatever way I can, of course." His hands went to her tense shoulders and kneaded the kinks he found there. "Tell me what you need me to do."

"Mmm, that feels good," she murmured. Her eyes drifted closed around a sigh of rare relaxation. "I've missed you so much. Can't believe you're finally here."

"Me either. I didn't think training would ever end."

"How was it?"

"Informative. Exhilarating. Unforgettable."

"Sounds like fun."

"It was. I'm probably the only one who thought so," he said with a weak laugh. It was little better than an exhalation of air.

"I'll bet. Ooh, lower, Lee."

He shifted his hands to her shoulder blades, still kneading and massaging. "And how's my bride?" he whispered. He dropped his chin to her hair, breathing in the clean scent of her. "Besides overworked and sleep-deprived?"

"Feeling a little deprived of other things, now that you're here. Lower."

"Oh?" His hands slid to the small of her back and fisted the shallow depression there, making her arch in enjoyment. "Do tell me about it."

"Gee, it's been so long. I was hoping to engage in a demonstration instead…lower."

Lee slid his hands over her ass and cupped the firm globes through her white medic's jacket. He held her pressed to his groin in this manner and lifted his head, just as she looked up at him.

Sakura studied her man, really scrutinized him. His dark eyes were a little sad. There were faint lines around his mouth, and at the corners of his eyes. His pep, his zing, his special element that was entirely Rock Lee, was missing and she suddenly intuited that her effervescent husband was hurting. She reached up a hand to stroke his cheek with her knuckles. "It's that baby, isn't it. Did he d-…was he hurt?" she amended her question.

Lee shook his head. "I left him. I had to. He belonged with his parents. He cried, Sakura. He really cried, but then his fathers and sisters comforted him, and I saw the way he clung to them when he realized I wasn't coming back. He belongs with them. He loves them still, and that's good. That's…as it should be." He closed his eyes hard.

Sakura felt tears well up in her own eyes with understanding. "But you wanted to keep him. You thought maybe, even if it was a wild and impractical idea, that he'd choose you over his family."

Lee nodded painfully. "That's horrible of me. They placed him in my care for his safe-keeping, not so I could steal him away." His face clenched around the knot of pain in his chest. "I miss him. Miss the way he used to kiss my cheeks and say my name."

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat. Then she leaned on tiptoe and kissed his salty lips. "I'm so sorry." She kissed him again, lingering this time.

Reminded of all that he still had, Lee responded. It was soft at first, but the kiss gained a little urgency as his love for Sakura washed over the love he'd had for Yo-chan. He still had her pressed to his hips. His love manifested itself in other ways now and Sakura gasped at feeling his arousal, gasped in need and pleasure and welcoming desire.

He walked backward, still kissing her, and closed the office door. He locked it for good measure and leaned against it. He had only to reach beneath the hem of Sakura's tunic and rip her soaked panties away, since she'd already wriggled out of her pants. He lifted her and sank her down on his stiff length in one slow move. Sakura wilted against his neck, whimpering. When he released her hips, effectively supporting her on his cock alone, the added depth and pressure this caused Sakura had her coming suddenly and violently. Her legs tightened around him as she buried her face in his shoulder, choking back her sobs. She convulsed hard enough to have the door rattling in its frame.

Lee enjoyed her climax until the last vise-like convulsion died away. Only then did he slide down to a sitting position, hug her close, and begin moving her on him. Nice and slow. They were too tired for anything wild and energetic. She took over the movements and came again, sighing his name. When he followed her some minutes later, she leaned back to cup his face in her hands. "We'll make our own little baby," she gasped. She was coming a third time. Her words ended on a tiny shriek of fulfillment. "I promise."

* * *

Kaito ran home, found it empty, then ran to the Hyuuga estate. Neji's younger son Seiji opened the gate and hastily answered Kaito's urgent question. "She's inside, training with Dad and-" He trailed off; Kaito had sped out of sight.

Sounds of combat met him first, followed by the cool gusts he knew to be blasts of Kaiten or other Hyuuga jutsu. Kaito pulled up short at entering the rooms that used to be private holding cells. They had been widened, tiled, and converted to training rooms when Hinata took over the clan.

Hanabi was in the process of delivering what Kaito recognized as the Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms technique to Neji, who was countering with the exact same maneuver. The blows were blindingly fast, and hard enough to make Kaito wince where he stood. Hinata stood by and attacked with her own jutsu whenever she felt Hanabi showed a blind spot.

Kaito experienced the hardest erection he ever had in recent memory.

His wife was magnificent. Her Byakugan only called attention to her fierce scowl of concentration. The way she dipped and spun, her ponytail flying, made him catch his breath. He hadn't seen her this ferocious since…since that mission to Earth Country when they'd been teens. She was brutal in her aggression, and Kaito saw again the proud, no-nonsense girl he'd fallen in love with when he was twelve.

A cry to his left had him turning his head. He saw the Hyuuga Elders sitting against one wall, not only watching Hanabi's match, but that of Hiroshi and…Miki. His own daughter.

Hiroshi noticeably held back, but Miki displayed quite a bit of cunning and determination with her attacks, if not much physical strength. She used Uchiha techniques for the most part. These were katon and the like, but she also supplemented with trademark Hyuuga jutsu, a watered-down version of Gentle Fist. Suddenly noticing something about his daughter, Kaito edged nearer for a closer look.

"That is quite a fighter you have for a daughter," one Elder remarked quietly. The others sitting with him nodded. "She lives up to both the Uchiha name, and the Hyuuga legacy."

Kaito glanced at him and saw that he was holding a baby. Another second, and he realized it was his own son, Taro. The boy had grown significantly in one month. He walked over and gently plucked his son up from the aged man's lap. The boy began crying immediately, not remembering his father. Kaito gently bounced him up and down, a hand cupping his head. He put the pacifier attached to Taro's bib in his squalling mouth and murmured soft words to him. Taro quieted. Kaito looked toward his daughter again and saw that she'd been briefly knocked down. She sprang back up with murder in her eyes.

"She is a fighter," he confirmed to the Elders after a moment. "I think it's something to do with the females in my family. Where are my other girls?"

One of the Elders pointed, and Kaito found them grouped around Seiji, who'd returned. He engaged in a mock battle with them, trading light blows. It was play to Seiji, but Kaito saw that his girls were serious. He looked back at Miki, who was now drawing in breath to release Gokakyu. Her eyes were red with an immature Sharingan.

* * *

Asami had gone directly to the hospital and found Sakura exiting the office with a look she recognized. She snorted. Some things never changed.

They greeted and hugged briefly, before Sakura put Asami directly to work. As such, it was some time before she thought to report to the Hokage that she was returned.

She and Lee and met Akiko, Akane, Ibiki and her brothers all on their way to the Hokage building. "You guys forget too?" she asked them.

"Got hung up at the workshop," Kenji hedged.

"I fell asleep in the medic's office at the hospital," Lee clarified.

"I found out the academy's been closed," Hiroto responded.

"ANBU is swamped," Akiko announced. "They've got patrols out everywhere, scouting for the first sign of Akatsuki."

Ibiki and Akane said things were quiet at the their branch of ANBU, but Asami noted that they had the same look Sakura had. They each had their excuses for not reporting in earlier, but they made their way to the Hokage's office as one, still discussing their return to the village. They were showed in without delay.

* * *

Kakashi stood up and came around his office. "At last. You're back." His eye scanned them. "Where are the rest of you?"

"On the training world," Kaito replied. "Though a few of the Shinigami came back with us. Byakuya opted to keep the rest near Aimi and Raiden, the only ones capable of sending them back to Soul Society. His words, not mine."

"That's distressing," Kakashi muttered. "We need to go over the plan for moving the fight elsewhere to spare this world and the weak and elderly. Has there been any word on Akatsuki?" He saw them exchange a serious glance. "What is it?"

Ibiki, as the eldest present, took it upon himself to report. "Hokage, it has been learned that Akatsuki has amassed an army of highly resilient creatures indigenous to their location."

"How many?"

Ibiki paused. "Hundreds of thousands."

Kakashi kept his eye trained on Ibiki. The aged Jounin's tone said there was something more to this. "How resilient?"

"I only know what I'm told, not having fought them myself," Ibiki said. "But they possess no weaknesses, no chakra, and no thoughts that humans can manipulate. They can withstand the strongest jutsu any of us can perform. To date, there are only two who can destroy them. Raiden and Aimi. It is believed that one of the Sasukes is also able to kill them, with a move he has created, but that is all."

And Raiden and Aimi were needed to fight Akatsuki, if the Bijuu army failed. Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Make yourselves comfortable. I need a full report on everything that's happened in the time you've been gone. Do we know for sure if Izanami will be making an appearance?"

"Negative," Ibiki answered. "But she made an attempt to capture Raiden when he visited Suna some weeks ago, via one of her _Shikome._ Wyatt came to his aid."

That was a shock. Kakashi recovered quickly. "And what of the Bijuu army?"

"Trained and awaiting the call."

This pronouncement made something niggle in the back of Kakashi's mind, but there was so much else on his mind that he ignored it for the moment. He would examine the fleeting thought later. "I see. Has a strategy been devised?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. It has been reasoned that magic will be our best defense. The strategy is simple in theory: Extract the Bijuu from Akatsuki, that is step one. Step two would be to kill Izanami, or else defeat her sufficiently so that Akatsuki's souls return to their resurrected bodies. The final step is to then kill the mortal Akatsuki members. With Izanami defeated, she would not be able to resurrect them again."

Kakashi frowned. He sat back in his chair and cupped one elbow as he covered one side of his face with a hand. "I see flaws in this plan. For instance, what is to be done with the Bijuu once they are extracted?"

"It is hoped that the triplets-"

Kakashi interrupted Ibiki by holding up a hand. "The triplets? Do you mean Itachi's youngest children? What have they to do with this?"

That required hours of explaining. Kakashi finally received the full report on their time away. When it was done, he sat with his chair turned sideways, presenting his visitors with his profile. He stared at his wall, deep in thought. When he'd at last digested everything and felt he could go on, he gestured for Ibiki to continue.

"As I was saying, it is hoped that the triplets will be able to teleport them elsewhere. Them or Wyatt."

Kakashi stared at Ibiki until all in the room, Ibiki most especially, felt distinctly uncomfortable. "Hoped?" Kakashi said in a near whisper. "_Hoped?_ Don't tell me this entire plan hinges on what three babies are _hoped_ to be able to do? Can they extract the Bijuu even?"

"Ryota says his spell is done, yes."

"And you expect the triplets or Wyatt to transport the Bijuu elsewhere. Fine. How do you expect either Wyatt or the triplets to fight Izanami or defeat her, if she makes an appearance? Would they have the energy to do so after the extraction?"

Ibiki lowered his eyes, unable to answer.

"Or what if Izanami doesn't make an appearance?" Kakashi pressed relentlessly. "How are we to get to her in order to defeat her?"

Still silence. Akane bit her tongue to keep from going to her husband's defense. He would lose face before the Hokage if she showed such insolence.

Kakashi went on. "What I'd like to know is this: If Izanami is defeated and Akatsuki repossessed of their souls, what is to stop all the souls in the underworld from also walking free?"

No one seemed to have an answer.

Kakashi studied them a moment more, before assigning them duties and dismissing them curtly. They got up and filed silently from his office.

* * *

When Asami made it home, she paused on the threshold and wondered why she was alone in her house. Then she remembered. Akiko was staying in her own place with Ikkaku, and Akane was presumably in her own place with Ibiki or else at his place. She closed her door softly and just stood in her dark foyer.

It felt simultaneously wonderful and restricting to be under her own roof once more. Her house held the smell she'd always associated with it: girly products from herself and her sisters. She inhaled deeply, then walked towards the kitchen with the bag of take-out she'd gotten. She hadn't had a ryou on her for food, but all Uchiha had a line of credit at several establishments. She flicked on her kitchen lights.

Hitsugaya was standing near her fridge, apparently waiting for her.

"Oh, I thought-" she stopped herself. She hadn't actually known where he'd gone when she'd left for the hospital. She'd left him in her uncle's house, where Aimi had Boomed them all. "I didn't know you'd be here." She set the plastic bag on the table.

"Do you object?"

She shook her head. It felt strange being alone with him in her house. She had been before of course, but that was…well, before. Before training and everything. Before six months had passed. Before their time had been reduced so drastically. Now their time was short and she felt tense. She knew how she felt about him. _He _knew how she felt, she'd made sure of that. And still he was content to go on without telling her how he really felt about her. Maybe he felt nothing? What if she was just something to pass the time while he was stuck here? Oh God.

She stood at her sink, shaking.

Hitsugaya came over to her and tried to touch her arm. "What's wrong?"

Asami had had enough. She turned, and for the first time Hitsugaya saw the side of her personality that had been most dominant before she'd gone to Wyatt's world. "What's wrong? Nothing. Nothing is wrong," she seethed, "except I'm tired of living on tenterhooks, waiting for you to tell me if you feel anything for me at all. Do you realize we were the only couple on the training world not to sneak off and fuck whenever we had the chance? All we ever did was kiss. Even Shouta got laid! Maybe I really do mean nothing to you, but if that's the case then please let me know so I can move the fuck on!"

Asami regretted this outburst the moment she'd snapped her mouth closed. Her hands flew to her flaming cheeks and tears filled her eyes. If he really said she meant nothing…

Hitsugaya stepped to her and kissed her. Hard.

-oOo-

It was some breathless moments later before Asami felt capable of actual thought. Quite apart from the fact that he'd never been the aggressor during their kisses, the shock of feeling him press his body to hers had her moaning in wanton need. She hadn't had a man in a long time. Too long for her young body. Coupled with her devastating love for him, Hitsugaya's advance threw her past rational thought altogether and into a fury of desire. Her arm went behind his neck to drag him closer, matching his kiss.

Hitsugaya did not lose control. Ever. But seeing her, her flash of brilliant anger and love, he'd felt some of his resolve to remain in control of himself dissipate. Then he was kissing her without consciously planning to do so and she was all fire and hungry heat. He had the presence of mind to lift her and stumble up the stairs of her house to her bedroom. After that, he was lost.

-oOo-

The Captain for the 11th Division's famously icy exterior cracked, thawed, and was at last melted in the storm of passion that followed. Asami's heat, her desire for him, continued to melt him until, when at last all his cold control was gone, his own passion was laid bare. Unleashed, it was limitless, quite as fiery as her own.

There was no restraining her. He was likewise unstoppable in his exploration of her. Freed at last to give in to centuries of curiosity that had been ruthlessly suppressed, Hitsugaya was violent, fierce, stern and demanding. Her screams of pleasure did not deter him, but spurned him on. There was no time to ask how or to learn what he was supposed to do; things just happened, either guided by her animalistic and wordless vocalizations or by his own feverish inquisitiveness. When his length found its way inside her, they both stilled for the barest of seconds. The sweetness of joining was unbearable. But then she drew him to her, kissed him, wrapped her legs around him, and Hitsugaya felt explosions go off in his mind, heart, and body.

He learned the rhythm quickly, mastered it, and implemented it with the stamina of his race, the finesse of his own attention to detail. What he lacked in experience, he made up for in his determination to go on, despite finishing too early the first few times. And when Asami at last showed him how to fulfill her own needs, he mastered this too after a few tries. He was not shy or ashamed at anything she asked of him. He applied himself willingly, and when she cried out in release –for the second time- he knew a moment of crushing pride.

She asked to rest. He let her, laying quietly at her side, gazing at her shining face. They stared into each other's eyes, breathing deeply.

Then she rolled him to his back and proceeded to show him that there was much more to the union of a man and woman.

He thought to stop her from doing some of the things she attempted, but she overrode him. And rode him. At one point he had to bite his lip or risk screaming…he buried both hands in her hair where her head bobbed expertly, but the scream was wrenched from him despite his best efforts. He had his revenge shortly afterward, when her thighs clamped hard around his own head. He sucked hard on the nub of flesh he'd learned could undo her and she was indeed undone again. And again. And again.

And then he climbed over her and sank himself to the hilt in her heated body. Her nails dug into his back as he began moving. He caught her wrists and held them down by her head. She sobbed his name, and he knew that if he lived as long as the Captain Commander, he'd never get enough of seeing her like this. Naked and sweating and gasping his name.

* * *

Madara had been able to regain his deep meditation despite the nasty shock he'd gotten that morning. His chakra was undisturbed. He had not used it since the girl and those two women had come. It pulsed strongly, steadily, powerfully within him, ready and waiting to be used.

The planets were aligned enough for him to begin, he saw. He closed his eyes now and inhaled deeply. Finally.

He'd spent the last few months going over and over how to create an interplanetary corridor using his space/time jutsu, and reasoned that he had the logistics worked out. He spoke to Konan who was beside him again. "I will remain here until all have passed through. You must be the first, in order to secure whatever area we come out in." He sensed her bowing in acknowledgement.

He took a single moment to concentrate. Then he held up his hands toward the sky, activated his Mangekyo, and unleashed every ounce of his considerable chakra. The tower had been built to put him as near to space as possible; every advantage Madara had would help facilitate success.

The rest of Akatsuki watched from the base of the tall tower they'd built as a rent in reality cycloned in the air. A black hole, darker than the night sky around them and at least two hundred yards across, opened and yawned. Konan leapt through. That was their signal.

One Akatsuki member followed suit with one hundred thousand aliens each. This process took time, no matter how quick they were, and before long Madara felt the strain. The opening began to shrink.

* * *

Wyatt sat with the Shinigami, Aimi, Shouta, Yanagi and the triplets. 'Bee and Chibi-Gaara were napping. Everyone else had run off with their significant others. He idly watched Masaru and Kei practicing the spell that required five hundred hand seals. "Why don't you guys enchant the blades now so that they're ready when you need them?" he asked them.

Ryota answered while slowly flipping the pages of his notebook, He was running through the spells he'd written there, searching for flaws. "Because we've discovered Raiden's imitation Sword of Totsuka only lasts about twenty minutes. After that the power bleeds away from the blade, too great to be confined to simple metal for long. So we need to be able to do the spell on command, without mistakes. And these two need to be synchronized."

"And Ryota wants us to be able to do it in less than an hour," Kei complained.

"So far we're down to forty-five minutes," Masaru added.

Just then Shouta stood up, hesitated, then glanced at Yachiru. She caught the look, cast a glance at Kenpachi's sleeping back, then stood and ran lightly to Shouta. The two disappeared into the dark outside Wyatt's barrier. They saw Yachiru's reiatsu flash as she kept the flying creatures away.

Ryota was shocked. "Wait till dad hears about _that._" He shuddered in disgust at the thought of his brother kissing a girl, or worse, touching one. "Ugh."

Wyatt, though, was thoughtful. There was someone he wanted to talk to, but guessed that now was a bad time. It was just…they didn't know how much time they had left, and he needed answers. He switched from watching the triplets, to watching Aimi and Yanagi chatter happily.

* * *

Sumiko cleared her throat in shame and embarrassment. "Um, Gaara? Kage-Gaara?" she kept her voice to a whisper. She had to repeat herself several times, but at last her father and Gaara broke apart from their kissing. They peered up at her through the dark.

Gaara shifted in the pile of leaves he and Itachi had been rolling in. He sat up halfway. "Sumiko?" he said in disbelief. "What on earth-"

She wrung her hands wretchedly, displaying nerves when she never showed anything but calm control. "I'm sorry, so sorry, but I need to talk to you."

Gaara met Itachi's eyes, received a nod of permission, and drew his clothes from the pile he'd set them in. Sumiko turned and walked a few paces away to wait.

-oOo-

Gaara tucked his hands beneath his armpits, cold now that he wasn't near Itachi's body. He walked up to Sumiko and waited patiently to hear what could possibly be so urgent. He was rather surprised she'd been able to find them. "What is it?" he asked.

Sumiko wondered where to begin. "I need help."

"So I gathered. With what, may I ask?"

But Sumiko couldn't bring herself to say it. She dropped her head, staring at her shaking hands. She whispered something.

"I didn't catch that, sorry. Speak up."

"I said…mshdf." Her words trailed into mumbling.

Gaara leaned closer to her. "I can't hear you. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer your father-"

"Sex!" Sumiko burst out. She closed her eyes in horror. "I need help with my sex life."

Gaara blinked. "I…see." He fashioned a chair from his sand, and used the process of sitting in it to hide his urge to laugh. He regarded her with composed features when he was in control of himself once more. She stood looking down at him expectantly, apparently waiting for his solution. He shrugged his shoulders, hands spread. "I'm afraid you'll need to give me more than that if you expect my help, Sumiko."

"Such as?"

"Such as what the problem is to begin with?"

"I…I don't know. That's why I need your help."

Gaara put the situation in terms she could understand. "What you're asking is the same as me coming up to you and asking you to solve this mathematical equation." He gestured at the air.

She looked where he pointed, saw nothing. "What equation?"

"Exactly. You're not telling me anything. I must have the variables of the problem if I'm to solve it."

"Oh." She colored. "But…I…I can't say those things."

Gaara stifled his urge to snort. He knew how shy this particular daughter of Itachi's was, how painfully self-conscious. That was probably half the problem right there. "Very well. You'll have to answer my questions then."

"All right."

"Is the sex satisfying?"

She needed several tries before she could answer. "Well…I like when…when he touches me, but…well, I think it's not going as well as it should?"

"Why do you think that?"

"It feels nothing like the harpies describe."

"Sex is different for everyone."

"I'm…I'm not finishing the way they said people finish."

"Do you mean you're not reaching orgasm?"

Sumiko nodded.

Gaara glanced up at where Itachi lay apparently sleeping. He wondered what the man would do if forced to supply his daughter with advice of this nature. Probably faint. He turned back to Sumiko. "That's unfortunate, but not uncommon. Has Udon been made aware of this?"

"I guess so. He asks what he can do to please me, but I don't know."

"Is he willing to do whatever you ask?"

"I don't ask him to do anything."

"Why not?"

"What would I ask him to do?"

Gaara crossed his legs. "May I be indelicate for a moment? How _does_ Udon touch you?"

"Normally."

"Above the waist?"

"Yes."

"Below the waist?"

Sumiko ducked her head. "I…don't really like that."

"Why not? Most women find it essential to reaching fulfillment."

"I just don't."

"Well, you must have experienced it to not like it. What happened when he touched you below the waist?" He took care not to mention genitalia; her sensibilities were to easily embarrassed.

"It felt strange. Like…like I was coming apart." That was all she would say.

Gaara sat back in his chair and studied her bowed head. He was hard pressed to find a solution to her problem when she would tell him so little. Nevertheless, he thought hard.

He considered what he knew of Sumiko. She was intelligent, and controlled to a fault. This made her an excellent ninja, but a very narrow person when it came to interacting with anyone. She was not demonstrative in anyway. She wasn't like Blondie, no. Never that. But if Sumiko ever came across a situation she was not in complete control of, then she set about finding a way to obtain control.

But no, that was inaccurate. She did not set out to control her surroundings, so much as she controlled her own immediate vicinity. Anything she was likely to come in contact with, in other words. No doubt while Udon had been courting her, she'd felt at ease. But now that sex had entered the equation, there went any control she'd had in the relationship. Passion was not controlled, neither was pleasure. Any attempt to do either resulted in this predicament.

He wondered if Sumiko was passionate. He didn't think so. She was not fiery or wild or given to reckless bouts of emotion. No, she was more the sensual type. Someone who liked to be in control. Knowing firsthand just how ruthless she could be when intent on winning a battle or training, Gaara thought maybe he'd discovered the problem, and so its solution.

His heart went out to poor Udon. How the man must be suffering, not to bring his wife to fulfillment. He cleared his throat. "Sumiko? You love your husband, correct?"

She looked up with wide, dark eyes. "Yes. Unconditionally."

"Then you must trust him. Give him leave to pleasure you as I'm sure he's able to do."

"But-"

"But if you feel you can't then there is another way," he interrupted.

"How?"

Gaara explained how some women only found pleasure when dominating their partners. "There is an entire subculture of women like this, with a wide array of toys and fetishes. Whips, leather, harnesses, rope-"

"Oh, I could never do that!"

"No, I didn't think so. But you can have Udon do only what you ask of him, go only as far as you want. Be vocal. Communicate. Tell him he must stop when you say, and continue when you say, and that you must be in control in order to reach your pleasure."

Sumiko frowned doubtfully. "Do you really think that will work? I'm…not bossy like the harpies."

"I think you'll surprise yourself, Sumiko. Yes, I do think that there is a strong dom lurking inside you. If I'm wrong, I will be surprised myself."

"But…Udon's so sweet. I could never disrespect him that way. My place is to obey him."

"You don't have to be disrespectful when in control. It's true that many women feel excited by the power dominating affords them. It is the only way they can achieve fulfillment. But there are also women for whom dominating is about safety and comfort. I believe you are one of the latter. If you know that you are in complete control of your pleasure, where it is administered and for how long, then I think you would loosen up a lot. You need only establish the proper rules and boundaries between you and Udon beforehand. You can obey him and be his dutiful wife by day, and still receive pleasure at night. Rules often change in the bedroom. In fact, many couples devise a special set of rules solely for the bedroom, completely separate from their normal day-to-day life. I'm sure you'll discover a method that works best for you and Udon. However, I'm afraid that's all the advice I have." He stood up and let his chair dissolve into his gourd.

Sumiko got to her feet and thanked him. She left uncertainly, going over everything in her mind.

* * *

Madara surveyed the goddess with hooded eyes. "Your assistance was timely."

Izanami had appeared in her wispy form just as the portal to their world was closing with less than half of Akatsuki and their minions through. She kept it open. Madara had been able to conserve his chakra and strength, and direct the rest of his army through with haste. Already the planets had been shifting away from their alignment. Their window of opportunity was nearly gone by the time he, the very last, leapt through.

Now that they were all safely through, Madara stood at the head of his army, with his Jinchuuriki ranged behind him in a line, and their minions ranked behind them. Izanami floated before them all.

"The children are not here," Izanami informed them. "I sense them elsewhere, but they were here briefly. They will return eventually. See that all three are captured and turned over to me when then are. In the meantime, tear this world apart. Begin with the birthplace of Raiden, his sister, and their parents. Nothing brings an opponent to their knees quicker than burning the ties that bind you humans together. And Madara," the goddess warned. "Fail me this time and you will know a fate worse than death. Worse than your current soulless state. Worse than anything you can imagine. Need I repeat that?"

Madara bowed. "No, Goddess."

Izanami regarded him silently for a moment. "My own army will be here when the children are sensed. Not before."

With that she was gone.

-oOo-

Madara surveyed his surroundings. Mountain Country. Konoha was a long way away. "Orochimaru, see if you can round up any lingering followers of yours. That goes for all of you who have subordinates who thought you were dead. Our resurrection should instill the proper amount of respect and fear. Zetsu…you know what to do. Let us see how much we can accomplish in twenty-four hours."

They all had their instructions, but they didn't move. They took a moment to savor the return to their world. The plants were only plants, the dirt only dirt. The air was light and fresh; it was like coming home to find your world had been transformed into a paradise. They breathed deeply, heads back, looking at the sky.

They were home. It seemed a miracle. There was food and water in plentiful supply. The stars were familiar, the landscape familiar. Everything was familiar and fine. They'd made it.

The peaceful quiet was broken by Hidan. "Does anyone feel so grateful that they want to abandon the mission?" He was met with several glares. "Just checking."

* * *

Wyatt finally plucked up the nerve to seek out the one he wanted answers from. He orbed.

-oOo-

They were in a clearing in the woods. All four of them naked, glistening, and obviously busy. The three babies lay sleeping in a pile of their mothers' discarded clothing.

Having witnessed their reunion earlier, Wyatt had wondered how sex was split four ways, but now he saw that it was basically just each man to each woman. He watched unabashedly, the way they rolled and grabbed, kissed and writhed. He filed away each touch, each gasp, receiving an education his mother would have fainted at. Ironically, it was the very one he wanted to talk to that became aware of him first.

-oOo-

Hana lifted her head to look toward the intruder. She sniffed, scenting strange power and youth. She pushed Kage-Naruto's head from between her legs, then kicked him aside when he refused to take the hint. He growled at her, until he saw that she was looking at something. When he spotted Wyatt, he sat on his haunches. "What do you want?"

Hana noted the way the boy met her eyes. Sure enough…

"I need to ask Miss Hana something," Wyatt said. "Please."

"Can't you see we're busy?" Hana said tersely. Hinata and Jailbird-Sasuke paused to look at Wyatt now, too.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But this is important."

Hana huffed and stood naked to walk towards Wyatt. She cocked her hip and folded her arms over her rounded stomach. "Make it fast."

Wyatt took in her nudity with wide eyes, then purposefully fixed his eyes on her handsome face. "I have a question. About when members of your clan go into rut or heat, and about biting."

Hana's attention was caught despite her annoyance. She listened to the short tale he had to tell, then snorted at his question. "Control it? Impossible. My own brother would mount me in his rut, or I would hunt him while I was in heat if I weren't chained and confined. Now that I'm married, that isn't a problem. And you say this boy was in rut _and _the girl in heat? No. There is no possible way to keep two people in that condition from going at each other. It could be mother and son, brother and sister, father and daughter, and it wouldn't matter a bit. The need is elemental, instinctual. A product of the body, not the mind. Mating is inevitable. There is absolutely no possible way under the sun to control it. And if they bonded with each other through the bite, then forget it. No way at all to separate them. Period."

Wyatt felt shaken. "But Raiden didn't have sex with her. And he reversed the bond."

Hana's face went slack. "Impossible. Was he bonded to anyone before he bit her?"

"How? I don't think he's bitten anyone but her…"

"If this kid is as powerful as you say, he may have bonded with someone without the bite. Sometimes life mates in my clan bond with simple proximity. A heart bond. Is there one he loves?"

"Yes." He left it at that.

"Then I would say this Raiden's previous bond had some influence on him or he would have mated with this girl. Nothing else would explain him even having the will to reverse it, much less the capability. Attempting to reverse a bond has been known to result in madness and death. It just isn't done. The bond exists to share another's life, their soul. It was originally used by alpha males to unite them with their pack, but has since evolved in the clan to bind life mates together. Bonded, the two are never apart, no matter the distance between them. They always feel each other."

"Always?"

"Unless they are actively denying the bond…which also isn't done."

Wyatt was given much to think about. He bowed. "Thank you for your time."

* * *

Hitsugaya responded to Asami's plea for respite. He lowered her legs from his shoulders and flopped down beside her. He faced her again, as he had before, while she drew deep, ragged breaths. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her mouth rosy and swollen. He ran a fingertip down her nose, gathering the sweat there.

"Asami."

She looked at him.

"I love you with every particle of my being. But…"

"But?" she asked through her radiant smile. He loved her!

"I'm not sure life in Soul Society would be to your liking. I'm alone here, but there I have many duties and responsibilities. I would not be free most of the time. Your life there would be dull compared to here. It's far away from everything you know…it would mean saying goodbye to all you hold dear here. I don't know that I can ask you to give up so much for me…but I know I can't go back without you."

Asami sat up slowly. Her hair fell over one shoulder in a sopping mass and dripped into her lap. "So…what are you saying?"

Hitsugaya sat up as well. "That I love you and want you to come back with me. You have every right to refuse, of course. In fact, I expect you to."

"I'm not refusing."

"You aren't? Asami, think about-"

"There's nothing to think about. I'm going with you."

"Your father-"

"-Can't make me stay."

"But your family-"

"-Will miss me, and I'll miss them. I'll get my cousin Aimi or Raiden to come get me on a few designated days a year so I can visit them. No biggie."

She seemed to have it all worked out. Still…"You're a vivacious person, Asami. I'm not exciting in the least. Seireitei is an exceedingly orderly place, I'm not sure you'll be happy there."

Asami sighed. She reached over and took his hand in hers. "I'm not sure, either, but I'm willing to give it a shot. What I am sure of is the fact that I'm not giving you up. Ever. And you love me, right?"

"Intensely." He raised their joined hands and kissed her knuckles.

"Then that settles it."

Hitsugaya studied her trusting face. After a moment he smiled, one of his rare smiles. Few people had ever seen it, and Asami felt lucky to witness it. He gathered her close and lay with her in the dark. Later, they loved some more. Then they slept.

* * *

Udon was worried. He'd seen the way Izuna had looked at his wife. While he and Sumiko had been gone talking, Konohamaru had leaned over and told him to watch out before his wife was lured away from him. "And for God's sake, screw her senseless already," he'd added.

"I trust Sumiko," Udon had said. "She wouldn't leave me. And I could never behave with the same boorishness you do with your women."

Konohamaru had rolled his eyes. "Trust me, women like it when a man takes control."

Udon thought that was maybe true. But Sumiko wasn't just any woman. She was his wife, and he knew she didn't like when he did certain things when it came to sex.

Now, though, he sat waiting in the small grass thicket they'd decided to sleep in. She'd said she would be right back, before disappearing. She was gone a long time. He dozed.

-oOo-

The sound of her footsteps in the grass brought him awake. He saw her approaching slowly, lost in thought, and stood to welcome her. "Honey? Where did you go?"

Sumiko looked up at him, at his earnest face. "You won't be angry?"

He reached to draw her against him. His eyesight wasn't the best without his glasses, and he was nearly blind in the dark. Holding her, he was able to see her better. "No, of course not. You can tell me anything."

She nodded, looking down at his chest. "I went to Gaara. For…for advice."

"About us?"

Another nod. "About our…"

Udon understood. "I'm glad you did. I was going to wait until tomorrow, but no matter. Did he have any advice for us?"

Sumiko became flustered. She rested her head on her husband's chest. "Yes. I don't know if I can do it, but I want it to be good for us…not that it isn't good now," she finished quickly in a muffled voice.

He rubbed her back soothingly. "I'll do anything to please you, sweetheart. You know that. Just tell me what you want me to do."

Sumiko gathered her courage in her hands and took a deep, calming breath. "Okay. But…I have to be in control, all right? If- if I say stop, then you'll stop. Okay?"

"Okay."

"And you can only touch me where I say, when I say." Sumiko peeked up at him to see if he objected to this. He only waited patiently, smiling down at her encouragingly. Seeing this, she felt more relaxed. "I love you so much, Udon. You're the best husband in the world."

Udon felt his budding nerves leave him as well. "And as such, how may I please you, Sumiko-san?"

Maybe Gaara had been right. Sumiko felt a thrill go through her at the subservient tone Udon adopted, and the added respect he gave her name. She trusted him not to get angry with her. "On your knees," she said in a low voice.

Udon, too, felt a spark of excitement that had always been absent. He dropped to his knees and waited to see how she would command him tonight. His pulse thrummed at the possibilities.

* * *

Sasuke and Demon returned to themselves with faint _pops _of sound, sweaty and out of breath. They lay on their backs, panting up at the night sky, for several long moments, before Demon rolled over to say. "That was hot. Let's do it again, only you be Hana this time."

"No. You know, I didn't think there'd be a difference between sex in my own female body and sex as another female…but there is."

"So you'd rather be yourself? I'm cool with that!" He reached to drag Sasuke closer.

Sasuke stopped him. "Demon, listen…"

"Mm, rather be fucking," Demon muttered as his nibbled Sasuke's neck.

"I was wrong to snap at you the way I did," Sasuke got out. He paused as those lips caused a shudder to work through him. "It's just been awhile since you've showed interest in anyone else."

Demon finally leaned up with a sigh. "I'm not interested in anyone else, Sasuke. Just you. That doesn't mean I'm blind, though. The only person I ever even looked at was Hana. And if you'll recall, I never did get around to sleeping with her after you fucked Neji."

"You changed your mind."

"No I didn't. She was on a mission, and by the time she came back, Kakashi had me swamped with work."

Sasuke tilted his head in the grass. "So what are you saying, that you want a go with her?"

"Well, that was years ago, when we agreed to that whole threesome thing. But yeah, I wouldn't mind…just to be fair…and you'd be there too, of course."

"No."

"Just me then? All right." Demon smiled broadly, knowing full well that wasn't what Sasuke meant.

Sasuke sat up completely. "I don't care how unfair it is, or how hypocritical it makes me. You're not fucking anyone but me. That's final. You're just going to have to accept that about me, that I can't share you. And lets not forget the jealous rage you went into when I kissed Neji. You nearly killed him. So don't act all high and mighty when I object to you wanting women."

Demon, thinking of Kage-Naruto, said. "Fiiiiiine, fine. I give up. No more Hinata or Hana Henge, and no more talk of screwing Hana. Guess I'll never know the taste of a woman." He turned on his side and sadly gave Sasuke his back.

Sasuke's happiness was bittersweet. "What do you mean? You had me, didn't you?"

"You're not a woman. You're you, as I keep pointing out. Henge isn't the same."

Sasuke digested this. He and Naruto had opted to steer clear of vaginal sex despite Hinata's possession of the proper orifice. They didn't want any accidents happening. "I was a woman when we had Raiden…"

"Yes. And you stated emphatically that you'd never do that again. Having lived as a woman myself, I can't say I blame you."

But he didn't have to live as a woman to please his demon. He just had to be one for a night. "If I did the Sexy no Jutsu for you again, would you stop thinking about having sex with another woman?"

Demon turned enough to look at Sasuke over one shoulder. "I'm not thinking about it anymore. Pointless fantasy. I was only curious. I wouldn't jeopardize our relationship over pussy, Sasuke. But you nearly took my head off just for looking at those two today." He turned back around.

Sasuke felt like shit. "Doesn't seem fair that I got to live out my fantasy and you didn't get to live out yours."

"Is it me or are you singing a completely different tune than you were earlier today?"

"I've calmed down, if that's what you're asking," Sasuke hissed. "Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. If we get out of this war alive, I'll do the Sexy no Jutsu for you again, and you can fuck me however you want."

Naruto rolled over completely and propped his head on a hand. "Is that right. What about getting pregnant?"

"I'll only hold it for one night. We didn't get pregnant in one night, right?"

"I suppose…I don't know, though…"

"It'll be my way of making up for going back on my word," Sasuke pressed.

Demon smiled. "And the fact that you loved het sex has nothing to do with it, I'm sure." Sasuke had screamed loudly at their oral activities tonight, and begged for more.

"Just let me do this for you so we can put this whole issue to rest," Sasuke said testily. "Do you agree or not?"

"I agree. If we get out of this alive. One night of sex with my Sasuke-chan as a woman. No accidents. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Good. Now roll over so I can eat your ass."

* * *

A day passed. Then another, and another. Asami and Hitsugaya were seen pitching in around the village, just as the rest of the returned Uchiha were. Ikkaku and Yumichika were also given tasks to do.

-oOo-

Kakashi, home with Kurenai on this morning, sat with her before heading to the office. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

Kurenai tried to smile. "This pregnancy is going a lot differently."

That was an understatement. Kurenai was ill most of the time. She was still in her first trimester, but so far things were not looking good. "I'll see if Sakura can spare time to make a house call."

"No, don't…there's so much that needs to be done. She's busy enough, and she was just here last week. I wish I could help. If you'd only consent to-"

Kakashi stood up. "No. We're not aborting this baby."

"Kakashi, this war needs every fighter available-"

He walked out. "I'll see you tonight."

Kurenai sighed. He was under so much pressure. She hated to add to his burdens, and she knew worry for this child didn't help. She wanted this baby, but she also knew she was needed elsewhere. There would be time for babies after the war was won, she reasoned. Sacrifices needed to be made for the good of all, and right now her husband needed an able-bodied kunoichi at his side.

* * *

Wyatt orbed most of the way, then decided to walk. He'd been turning it over in his mind for the past three days, but felt he needed just a little more time to think his decision over.

He was nervous. Scared. Excited. All of those things, and that was fine. The most important thing was that he wasn't hurting anymore. Hana's information had helped a lot with that. Learning from Aimi about recent events concerning her family had been the real turning point, though.

He finally came to the base of a mountain, and shaded his eyes to look up at the summit. He squinted in the sun, spotted his goal, and began hiking up the steep side.

At some point he would have to go back home, he supposed. He couldn't just abandon his family forever. But if he was going to face them eventually, then they would have to accept that Raiden was a permanent part of his life. And if he ever expected his parents to reach that conclusion, then he needed to start accepting that himself. Which meant he needed to move on from what had happened.

Wyatt came to the cave near the top of the mountain and peered into the opening. The sunlight reached about halfway in, but left the back of the cave in darkness. He sensed Raiden inside and entered.

-oOo-

Raiden was squatting on the balls of his feet, absently watching the thin rivulet of water this cave boasted trickle down the rocky face of the back wall. He had his arms wrapped around his knees and his chin resting on one knee. He'd sensed Wyatt immediately, but made no move to meet him. Nor did he react when Wyatt entered the cave. He didn't even look at him. He kept staring at the water, concentrating on the faint sound it made as it gathered in the tiny pool at the base of the wall. He rocked slowly back and forth on his feet.

Wyatt knelt down on the floor a few feet from him. "Raiden?"

Nothing. Not even a glance.

Wyatt tried again. "I…how are you feeling?"

A blink.

"Aimi told me you were feeling poorly."

Raiden's voice was devoid of emotion. "That's funny. Feeling poorly." After several more minutes, he said, "Izuna's mind-freeze is wearing off."

Wyatt didn't exactly know what that meant, but he'd seen the way Izuna had calmed a wild and snarling Raiden down with a touch to his head. "Does that mean your rut is coming back?"

"Means I'm okay if I concentrate on that water. You should go. Leave me alone."

Wyatt crept closer. "I don't want to leave. I want to be here with you. Raiden…I'm sorry. I behaved like an ass."

The language made Raiden look at Wyatt briefly. "What, so you forgive me now?"

Wyatt nodded, smiled. "Yes."

Diverted, Raiden stopped rocking. "Just like that."

"Well…Hana explained some things to me about rutting and biting and everything. And Aimi filled me in on a few things. I know now that it really was out of your control-"

"I'd already _told _you that," Raiden grouched.

"-but you managed to control yourself a little anyways," Wyatt finished. He fiddled with a pebble he found near his foot, bit his lip. "I forgive you. I shouldn't have been angry with you in the first place. I should have believed you."

"Then why didn't you?" Raiden asked. His voice had lost its angry edge to be left curious…and hopeful. "Why didn't you believe me?"

Wyatt had the grace to color in shame. "I guess I just didn't understand. I thought you just wanted her and…I'm sorry, okay? Can you forgive me too?"

Raiden took his time answering. He saw that one half of Wyatt's face was illuminated by the sun, and one wasn't. Excalibur poked over his shoulder, its hilt gleaming from the sun on that side, while the flower's huge head poked over his other shoulder, shadowed. He couldn't believe Wyatt had kept the thing, or that he'd given it to him in the first place. He sucked his bottom lip, gazing into Wyatt's blue eyes. "You still love me, Wyatt?"

Wyatt crawled closer. "More than anything. You?"

"More than my own life."

"Do you forgive me?" He crawled closer still, resting on his hands and knees, with his face only a few inches from Raiden's.

"If you forgive me. For hurting you."

"You couldn't stop yourself."

"I know, but still."

"I forgive you."

"Really missed you, Wyatt."

"I missed you too."

Their noses were almost touching. "So…we're good?" Raiden asked. His voice cracked, and he suddenly felt the last of Izuna's chakra dissolve as his body went through a hot flash. He forced himself to focus on Wyatt.

Wyatt dropped his eyes to Raiden's mouth, noting the canines that were slowly lengthening. "Actually…I was thinking."

"Uh..about what?"

"Us? I think we should take our relationship to the next level."

Raiden shot to his feet as a shudder had him gritting his teeth. He turned and leaned his palms on the wall. "Wyatt…I'm…kind of not doing so good right now. Could you-?"

Wyatt leapt up too, and closed the distance between them. He put a hand on Raiden's back. Then finally gave in to the urge he'd had since entering the cave and hugged him hard. Raiden yelped, whether in pain or because of his returning rut, Wyatt didn't know. He hastened to speak before Raiden lost awareness of himself. "I know. I know you're going through a rough time with this. I want to help you. Let me help you."

Raiden stiffened. Wyatt's arms felt so good, so wonderful, and having him here, forgiving him, was a dream come true. And here he was, unable to fully enjoy it, because his damned body kept taking over. He felt heat course through his limbs, and tried to maintain his thoughts. Wyatt was speaking to him. "H-how?"

Wyatt kissed his shoulder softly. A thin whine escaped Raiden at this faint stimulation; his skin was overheated and sensitive to the lightest touch. "You know how," Wyatt whispered.

Right. And he wanted to be with Wyatt. Even his dad had said that he'd need to fuck soon. Kiba and Kyuubi had said the same thing. But he didn't want to treat Wyatt like some animal, and he knew he'd be capable of nothing but brutality. "Wyatt, please…I want you too, you know that, but…I'm not in control of myself right now."

Wyatt turned Raiden around and rested his hands on his friend's shaking shoulders. "I know."

"Then-"

"Bite me."

Raiden was sufficiently shocked enough to feel the red haze of his rut recede a bit. "_What?_"

"You heard me. I want you to bite me."

"But…that…you-" Raiden spluttered. He grabbed one of Wyatt's wrists and started to shove it away. "You know I can't do that. Look what happened last time."

Wyatt hung on through Raiden's attempts to break from his hold. "Hisa wasn't magical. I am. And you're aware of yourself right now-

"Barely!"

"-so it won't be the way it was with her. Just trust me, okay? I think I can help, if you let me." He switched his grip on Raiden's shoulders to rub soothingly. Raiden's eyes were red.

Raiden licked his lips nervously. "Wyatt…biting you would mean…we'd be connected. And since you're not like Aimi, it would probably be like Hisa and we'd be connected for life."

"I know. Do you think there could be anyone else for me besides you? Never. Do it, Raiden."

He wanted to. God help him, he wanted to more than anything. He'd always wanted to, he realized. And now that he knew what it meant, what it really meant to mark another physically and spiritually, he knew that with Wyatt there would be no possibility of going back. He wouldn't be able to undo this with a Fuuinjutsu. Wyatt was already in him, already a part of him. Sealing their connection with chakra through the bite would be- "Irreversible. Wyatt if we do this, I won't be able to reverse it. We really will be joined for life. Are you absolutely sure?"

Wyatt stepped closer. "Positive. Do you…do you not want me? Like that, I mean?"

He couldn't look away from Wyatt's lips. They were so close. So very close. "I want you any way I can get you," he whispered.

-oOo-

Wyatt kissed him, pulling him in by the shoulders. Almost immediately, arousal set in, making him grab Raiden's hair and tug him closer still. The touch of their tongues had them groaning, had Raiden squeezing Wyatt around his middle as his mind slipped a few notches. He sucked and kissed furiously, feeling Wyatt press him into the bumpy rock wall.

Heaven.

How either of them went as long as they did without contact was beyond them, but they partially made up for their separation now with what went down as the best kiss either of them would ever experience. They grabbed painfully, enthusiastically, needily at each other, frequently bouncing off the stone wall, and fused at the mouth.

Raiden finally broke the kiss to lean his forehead against Wyatt's. They panted in unison, eyes closed. "Turn around," he whispered.

Wyatt pecked Raiden's reddened mouth one more time before complying. He stood with his back to Raiden's heat, his head bowed.

He first felt his sword being unstrapped and removed. He heard it set down behind him. The flower followed next. There were a few tense seconds where he could feel Raiden behind him, feel something bestial rising in his friend, but then Raiden lightly kicked the back of his leg. Wyatt fell to his knees with a surprised grunt.

Raiden got down on one knee behind Wyatt so that one foot was planted on the floor. His thigh brushed Wyatt's side, and Wyatt wrapped his arm around it, hugging Raiden's leg to his side. This position left Wyatt's head at the level of Raiden's chest. He ran a hand lightly through Wyatt's wavy brown hair, letting the strands slip through his fingers…before closing his fist tightly in the locks.

Wyatt hissed when his head was turned sharply sideways. He felt Raiden's breath on his neck and closed his eyes. He swallowed. _I won't scream. I won't. No matter how much it hurts, I won't scream._

Raiden studied the rapidly beating carotid artery. He knew he'd have to place his bite there; it was the quickest way to join them. The main artery led to major chakra pathways and would spread Raiden's chakra immediately throughout Wyatt's body. He parted his lips and consciously lengthened his canine teeth until they resembled fangs. He felt chakra leaking from them, felt it gather in his mouth. His lips lowered to Wyatt's neck, and paused there.

"I love you, Wyatt. You're mine."

Wyatt tried to say the same, but just then Raiden sank his teeth into his skin and his arm tightened on Raiden's thigh to hold back his yell. His mouth opened soundlessly.

* * *

_It was like being in a maze. One that was at once confusing, yet also achingly familiar. Everywhere there was the discordant sound of two hearts beating to different rhythms. The sounds pounded so that one envisioned two organs the size of mountains, causing earthquakes with their booming pulsations. Raiden felt his consciousness zooming along the arterial pathways of this maze and sensed he would know what he was looking for the moment he saw it. _

_For Wyatt, it was different. His magic rose up in him, amidst the sound of the two thunderous hearts, and he felt himself adrift on a sea of power. His magic covered him, and the sea bore him, until he was sandwiched between the two. He felt as if the magic and power pulled him in opposite directions, unwilling to relinquish their prize, each intent on having him. The hearts picked up pace until each thud was a momentous event, and the pause between beats drew out to what felt like minutes, hours, days._

_Forever._

_Lost between the heartbeats._

_Raiden came to a halt at the center of the maze and found Wyatt waiting for him._

_The magic and power united around Wyatt, united inside him, and left him floating. Arms came around him, and he turned within them to find himself face to face with Raiden._

_The two hearts skipped, tripped, stumbled over a beat, then another, then stopped…and resumed with one sound. One beat._

_

* * *

_

They fell apart with deeps gasps for breath, and wide, terrified eyes. Wyatt dropped face forward on the floor. Raiden staggered backward until the wall caught him. He sat down hard on his ass.

The cave was filled with their harsh breathing. Wyatt was stretched out, face turned aside. Raiden saw the puncture wounds in his neck leak black chakra, _his chakra, _and seal themselves closed. A tiny squeak of fright escaped him at seeing this. "Wh-wh-Wyatt? Did you see that?"

Wyatt blinked slowly. He rolled his eyes till he was looking at Raiden. Then he sat up and stared. He blinked, stared some more. He lifted a shaking hand to point.

Raiden looked down at himself. He screamed.

His entire left hand was coated in orb lights. Almost as soon as he screamed, the lights faded away. He shook his hand frantically in front of his face, making sure it was all right. "Fuck!" he bleated. "What the fuck was that?"

Wyatt cocked his head, listening to God knew what. "Huh. I think it's temporary," he said after a moment. "I can sense my magic in you, but it's already fading. Can you feel your chakra in me? Is it doing the same thing?"

Raiden felt somewhat calmed by Wyatt's unruffled manner. He took a moment to feel him out. "It's there, but it's not going away. It's…settling down. Into your organs and stuff."

Wyatt appeared thoughtful. "Oh. Guess chakra is different from magic." He frowned down at his lap. Then he looked up at Raiden slowly, wonder on his face. "I can feel you. Your heartbeat…it's-"

"-beating in time to mine," Raiden finished, just as awestruck. "And I can feel your-"

"-emotions. And your physical state."

'_And we can do more than just talk telepathically," _they thought in unison.

"Awesome," they breathed. They shared a nervous giggle, still staring wide-eyed at each other.

"You feel calmer," Wyatt said after awhile.

Raiden assessed his body more thoroughly. "I am calmer. It's you. You're calm, so I feel calm."

"Really? So we'll be forced to feel each other's emotions regardless of our own emotions? That's confusing."

Raiden was busily cataloguing all the changes. "No. I mean, I don't think so. I can still feel the rut happening in me, but it's like…sort of far away. If I concentrate on it, I feel it more…but I'm concentrating on you, so it's not controlling me like before."

Wyatt nodded, running through a similar test with his magic. "I know what you mean. If I concentrate on your bond in me then you feel closer. More _present _in my mind. But when I don't, and I focus on my magic, then it feels like you're farther away. Still there, just not _there _there. Does that make sense?"

"If it didn't, I can feel what you mean. Wyatt…this is kind of weird."

"And kind of amazing."

"Totally amazing…did you nearly shit yourself when it was happening? I did."

"God, that was so scary."

"I know!"

"Hey, Raiden…is this like being linked to Aimi?"

Raiden thought about it. "Yes and no. With her, I can speak to her telepathically and all, but I can only access her chakra, and vice versa. I can see how she thinks and sense what's around her, but with you it's different. More. Way more. I can disconnect from her any time I want, or the link will sever on it's own if she disappears in someone's timeline, but with you I don't think anything will sever our link, no matter what."

"Oh. It's sort of like being married."

They collapsed in another fit of laughter, feeling their bond work through them as it settled. Raiden crawled over to Wyatt and fell into his arms. They lay that way for a long time, feeling their new connection, sometimes communicating without opening their mouths, without thought. They watched birds fly over the canopy of trees in the forest outside the cave, listened to the wind and to each other's heartbeats. Raiden dozed briefly, and Wyatt was there, even in his dreams.

-oOo-

Wyatt kissed him awake, some time later, and continued kissing him. It was different now. He could feel how much Wyatt loved him and new his love was also felt by Wyatt himself. It was like descending to that place they'd both gone to during the bonding, only now there was nothing but molten heat and fierce, brazen desire.

* * *

Kakashi was greeted with several urgent reports by the time he showed up at the office. He'd stopped at the hospital to speak to Sakura. His new assistant, a nervous Chuunin who nevertheless always did his best to perform his job infallibly, handed them over wordlessly. Kakashi sat and examined the first one. He examined the second and third ones in rapid succession, before returning to the first.

Report one: The Kazekage had mysteriously vanished before several witnesses and could be found nowhere. A search of Sunagakure revealed his daughter and Uchiha Hiroko, as well as the guardian to these two, to also be missing.

Report two: There was an uncommon amount of activity in the Sound village, as well as in Earth Country, and several other locations known to house factions who'd worked against Konoha and her allies at various points in the past.

Report three: There had been several sightings of strange creatures, usually at night, but a few times in the day. These creatures were indestructible.

Kakashi felt cold numbness settle on him as he leafed through more reports on his desk, ones that had obviously arrived yesterday, after he'd left work early to see to Kurenai.

Insectile horde. Sightings of a man resembling Orochimaru. Greats blasts of chakra. A man carrying a giant sword one aged villager says he last saw with one of the Seven Great Swordsmen of the Mist. A distant sighting of what two girls swear was a giant raccoon…

Kakashi held the latest report up to his face when the room suddenly grew darker. "You're standing in my light," he said distractedly to his assistant. "Call an urgent meeting of the council right away, I think we may have run out of time."

His assistant didn't answer, and the shadow in the room deepened. Kakashi looked up in agitation, ready to dress the youth down for inattention.

The young man was staring out the window behind Kakashi's chair. He was not standing in Kakashi's light. Kakashi turned and saw that the end had finally come.

The entire village was being covered in shadow; the sun had been blocked by a tsunami of water that dwarfed the village, and stretched across the horizon. It moved with majestic grace, an entire ocean of water, when there was no ocean near Konohagakure.

He was dimly aware of one of Itachi's daughters bursting into his office behind him. Akiko. "Hokage-sama! Akatsuki's been spotted marching on Konoha, with the alien army at their back! Kisame's controlling that wave! Send for Aimi and the others!" she yelled.

_Ah, that's what I forgot, _Kakashi thought. He knew something had niggled his memory when Ibiki had been making his report. "Aimi removed her link from me when she was last in Konoha," he said calmly. "I can't contact anyone. We're on our own."


	57. Chapter 57

A/N: ridiculously long wait, I know. Consolation? Chapter 58 is halfway done. I might be able to put it up tomorrow. Also, someone posted on deviantArt a wonderful little tip for keeping stories on track: have all your chapters be the same length. It keeps things focused and in perspective. Going by that, I decided not to make any chaps longer than 20 pages for the remainder of this fic, and tadaaa...breakthrough! This chap, which had been giving me sooo much grief, practically wrote itself this morning (it's 4 pm now). True, I went a bit overboard here with 23 pages, but I'm not complaining.

I was going to address a few things in this author's note, but so much time has passed that I've either forgotten them, or they now seem pointless to bring up. I do want to say though that the new rule of 20 pages might have the fic run over 60 chapters. I'm cool with that.

Onward!

* * *

Chapter 57

Akiko left off holding the door open and slowly advanced into the room. Her eyes were fixed on that wave through the window, but she was listening to the report she was getting through her earpiece. Her face was white. "Hokage-sama," she said.

Kakashi was brought back to the present completely and utterly. Thoughts of everything but the crisis at hand fell away from him so that he turned and regarded Akiko with an alert eye. "Report," he said crisply.

"_Hai." _She paused, listening. "Our units on the ground, our allies, seem to have vanished without a trace. The army of insectile creatures, at first taken to only be behind Kisame and the wave, are in fact distributed at regular intervals around the entirety of Konoha as well. Our only fighting force is what we currently have in the village. We are alone, and we are surrounded."

Kakashi thought furiously. Transported away. That would be Madara's doing. "Where, precisely, are the rest of Akatsuki?"

"One each with the units around the village."

"The wave? It's distance from the village?"

"Half a mile and closing, Hokage." She hesitated a moment, receiving more information. "There are others with Akatsuki. Sound nin have been detected, Hidden Mist nin, Hidden Rock nin, as well as fighters from various minor nations including Demon, Forest, and Moon. There are others who haven't been identified yet. ANBU awaits orders, sir."

Half a mile. And not one alert from ANBU or their allies that the army was inside the borders of Fire Country before they'd been transported away. Reports on sightings, yes, but none in Fire Country itself. This army had not tracked across Fire Country's borders, Kakashi reasoned. Nor had that wave come from the ocean. He would wager much on the fact that Madara had teleported the army. And if Kisame was in charge of that wave, he'd called it forth with a jutsu.

Kakashi put his hand on his forehead protector, as if he meant to lift it. He didn't. He ignored the steady ache already settling in behind his eyes. "Sound the alarm immediately. Evacuate the elderly, children, and non-combatants to the designated locations. Have the communications team send our request to our allies for immediate additional aid."

"_Hai_." The Chuunin assistant ran to carry these orders out.

The allies in question were the ones still in their villages. They had needed to keep some of their forces home to protect their own borders. Now that it was known that the assistance they'd sent was gone, they would need to send more. Since the attack was coming full-force against Konoha, the precaution of keeping some military home to protect their own villages was no longer necessary.

"And ANBU, sir?" Akiko asked.

A miracle that there were even any ANBU left. They seemed to have escaped being transported. Kakashi thought of all their carefully laid strategies, their ninja in the field around Konoha, the ones who'd been deployed with the units from their allies, and silently admitted what excellent battle strategy it was for Madara to remove them.

He wished he knew how far away they were, or if they'd only been moved to one of Madara's dimensions. The latter would be ideal; if Madara were captured, he could possibly be made to release them. The more he thought about it, the more he thought this might actually be the case. Madara would want to control those forces. If he'd merely sent them away, they would be able to sound an alarm which would bring aid to Konoha eventually. If he had them stashed in a dimension, however, he'd then be aware of their location at all times. More, he'd have leverage against Konoha and her allies; threaten to kill those shinobi and many, if not all, the people who cared about them would stand down.

Six months of preparations for nothing. All undone by a thoughtless child, and his own short-comings. He turned his head to look out his window. He could not see the Hokage monument from here. The mountain was behind this building but he could see the village. _Konoha's not going down on my watch. _

"Hokage-sama, ANBU?" Akiko reminded him.

They would be wiped off the face of the land, no contest. Things would get very ugly. But if the coming blood bath could in any way be avoided, it fell to him to take that chance. _If only Naruto were here to be my successor_.

He walked up to her with a straight back and calmly held out his hand. "Give me your earpiece, Akiko."

Running footsteps outside the office resolved into Ikkaku bursting through the door. "Akiko, you're all right! When I saw the tsunami…I knew you had patrol duty this morning, but then I sensed you here…"

Kakashi lifted his head at hearing the alarm sounded. His assistant hadn't wasted any time. Good. He took a moment to look the other two each in the eye. "I don't have the chakra my predecessor had, nor can I protect the village the way she did. But I'm not Hokage for nothing." He took the device he'd been handed and fitted it into his ear.

_This is it, _Kakashi thought. _The moment every Kage dreads. We accept the mantle of leadership knowing a day like this might arrive, while doing all in our power to see that one doesn't. These are the moments that define us. _ He cleared his throat. "This is Hatake Kakashi, Sixth Hokage. To whom am I speaking?"

There was a flurry of static, before one voice resolved itself from the din of hastily spoken 'Hokage-sama!' and 'We are at your command, Rokudaime-sama!'

"This is Tomoyuki Arata, Captain of ANBU, Hokage-sama. You are also on with units 7, 9, and 10, as well as the captains for the Intelligence and Sensor Divisions."

Two male voices greeted Kakashi with noticeable respect. He assumed these were the two captains named; the first voice he recognized as Yamanaka Inoichi's. The latter voice offered a murmured, but clearly disgraced apology over failing to detect the enemy in time. Kakashi appeased him with a word of pardon.

"Hokage-sama," Arata was saying. "The earpiece you have belonged to one Uchiha Akiko, leader of the 9th unit. Is she harmed?"

"Negative. I would like to address all remaining captains in the village, Arata, so that this message can be relayed to everyone their respective units."

Arata could be heard issuing commands in the background. More static greeted Kakashi before Arata came back on and said, "Go ahead, sir. You're now on with the captains for all remaining divisions."

"Excellent." He took a moment to arrange his thoughts. "I have kept certain information restricted, but the time has come to disclose all.

"Uchiha Madara and Akatsuki are back. Worse, they are all, with the exception of Madara himself and Nagato, Jinchuuriki. They are after Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke's children, who, it must be revealed, are in possession of unique powers. Naruto and Sasuke have taken their children away to search for assistance. I will not go into detail now about the nature of the assistance, but suffice it to say that there is very little hope now of that help reaching us.

"It gets worse, I'm afraid. Supernatural forces are aligned against us. The goddess Izanami is believed to be after these children. She may or may not appear, but it was she who resurrected Akatsuki in their current state. They attacked six months ago, but Uzumaki Aimi managed send them to a distant world. Clearly they have found their way back. I happen to know that the creatures they command are indigenous to the world they were on, and as such possess no weaknesses that we know of."

Complete silence came through to Kakashi. After several moments, a voice identified itself. "Yamanaka Inoichi, Hokage-sama. Is there no hope at all, no strategy we might use?"

Kakashi smiled a small, wistful smile, though no one saw it. "While we breathe, there is always hope. Never give up. It might be that Naruto and his family will come through for us. If that happens, you -and this goes for every captain listening- are to give them assistance and your complete cooperation, no matter how strange or bizarre you find the people with Naruto to be. Should they appear, it may seem fantastical to you, maybe even impossible, but no stranger than the goddess of the afterlife and Akatsuki reborn.

"For now, though, I must see if Madara can be reasoned with."

There were a few gasps, a few anguished mutters of 'Hokage-sama!' Then there was silence again. Kakashi looked up and found Akiko staring at him in a position of stiff attention and utmost respect. Ikkaku looked at him with alert pride. To the earpiece, he said, "Deploy all units to the walls. Keep me apprised of any and all developments. Should the negotiations go poorly, you are in charge, Arata."

Arata seemed to choke on something. "_Hai, _Hokage-sama. And…should I prove inadequate? Who is third in command?"

He was asking, for the benefit of the listening captains, what the chain of command would be in the event of his death. Kakashi answered honestly. "If, by some miracle, Naruto makes it here in time, and if I have already moved Onward, command goes to him whether he wants it or not, no matter who is currently in charge. If not, then after yourself, the ranking captains of the various divisions. Clan heads would be next. I leave it to you to sort out the precise order, Arata."

"Understood, sir."

Kakashi looked at Akiko. "You fought Izuna, Madara's brother. Learned from him. As such, you will be my aid today." He handed her back the earpiece. "Meet me at the village gate the moment you have selected a second aid to assist you."

Taking the earpiece, she bowed low. She was very conscious of what him choosing her meant. "It is my honor to serve you in this hour of crisis, Hokage-sama."

_No hesitation on her part. A very brave young woman. _Kakashi nodded, then vanished with a hand seal.

-oOo-

Akiko ran out, issuing commands through her link with the rest of her patrol unit. Ikkaku was at her heels.

Outside was nothing but noise, chaos, and confusion. The alarm blared, no doubt sending the same spikes of fear through the fleeing people as it did through her. Panicked people screamed at seeing the wave and at the blurred shapes of ANBU agents zipping here and there. Yet even in this madness, order could be discerned. Akiko saw the younger Chuunin directing villagers toward underground safety facilities, and to similar locations situated in the mountain behind the Hokage monument. She could see Akimichi Choukichi, Inuzuka Hisa, Hyuuga Hiroshi, Yamanaka Naruto, and his younger brother Hyuuga Seiji, and a host of other faces she associated with her own brother Shouta. These were the ones getting the helpless to safety. She turned to head carry out her orders and collided with Ikkaku's chest.

"Not now," she growled. She knew what the look on his face meant.

Ikkaku was having none of her shit this time. He grabbed her arm and swung her around. "I won't take up your time with wordy declarations, then. Just tell me you love me."

"Honestly, could your timing be any worse? Let go of me." She yanked the arm he had in his grasp.

"Look," he bit out, leaning into her reddening face. "I heard your Commander. He chose you to be his backup for a reason. It's very likely we'll both die today. Just let me go to my grave knowing I had your love."

Akiko finally succeeded in flinging his hand from her arm with a violent movement. "I'm not dying, and neither are you. Now get _out _of my _way!_" She shoved at him and was on her way to being halfway down the block when something made her turn back. She saw him standing there, a lone pillar of stillness amidst the fleeing villagers around him. He was looking at her. Ignoring the sick feeling in her gut, she purposefully turned her back on him.

_Asshole. _What did he need stupid words for? They were together, weren't they? No other man existed for her, so why couldn't he just accept that and move on? Why did he need to have every ounce of freedom she possessed, every thought in her head, every breath in her body? She fucked him, he fucked her, and that was the end of it. God.

Akiko ran headlong, then switched to the rooftops when she ran into too much traffic on the roads. _Damn him. If he gets himself killed, I'll murder him. _

* * *

Demon and Sasuke. Despite everything, they were unaware.

As recently as six months ago, Akatsuki had invaded Demon and Sasuke's lives. The threat of them prior to that upheaval had proven so severe that their son, Raiden, had been inundated with visions that had nearly driven him mad. Then Akatsuki had come for their children. Aimi, their sweet yet terrifying daughter, had tasted her first battle. She had sent them away, and it had been established that they could expect Akatsuki's return in a matter of months.

But they were unaware.

Even with their retreat to a distant world, the resurrection of their parents, and the non-stop, brutal training –things that should have kept the threat alive in their minds- they sat around and enjoyed the day. They turned their faces up to the sun, closed their eyes, and breathed deeply of the peace.

Not even the recent near abduction of their son by an agent of Izanami could keep the impending disaster in the forefront of their minds. No, the training was done, and it had been such that the merest respite from it caused the pendulum of their dispositions to swing completely in the opposite direction. As it had been pulled to the extreme in one direction with their hellish training, so it now swung all the harder once released; they had suffered, and now they meant to relax.

Arguably, the entire mess belonged to Demon and Sasuke. The menace of Akatsuki and Izanami was nothing more than the culmination of their bonded years together. All of it, everything, was the result of their unnatural love for each other. They'd come together. Had children. Braved death for each other, and had instilled the same stony will in their children. Raiden had played his part, no doubt as Aimi would play hers, but the blame could safely be laid at Demon and Sasuke's door. They, however, were confident that the measures they'd put in place were enough. Enough to let them have a breather. The other Narutos and Sasukes, called by Demon and Sasuke themselves and essentially under their command, followed their lead in relaxing.

-oOo-

It seemed all of the Narutos and Sasukes were gathered around the Shinigami tree late on that third morning. Demon watched the way Kage-Naruto playfully nuzzled his blue-eyed daughter's stomach, and turned to look at his own daughter, who was fast asleep on her side.

Sasuke was also looking at Aimi. He caught Demon's eye, smirked, then tipped his head toward her. "Been awhile since we tortured our own kids, wouldn't you say?"

Grinning, Demon jumped up. "Couldn't agree more."

Poor Aimi was pounced on by her two large daddies. She was brought awake shrieking and hollering by one father grabbing her ankles and the other grabbing her wrists. They swung her thus, like one would turn a jump rope, round and round until she cried piteously for mercy.

-oOo-

Blondie watched this display absently as he stroked Rasta-Sasuke's hair. The man had his head in Blondie's lap. "What happened in the training? With you and Itachi? You don't seem to hate him anymore. Do you love him then?"

Rasta-Sasuke turned to gaze up at the thoughtful blue eyes. "That dimension Izuna stuffed you in must have fried your brain. Love him? Seriously? _Please_. When dogs shit gold bars, buddy." He snorted and turned back to where he was secretly staring at Itachi. He pretended to be looking at 'Bee, who was ignoring Yoruichi's seductive smile, while he did so.

"Then why are you so different around him?"

Rasta-Sasuke huffed. "I don't know, okay?" Then, when Blondie merely continued to stare down at him, he said, "I choked out there in training. Happy now? Fucking _choked_. And Itachi, well… he had my back. Izuna would have had me if Itachi hadn't fought for me. And… he's not my brother. I know what my brother was like. Fuck, Izuna reminded me well enough. _This_ Itachi…look, he's just not like my brother was, okay? Quit asking me about it."

"I thought it was established from the first that this Itachi was different? What changed your mind?" Blondie persisted.

"Fuck, didn't I _just say _to quit asking me about his ass? _Huh?_" Rasta-Sasuke sat up violently. He glared at Blondie, trying to come up with a threat that would make the big brute leave him alone.

Blondie displayed a bit of insight. "You want to stop talking about it?"

Rasta-Sasuke thought he might swallow his tongue. He went purple with rage, a vein throbbing in his head.

Blondie showed further sense and warily got up. He decided to leave Rasta-Sasuke alone for a little while. It appeared that he needed some quiet time.

-oOo-

Aimi was tackled and pinned between her Daddy and Papa. They held her motionless between their sturdy chests. "Morning, Sunshine!" Demon yelled brightly.

Sasuke regarded her with eager eyes. "Sleep well?"

"Am I in trouble?" Aimi whined. Her eyes went back and forth between their frighteningly cheerful faces.

"Eh, we just missed hanging with our baby girl. You know, without training, our parents, or other shit getting in the way," Demon said.

"Oh." Aimi's face at once cleared of worry. She was so accustomed to any physical activity automatically being some form of training that she'd forgotten her daddies could be quite playful. Training was over, she reminded herself. She looked back and forth between them expectantly.

Demon made chomping noises in her neck. Aimi squealed. "Who loves you?" he roared down at her.

"You!" Aimi was breathless as her daddy tickled her savagely.

"Who else?" Sasuke demanded. He held her arms up to give Demon access.

"You do, Papa!" Her screams made their ears ring painfully.

Demon abruptly stood, took Aimi by her fat arms, and swung her round and round by them, gaining momentum with each revolution. When he was going as fast as he could, he let go. Aimi flew in a high, high arc into the sky, screaming bloody murder and laughing fit to burst.

The other Narutos gasped.

The Shinigami watched seriously.

The Sasukes shaded their eyes to keep the speck that was Aimi in sight.

The children stared, mouths open.

Hana and Hinata hugged their babies protectively.

Sasuke transformed, spread his wings, and shot up from his crouch when Aimi at last began descending far away. He flew swiftly, folded his wings, and plummeted in a steep dive. He snagged Aimi by a pants leg ten feet above the ground.

The watching crowd breathed a sigh of relief. They heard Aimi distantly screaming to be thrown again and shook their heads.

All of them, still unaware.

* * *

"Hokage-sama!"Akiko hailed him as she leaped up to where he stood.

"Status?" Kakashi asked when she straightened from her brief crouch of respect. He gave the woman with her a glance. The three of them were on top of the closed and barricaded village gate. Kakashi could feel the spray from that wave, it was so close to them now. Looking through it to the land and aliens beyond it was like looking through shimmering blue glass.

Akiko gestured to the encroaching wave. "A similar sand wave is approaching us from the 4 o'clock position. A tornado, an earth wave, and a giant walking clay man are closing in from 6, 8, and 10 o'clock respectively."

Kakashi's eye moved to these positions, taking in what he'd already seen upon exiting his office. _Transporting the wave alone with Kamui would finish me. No way can I transport all those attacks as well. _"What's at 2 o'clock?" That position had appeared vacant. When the Akiko failed to answer right away, Kakashi looked at her. "Well?"

"A Hyuuga in my unit spotted Madara and Nagato, sir."

"I see. And will this be your partner?" he asked, looking again at the woman with Akiko. He recognized one of Itachi's daughters, specifically the one married to Ibiki.

"My sister Akane, Hokage-sama. I trust her with my life."

Akane bowed low. "My life to protect you, Hokage."

Nodding his head in acceptance, Kakashi turned and surveyed this view of the village. The waves and attacks of various elements combined to cast the village in shadow. The giant clay man made the ground shake with its footfalls. It resembled Deidara, without any color whatsoever to its features.

"Time is short," Kakashi said now. He mentally went over the abilities of the ninja still present in the village. He'd come into possession of another earpiece, and touched it now. "Captain Arata?"

A faint crackle before Arata answered. "I'm here, Hokage."

"I need you to contact the Uchiha brothers and the one called Hitsugaya. Give the following instructions." He reeled them off. "And be quick."

"At once, Hokage-sama."

To Akiko and Akane, he said. "Courage. Let's go." He leaped, and was soon out of sight. Akiko and Akane dashed to follow.

* * *

Even the brainy ones had set aside their customary conscientiousness:

After hours and days of being told to stop, start, go, stop, wait, no, okay, here, there, stop, stop, _stop, _Udon finally received a command he thought would bear fruit.

"Oh…there. Just like that, don't stop!"

Udon had no intention of doing so. They'd needed long, long hours of him cautiously exploring her body before they'd both discovered what did it for her.

"Harder," Sumiko ordered in a tense shriek.

Udon obligingly bit the heel of her foot harder. He bit harder still, sinking his teeth into the tough skin until his wife at long last bucked and writhed and shuddered in a massive orgasm that stopped her breath. Just as it was finally receding, he switched to the other foot and sucked and bit until she yanked up handfuls of grass in another bone-jarring release.

_Take that, Konohamaru, _he thought with tired pride. _I can handle my business too, jackass. _

He sat back then, awaiting further commands, but Sumiko surprised him. She lunged up, sweaty and imperious, and dragged his head down between her legs. "Suck," she demanded. "Don't stop, not for anything, unless I say to."

Never having been allowed this particular delight with his wife, Udon fell to the task with a will.

* * *

Yumichika was already in the large chamber used by the Barrier Team when Kakashi's report came in. He spoke to both the Detection and Interception divisions of the Barrier Team now.

"I believe I can fuse my reiatsu with your chak-ra," he was saying. He stumbled over the word chakra, still unused to it. "The barrier surrounding the village can be altered from detecting intrusions, to preventing invasions."

The Barrier Team was noticeably skeptical at hearing this. "Yumichika-san, we have people who can do that, but they were in the field, waiting to cast an additional barrier over ours. Regardless, that jutsu requires several highly skilled ninja, a score at least. You are but one man. The amount of chakra such an endeavor would require…" The one speaking trailed off. He didn't want to offend Yumichika by suggesting he was weak.

Yumichika, who'd acquired clothes during the past three days, unsheathed his sword. "Yes, I'm aware. Normally, I don't show my Zanpaktuo's abilities, but as none of you reside in Soul Society, and the situation is in fact dire, there is no choice." He laid his blade on the floor and asked the members of the Detection Division to sit round, before taking up a position in front of it himself. "If you could each lay one hand on the blade. Don't be alarmed at the sensation of your chak-ra being pulled into my blade. It is necessary for this spell. Oh, and by the way. I am no man…I am a Shinigami with the Gotei 13, 3rd seat for the 11th Division, the strongest division in Soul Society."

-oOo-

Kakashi received the intelligence on the barrier alteration. He nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to both women. "I will do the talking. Do not interfere." They dipped their heads, showing that they understood. He gave them a few more instructions as they walked to where Madara and Nagato were stationed.

Madara and Nagato were sitting on a hill, some distance of a few hundred yards removed from the village walls. A clear view of the village existed thanks to the trees around Konoha having been cleared away. Kakashi suspected that this too was Madara's doing, the better to see the battlefield. He walked up to them and bowed. Madara and Nagato inclined their heads in response.

"Hatake Kakashi," Madara smiled. "I'd heard you'd become Hokage." He took a moment to note the white hair mixed liberally with Kakashi's natural gray color. "My, how time passes. You must be in your fourth decade by now, no? Your father was quite the shinobi, if I remember correctly. And you are no slouch. Come. Sit." Madara gestured politely to the ground in front of him.

Kakashi took the offer. Akiko and Akane stood attentively precisely three paces behind him, on his left and right sides. Nagato sat exactly one pace behind Madara and to his left. Ideal distances to either attack or defend. He was sure the sisters had chakra concentrated to their feet to prevent themselves from being drawn by Nagato, just as he himself was taking precautions. "I would like to negotiate," Kakashi began.

"I am inclined to listen." Madara unstoppered a _sake _bottle and offered it to Kakashi. "Drink?"

Kakashi declined respectively. "Please have Kisame and the others end their advances, and we can discuss your presence here."

Madara's eyes shifted so that he was looking behind Kakashi, to where the various attacks were inching along, almost on top of the village. He looked back at Kakashi and gave a small smile. "If you have what I want I'll be happy to have them cease and desist. Do you?"

_And so it begins_, Kakashi thought grimly. He'd received reports that attacks directed at Kisame and the others had resulted in swift death. Sighing, Kakashi prepared himself to exchange wits with his enemy.

* * *

They slept.

All of them, except for a few. Gaara slept as his tireless preparations of Suna caught up with him. Hiroko and Hana slept because of the pregnancies. Queenie slept due to his long nights of bodyguard duty. And the trainees slept because it was still a luxury they were getting used to.

Itachi was one of the few who didn't sleep. He searched among the bodies stretched out around the tree. Picking his way carefully around them, he made his way to where Rasta-Sasuke lay with one leg cocked on the other, hands behind his head. "May I speak with you?"

Rasta-Sasuke kept his gaze on the leaves above him. Blondie had his heavy arm thrown across his middle, fast asleep. He maneuvered the blade of grass in his mouth so he could speak. "I guess."

Itachi sat. He crossed his legs, and rested his hands on his knees. Rasta-Sasuke, seeing this, mentally shook his head. The guy was always so correct and proper. He found himself wonder if Itachi ever flipped anyone the finger. Probably not.

Itachi cleared his throat. He wasn't sure how to begin. As the silence lengthened, he found his face heating in embarrassment.

-oOo-

The triplets were also awake, and it could be said that they, at least, were not unaware. This was thanks to Ryota who, despite being a prankster at heart, had much of Willow Rosenberg's perfectionist attitude when it came to doing something. And he was starting to feel the pressure.

"Fuck! You do it again," Ryota snapped.

Masaru flexed his cramped hands. Kei sniffled, scrubbing tears from his eyes. "I can't," he whined. "We've been doing it for hours, non-stop."

"We're down to thirty minutes," Masaru offered in a low voice. "Give us a break."

Ryota glared at them. "This war being won depends on us getting this spell right. I can't have you guys screwing up on the four hundred and ninety-ninth seal, or your hands cramping up on the two hundred and fiftieth. Get it right, and _get _with the _program_! Now, do it again!"

Kei's face crumpled in exhaustion, and at the reminder of how much rested on their shoulders. "I'm telling dad you said fuck. I hate you," he whispered miserably.

"You can hate me after we've won," Ryota said pitilessly.

* * *

Hitsugaya, with three accompanying ANBU, landed on top of the village gate. He looked at the agent on his left. "Well?"

"Akiko-san reports that Madara has neglected to have Kisame and the others stand down, Hitsugaya-san."

Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes.

The agent dipped his head in apology. "I meant Hitsugaya-Taicho."

Nodding, Hitsugaya turned to face the wave, drawing his sword. "Let's buy your Commander some time, then."

The agent refrained from correcting him. If the white-haired boy with the devastatingly powerful chakra and equally frightening sword wanted to call the Hokage a commander it was fine by him.

Hyourinmaru was leveled at the wave that was now no more than a hundred yards away. "_Sit Upon The Frozen Heavens!_"

-oOo-

Kisame, walking ahead of his wave, stopped. He watched with interest.

A blue dragon of ice snaked and undulated past his wave. In its wake, it left a towering, frozen mountain of water, one that shimmered and glinted in the late morning sun.

Kisame blinked, then searched the village walls with his eyes. There, atop the gates, stood one rather diminutive white-haired young man. Kisame recognized him as being with the scarred man he'd fought when last in this village. The young man's blade ended in the ice dragon. Even as Kisame watched, the dragon retreated into the form of a sword once more. He saw three ANBU agents ranked behind the little man.

The little swordsman jumped, and gave a mighty slash of his blade at the frozen wave. It cracked, then shattered with a deafening explosion into huge chunks of ice.

-oOo-

Elsewhere, Captain Arata was notified of the other counter measures being in place. He spoke through the earpieces every fighter in Konoha had been given. "Fire!"

"Roger that!" Yukio shouted. "Ready, Juro?"

"Ready!"

Yukio looked to his other side. "Kaito, you with me?"

Kaito gave a single, serious nod, his eyes on the target. "Let's do this."

"Yosh," Yukio yelled. "Count of three! One…two…now!"

"Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

From the three young men issued three enormous fireballs. On their way to the incoming wave of earth, the fireballs joined to form one colossal ball of overwhelming heat.

-oOo-

"Damn" Kenji cursed, scanning the area behind the clay giant. "No sign of Deidara. Jesus, look at that thing he's controlling. Gotta be two-three hundred feet tall. We good, Kenta?"

"I'm ready."

Kenji took a moment to look his twin in the eyes, exchanging silent communication the way identical twins sometimes did. It wasn't words, so much as feelings: _Today could be it for us, bro. Let's go hard, neh?_

Kenta acknowledged by holding up his fist. Kenji bumped it with his own, then turned toward the advancing clay man. "Now!"

They shouted in unison, hands held out in front of them. "Ninpo: Raikyuu!"

Their lightning balls took shape and grew as they pumped large amounts of chakra into them. When the balls were several feet in diameter each, they fired.

-oOo-

Kakashi received reports of the major attacks being repelled at the same time that he was informed that the Barrier Team had successfully altered Konoha's shield. "Attacks can pass through to the enemy," he heard through his earpiece. "But none can enter into Konoha."

Akiko and Akane, Madara and Nagato, all turned around from having watched the counter attacks.

Kakashi had looked on as well, and now felt a moment of satisfaction. _Excellent job, Arata. _He regarded Madara with a composed expression, aware that they'd won nothing but a little extra time. "Shall we try this again?" he asked mildly.

* * *

"So," Itachi said slowly.

"Yeah," Rasta-Sasuke answered.

"It's a fine day."

"Yup."

"A little chilly."

"I guess."

"Seems this world's fall season is rather short. I sense this place experiences cold winters."

Rasta-Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes.

-oOo-

Uzumaki Raiden was oblivious as well, which truly was unforgivable. His actions in the underworld, his stubborn and obstinate nature, had been the spark to set this entire fireball rolling. It was nearly upon them all, ready to consume them, and yet he was unaware.

Raiden could smell him. His smell was of his particular magic, of warm willingness, and sizzling hot, blindingly bright, excruciatingly intense love. Love for him. He was bathed in that love, and the strength of it seemed to burn the very flesh from his bones. How could he be loved so deeply? So thoroughly? The headlong rush of it, without a hope or prayer of turning back, left him shaken.

He ran his hands all over Wyatt's warm skin as he kissed his throat and neck. He shifted, and felt Wyatt shift accordingly beneath him. He could both feel and smell when a touch pleased Wyatt and when one didn't. A soft moan left him when Wyatt's hands brushed up his hips to his back.

Wyatt was frankly awed at discovering just how devastating Raiden's feelings for him were. It was one thing to know it, quite another to feel it. Attuned to Raiden's senses as he was, he was even able to vaguely pick up on his sense of smell. Was that how he smelled to Raiden? He'd had no idea his own smell was so…enticing.

And then there was Raiden himself. So strong. Commanding, though they were only kissing. Accessing Raiden's thoughts revealed nothing but images and visions of Wyatt himself. As a baby, as a child, and as he was now. Raiden's love pulsed around each image.

He loved Raiden so much that he didn't think he could contain it. Certainly he couldn't bare it, not alone. But he wasn't alone. He'd never be alone again.

Wyatt rolled them so that Raiden was beneath him. Then they broke apart to lay facing each other and grinning. Words couldn't describe the catharsis they felt at being so close after having been apart for so long. No more anger, no more hurt. Joined in every sense but the physical one, neither boy had ever been happier than they were at that moment.

-oOo-

Raiden stroked his knuckles against Wyatt's cheek in a thoroughly aberrant display of affection. He stopped, squinting at Wyatt's face. "What is that?" he asked.

"What?" Wyatt's eyes were sleepy from all the kissing they'd done. He could not remember being more at peace.

"That." Raiden cocked his head, concentrating. "That song in your head. I kept hearing it while we were kissing."

Wyatt frowned a bit, then his expression cleared. "Oh, that? It's just something I always hear when I'm around you. I don't even think about it anymore. You can really hear it?"

Raiden nodded. He listened to a few verses. Somehow the words were highly evocative of secret urges and…desires. A feeling of heavy heat pooled in his stomach and crawled along his skin. "That's the sexiest thing I've ever heard…" It was his turn to frown. He wasn't in the habit of seeing things as sexy. For all his recent woes with his rut, he was not a kid who actively thought about sex much. Not in relation to himself, at any rate. He met Wyatt's bashful gaze. "Is that really how you think of me?"

Wyatt gave an embarrassed squeak, burying his face in the mossy floor of the cave. He nodded.

Raiden could feel the truth of that. He listened to a few more lines. "What's it called?"

"Animal. By some group called Neon Trees." His voice was muffled.

"I like it. That should be our theme song."

A bray of laughter escaped Wyatt. He bit his lip and lifted his head to fix Raiden with shining eyes. "You don't think it's lame?"

"Nope."

Wyatt was quiet for a few seconds. Then his love for Raiden rose up in him sharply. He launched himself at the younger boy, quickly pinning his hands down by his head.

"What the-"

"I want it," Wyatt said between small nips to Raiden's nose and cheeks. "Right now." More nips. A small kiss dropped on Raiden's chin. "No more playing." A tiny lick to Raiden's upper lip. "I'm _tired _of waiting." Wyatt moved his knees between Raiden's legs and nudged them apart.

Raiden's eyes went as wide as they could go. "Whoa, what? _Wait!_ Christ-"

"Don't _want _to wait anymore, I told you." Wyatt pressed down harder when Raiden tried to free his wrists. Raiden attempted to fold himself free and Wyatt, bonded with him as he was, neatly blocked that ability with a simple mental barrier in Raiden's mind.

Raiden stiffened in shock. He cursed fluently in a rising voice of outrage. "WHAT THE BLEEDING _FUCK, _WYATT?"

Wyatt smiled widely. "Didn't know I could do that, huh?" He leaned in to kiss Raiden again, enjoying the control he had.

"Let me up."

"No." Wyatt started to nibble the angrily pursed mouth when he was hit with Raiden's feelings. Resentment, anger, and fear mixed together in a threatening ball of roiling negativity. He searched Raiden's eyes carefully, before sitting up slowly.

Raiden lost no time in rolling to his feet. He stood, breathing heavily, and avoided Wyatt's questioning eyes. Instead, he walked to the cave entrance and stood looking down at the treetops of the expansive forest. His arms were folded tightly across his chest.

Wyatt got to his feet as well.

"It's not that I don't want to," Raiden said suddenly, tightly.

"I know."

"Or that I don't want you, because I do."

"I know."

"It's just-"

"You're not ready."

Raiden looked back at Wyatt over one shoulder. "…I guess."

"But Raiden, you're _never _ready. And like…I'm kind of hanging on by a thread here, too. I really want to do it. Like, really _really _want to. And you always let us get close, then back off. I don't get it. You were ready to have sex with your own sister, but now that we're talking again, and bonded, you don't want to do it with me?"

The hurt in Wyatt's voice and in his feelings, had Raiden hunching his shoulders in shared pain. "I'm sorry." He turned around to face him, picking at a tiny piece of protruding rock from the cave wall with one hand. "That was the rut, not me. Now that I'm myself, I don't feel like I can do it, you know? It's just…it's so _grown up. _And I'm a kid. I _like _being a kid. Like, what the heck do I know about fucking? Nothing! I mean, I'd probably suck at it and-"

Wyatt went to him and took the hand that was worrying a hole into the rock wall. Such a strong hand. He held it, while putting his other hand on Raiden's shoulder. "Raiden, stop. You don't have to explain. I can feel what's going on with you, remember?"

"I know, but-"

Wyatt kissed him to silence. "It's okay. If you're not ready, then you're not ready."

"I just want to get it right and not feel like I'm messing up. And I don't want to be scared when I'm doing it. We got time, right? I mean…we're not going anywhere."

"Plenty of time," Wyatt smiled. "The rest of our lives."

"Right, see? No need to rush. When I'm ready, trust me. You'll know. You just make sure you're ready to receive it when I bring it, Angel."

Wyatt snorted in memory of Raiden's nickname for him… then let his smile freeze. "Wait, is that how it's going to be? Me…uh…receiving?"

Raiden felt his tension leave him suddenly. He cackled outright at the expression on Wyatt's face. "What, you thought you'd top _me? _Yeah, right!" He doubled over laughing, nearly choking at the imagery of mild-mannered Wyatt, ever polite, trying to top him. "Oh God, it hurts," he moaned, holding his stomach.

Wyatt's eyes were hooded. "Well, seeing as I'm the one who initiates all our touching, and who asked to be bitten, and is ready to go all the way…yes. I thought I'd be the one…topping." Weird terminology, but accurate.

Raiden straightened up, still snickering. He gave a look to Wyatt that had the older boy re-thinking his words. "Um, no. No…you'll definitely be bottoming for me, Wyatt ole boy. No two ways about it."

Wyatt smirked…then rushed Raiden and shoved him against the wall. He dragged his nose up and down the side of Raiden's face, before kissing him sharply in one ear. Raiden flinched at the loud smacking sound, but Wyatt was already pulling back to speak. "So long as I know you'll eventually be ready, I guess I can deal with that. And I can wait. Tell you what. How about you promise me something?"

Raiden, mesmerized by the little pulsations of excitement Wyatt was currently giving off, said dreamily, "Anything."

"Promise me that when you _do _bring it? You bring it hard. I mean it. Bring it just as hard as you can. Till then I'll be waiting." He pushed off from Raiden with a smile, and turned to walk away. He conjured a large glass of ice water and tipped his head back, drinking it.

-oOo-

It was a strange thing. The pulsations of Wyatt's attraction to him seemed to be in him still. The ripples they set off in him grew and swelled until he felt like his whole body was pulsating. A door, some door in his development that had always been closed to him, swung open at last. Without his rut, with his mind fully present and aware, and with full knowledge of what he was doing, Raiden walked up behind Wyatt, reached around his head, and took the water glass. He folded it away while he pulled Wyatt around by his shoulder. Without a word, he kept walking until it was Wyatt who was pressed to the wall.

"Raiden?"

He let his fingertips drag lightly down Wyatt's chest until they were brought up short by the waist of his buckskins. "Now," was all he said.

Wyatt felt his knees actually go weak. Raiden's voice had skipped over it's usual unevenness so that that one word was given in the voice Raiden would be using as a man. This glimpse of what Raiden would sound like, the word itself, and the hand, all served to have Wyatt's own voice squeaking. "Huh? B-but you just said-"

"That was then." His eyes searched Wyatt's.

Those fingertips in his waistband slid in a little more. "But-"

"You can feel what I'm feeling, can't you?"

Wyatt could. His mouth went slack. What went through his mind was, _I'll never be able to take that kind of emotion from him, dear sweet God…_ Then, _Hells yeah, FINALLY!_ And then, _Hope my mom doesn't find out. _"What changed your mind?" he stuttered out loud.

Raiden didn't answer. Maybe he couldn't. Wyatt felt the most indescribable feeling surge between them, through their bond. A heat that was spiritually and mentally blistering; their desire, awakened to full capacity at last.

The hand slid down the front of Wyatt's pants.

-oOo-

Raiden dropped his forehead against Wyatt's neck, while Wyatt let his head rest on the wall behind him. His mouth was open in shallow pants.

They'd touched, but never _touched. _Not like this. Raiden had never held anyone's dick but his own, and that was for the bathroom. He stopped, squeezing lightly, as he became acquainted with the intimate feel of another. The flesh filling his hand was hard as iron and incredibly warm. Such soft skin. Smooth and soft. He felt a shiver at hearing Wyatt moan when he squeezed; he could feel the other boy's pleasure as his own. Wyatt sagged against the wall. Raiden kept his eyes closed, aware that his own dick was hard as a rock. Without the rut to cloud his mind, he was free to experience how truly commanding his own natural arousal was. All his attention was focused on it, and on what Wyatt was feeling. Wyatt's arousal came through loud and clear, shorting out his ability to perform magic.

He squeezed again, harder this time.

"_Raiden,_" Wyatt said almost soundlessly.

They slid down the wall. Raiden, sitting in Wyatt's lap, braced one hand behind Wyatt's head as he finally began moving his hand along that leaking length. It was difficult; Wyatt's growing excitement fed his own through their connection. He rubbed doggedly, gritting his teeth, seeing stars…until Wyatt went off like a rocket, both inside and out. He himself wasn't far behind, and the sensation of coming left him breathless, dizzy. He collapsed against Wyatt, who caught him and rolled them weakly to the floor.

Raiden briefly felt ashamed. The thought that this was what his parents did came to him, and he closed his eyes hard. He swallowed. Then Wyatt leaned over him and kissed him, and the thought went away. He reversed their positions.

When Wyatt's hands found their way to Raiden's pants, they both stopped. The sun was on its downward journey. The light was dim in the cave, but there was enough to see each other by. "Is this okay?" Wyatt whispered.

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Uh huh."

"Okay."

They stood up in order to shed buckskins and moccasins quickly. Raiden let his pants be taken off by Wyatt. He used the excuse of finally seeing Wyatt naked to mask his embarrassment. They looked each other over.

"That's…not fair," Wyatt frowned at Raiden's groin.

"Hey, it is what it is," Raiden blushed. "I might take after my dad, though. I seem to recall Pop saying something like that during bath time when I was really little. You, uh- you think it's gross?" he asked self-consciously.

Wyatt finally raised his eyes. "No. I think it's hot."

"Oh. I, um… I like yours, too."

They stared at each other in the gathering shadows, shifting nervously. Finally Wyatt whispered, "Get over here."

Raiden went to him.

* * *

"Before we begin, may I take a moment to outline what you're up against?" Madara asked pleasantly.

"By all means," Kakashi allowed. His tone did not betray his tight vigilance.

Madara inclined his head. "Very well. The first phase of my attack will come in the form of shinobi I have gathered. Even now they are in place to invade at my signal. They number something above ten thousand, isn't that correct Nagato?"

Nagato nodded silently.

"My spy tells me your forces inside the village are a fraction of that. Two or three hundred ninja at best, and only a third of those ANBU. Is this accurate intelligence so far?"

Kakashi had to assume that the one called Zetsu had provided this information. Itachi had briefed them all on Akatsuki long ago. Zetsu's stealth was without equal.

He remained silent.

Madara took this for affirmation. "The second phase of my attack is my army of alien minions. Just shy of one million. Believe me, Kakashi-san, you do not want your villagers subjected to them. They are unbeatable.

"The third and final phase, of course, are the Bijuu. I'm saving them, though. The attacks they displayed awhile ago were merely designed to threaten. And really, my shinobi army will be enough to crush what little resistance Konoha has, wouldn't you say? I have all your allies, all your own forces, safely tucked away. No one is coming to help you. Your village will be overrun and subdued in less than an hour. Therefore, Kakashi-san," Madara concluded in a soft voice, "I do hope for your sake, as well as Konoha's, that you've come to the bargaining table with something of value. Three things, to be precise."

Stalling, Kakashi swallowed. "And what might those three things be?"

"Uzumaki Naruto's children…and a boy last seen in Raiden's company."

"What boy?"

"A boy in possession of strange powers." Madara summarized the powers from what he remembered.

Kakashi knew very well that they meant Naruto's houseguest, the one called Halliwell Wyatt. He hadn't needed a description. "If I hand these children over to you, you and your army would leave without attacking? You'd release all the shinobi you are holding hostage?"

Impressed that Kakashi had deduced the whereabouts of his allies, Madara bowed slightly. "Yes. My word on it. Not so much as a stone of Konohagakure would be displaced, and everyone in my possession would be returned safely."

"And if I don't?"

"Konoha would become a memory. Followed by the rest of the villages, and then the world. The shinobi I have will die. I won't rest until I have those children. I am dead, Kakashi-san," Madara explained at Kakashi's horrified stare. "Izanami holds my soul, the souls of all of Akatsuki. We can't be killed, and the goddess promises a fate worse than what we're currently enjoying should I fail to deliver those children. So you see, I have nothing to lose. And we are unstoppable. It is in your best interests to give those children to me. Now, Kakashi-san. I weary of waiting."

Kakashi nodded, before giving a discreet signal to the two women behind him. "They are not here."

Which Madara already knew. "But you know where they are. Tell me."

Kakashi, who distinctly remembered telling Naruto at one point not to leave the village with his children for fear that this exact situation would crop up, kept his eye trained on Madara's. If the children _were_ here, he would have handed them over; they were more than a match for Madara's army, while the village wasn't. His duty was to the village as a whole. "I can tell you where they are, but it won't help you. Nor do I have any idea where the location is. I only know that they are on another world. Where that world is I don't know."

Madara's eyes, currently black, were emotionless. "I will have to verify this information, of course. I'm sure you understand?"

Kakashi did. "And when you see that I'm telling the truth, that destroying Konoha or any other village will get you no where, you will withdraw."

"Of course. _If _your information is true, I will withdraw and return the shinobi as promised. Are we agreed?"

_Kurenai, Asuma, Sakumo, and new little one…I love you. I'm sorry. _"Agreed."

Madara signaled to Nagato, who stood up. Kakashi remained seated. He did not resist. Nagato rested his palm on Kakashi's head and appeared to concentrate.

Akiko and Akane, having received Kakashi's slight signal earlier, did not interfere. There was a small chance this would work, and the village would be spared. Kakashi had told them on their way over here, that sacrifices had to be made, and that if he could spare the village the nightmare of Madara's army, then no price was too high. It had been a slim chance at best, but one the Hokage had deemed worth taking.

Still, it hurt. Their ANBU masks hid their tears, but the tears themselves did not stop them from elevating their alert level when Nagato finally removed his hand from The Hokage's head.

Hatake Kakashi's soul went along with it, where it soon vanished.

"Well?" Madara asked.

Nagato sorted through the information he'd gotten. "He spoke the truth. But…"

"But?"

Nagato's head swiveled until he was staring at the sisters. "Those two and their kin were also on the world. Apparently there is an army, Madara, one that could…be a problem."

"But the army isn't here," Madara clarified. "Still, that is relevant information. Very relevant indeed." He stood looking down at The Sixth Hokage's cooling body. He sucked his teeth. "I'm afraid I consider the presence of an army a violation of our agreement. Give the signal to attack, Nagato. I will go and supervise the Bijuu myself."

Akiko, chosen by Kakashi for this very reason, moved to intercept him. _If I die, you must stop him, _Kakashi had instructed. _I hate to leave you with that burden...it should be mine, but you and your sister have experience with his powers. _To Madara, she hissed, "You're not going anywhere. Sis?"

Akane stepped in front of Nagato. "I'm afraid you'll have to go through me first, Red."

-oOo-

Orochimaru stared towards the small group several hundred yards away. "Tch. This is why I should be in charge. That Madara went and killed Kakashi-san and now looks to be preparing for a fight of his own." He shook his head in disdain, then turned to the shinobi army. "Attack."

The group of ten thousand ninja, led by Sound nin, lifted their weapons as they ran up the hill they were stationed behind. The roar they set up as they crested the hill and swarmed toward the village made the very air shiver.

As an afterthought, Orochimaru signaled for the platoon of aliens under his command to join them.

-oOo-

Hitsugaya, still stationed on the gate, spoke to the ANBU with him. "Here they come. Alert your captain. And pray Yumichika's barrier holds. "


	58. Chapter 58

A/N: Sorry, I know I announced on the facebook page that this would be up hours ago, but I fell asleep. It's 6:17 am, and I've been up since 12, after all. Anywho, here it is. There's angst, not a lot, but there'll be more next chap. I should have 59 up by Saturday, hopefully. Things get tricky from here on out so I needs to be mighty careful.

20 pages exactly, yay!

Onward!

* * *

Chapter 58

Akane put away _who _she was, and instead focused on _what _she was: a kickass kunoichi. She had one of the strongest opponents the ninja world had ever produced facing her. Nagato ranked amongst the top three, the other two being the Sage of Six Paths, and Madara there.

Madara. She'd trained against Izuna too, and as such would have been the ideal backup for her sister against Madara. They could take him, Akane was sure of it. _Plus, _she thought with a fleeting bite of rage that she quickly suppressed. _He gave the order for my Hokage to be put down. That shit just don't fly._ Focus, she cautioned herself. She was in a delicate situation and she needed to focus. She had her own opponent, and Akiko could handle her business.

So. Nagato. Kinda cute. _No, damnit, focus! What would Ibiki think?_ She knew what he'd think. He'd be ashamed she'd passed up this opportunity to make him proud. So would her father; they both knew that she was a formidable fighter, despite her girlish short-comings sometimes. With these sobering thoughts, Akane at last got down to analyzing, something that she and most Uchiha were exceedingly good at.

_Weaknesses, _she thought as Nagato continued to stare at her. _Not many. He's only got the one body, so that's a definite plus. If he had six, my ass would be history right about now. And he wouldn't be sitting here in his natural skin. Probably didn't want to have the chakra receptors shoved all up his ass like last time…wonder if he had a cock piercing?…Plus he's immortal, so there's no need to protect his real body. Speaking of, there's no hope of killing him. Or stopping him. Or even containing him. All I can do is distract him from the village, maybe delay him a bit. Without getting myself killed, of course, must remember that. To that end, Ninjutsu is out; he can absorb any attack. Genjtusu _might _be out, not sure. Wish I had a best friend to kill right now, I'd jump at the chance for Mangekyo. It'll have to be Taijutsu…which I can't risk using against him or he'll absorb my chakra. So that leaves…what?_

_-_oOo-_  
_

Nagato eyed the slim young woman facing him. His eyes traveled up and down. He noted that her chakra, previously throbbing strongly in her, died away completely. It was masked for good measure. Doing so did not make it impossible for him to access it, but it did make the job of absorbing it more difficult. Very difficult, actually. His eyes widened when she began sauntering over to him. She held her arms out to show that she was weaponless. _Is she suicidal? _The girl had to know that he would kill her without hesitation the moment she lifted a hand against him.

Still, all he wanted was peace. If handing the children to Izanami would ensure his soul had eternal peace, then he would do so, but he would not commit unnecessary bloodshed. That wasn't his way. All the killings he'd done in his life had been to achieve a certain goal. He halted the girl when she was no more than five feet away. "If you come any closer, you will die. Leave."

Akane did pause, but resumed her slow walk with a shy smile and a duck of her head. "You're hot when you threaten, you know that?"

Nagato knew shock. _What did she just say?_

* * *

Madara did not wait for his opponent to come to him, but dropped into the earth and popped up behind her, only to have the girl nearly kick his head off before he'd fully materialized. He evaded, caught her flying kick, and leveled an answering blow with his fist toward her midsection. She did some sort of twist in his grasp that had her arching up and over his head so that she was behind him again. All so blindingly fast. Her speed was superb.

A blow was aimed at his spine that would no doubt have snapped it, but he let her foot pass through him. Madara jumped back, putting some distance between them.

She'd been on that world, Nagato said. The world his brother had presumably gone to when Raiden's sister had taken him. Madara felt it safe to say that this girl had learned of his abilities from his brother. That would be cause for concern…if he could die. As it was, though, he felt he had to know something. He lifted his voice to be heard across the distance separating them. "Are you by any chance one of Uchiha Itachi's children?"

Akiko pushed her mask onto her head, exposing her Sharingan. "Akiko," she said by way of an introduction. _Good, keep him off balance. Sorry, Hokage-sama, but I can't defeat him. I can, however, do something else. _Provided Akane did her part. She risked a quick glance in her direction, and saw her sidling up to Nagato. _She's going with plan B already? Bitch always did have a stone pair. She better pray Ibiki doesn't find out. _She quickly returned her gaze to Madara, who was tilting his head quizzically.

"You've met my brother?" he called to her.

He seemed to already know, so there was no benefit to holding that info. "Yes."

"I see. Tell me, if you can, who Sumiko is. What was she to him? Were they lovers?"

* * *

_How to approach someone who was invincible? _That was the question.

Akane was good. Good at seduction, that was. She'd refined it into an art form. She, like any good seductress, knew that it wasn't so much about actual attraction as it was about making your target _think_ you were attracted. More importantly, making the target feel attraction himself. This was no easy thing, if you and your intended victim were complete strangers. Seduction was easier the less intelligence your victim had. Nagato was highly intelligent, therefore Akane pulled out all the stops.

First and foremost, know your victim. Pride, vanity, insecurity…these were things that could be manipulated. Akane judged that Nagato had a fair amount of pride, having once called himself a God of Peace. There was probably some vanity as well, seeing how powerful he was. However, going by his life history, she reasoned that he'd probably not had a lot of sex; he'd been a solitary figure, confined to some weird contraption for much of his life in order to operate through his six artificial bodies. It stood to reason, then, that where women were concerned, he would have quite a few insecurities.

Working in Torture and Interrogation gave her one up on mind manipulation. She knew how to get in, out, and around someone's mind, and to assess her findings. Nagato's shock at being called hot was plain. That was all the opening someone as skilled as she needed.

Genjutsu, when cast finely and inverted, was undetectable. Akane's was extraordinarily fine indeed, barely a filament of chakra, and inverted not once, but twice. Inexpert inversion invariably compromised the effectiveness of a Genjutsu, but Akane, granddaughter to Mikoto, and sister to Hiroko, _was_ an expert. She'd ducked her head when she'd complimented him, then taken off her mask. The mask, borrowed, had been in place to conceal her Sharingan during negotiations. Already slightly off-kilter from being called hot, Nagato had the briefest moment of inattention when he took in her face, naturally curious about who would say such a thing. Akane cast her Genjutsu then with impeccable timing.

Following the 'less is more' rule, she did not make herself seem overly beautiful or unnaturally provocative. Nagato struck her as someone who had simple tastes. One who valued character over looks. She put the strength of her casting in making him see a young, innocent, and artless girl, awestruck at being in the presence of such a renowned ninja. She let uncertainty at her actions show through, nerves on whether or not he would find her pleasing…and a towering attraction to his mysterious persona, and well-formed physique.

The last, at least, was true. The man _was _hot to her warped way of thinking. It took an exceptionally disciplined mind to be able to convince one's self of an attraction enough so that they gave off a heady mixture of pheromones. Akane was nothing if not an accomplished actress when she wanted to be, and though she wasn't attracted to Nagato, she _found _him attractive, and let this show in her dewy eyes, and nervously, but calculatingly bitten lower lip.

And all the while she took small careful, trembling steps toward him.

-oOo-

Nagato could almost smell her arousal.

He stared at her avidly through his astonishment, cataloging the knowledge that, as unwise as it was, this girl, little more than a child by the looks of her, was indecently attracted to him. Him, of all people. True, he did inspire awe in the few (very few) to know him in his true form, but no woman anywhere, ever, had been attracted to him like this. Or, if they had, they most definitely had been too afraid of him to show it. Unbidden, his life before he'd been known as Pain came to him. He was reminded, via a series of soundless flashbacks, that there had been many a girl he'd found appealing, not least of whom had been Konan, but that he'd been too shy and sensitive to approach. Women had found him strange, and interpreted his sensitivity as weakness. Some had even wondered to his face if he would be manly between the sheets or if he was perhaps more inclined toward members of his own sex. With time, he'd filed these hurtful occurrences away as just more painful experiences. Later, he'd felt it oddly appropriate that a God remain free of earthly lusts. He was pure in his pain, untainted.

But now here stood a girl –in the midst of the hostile takeover of her village, no less- expressing a keen attraction to him. An Uchiha of delicate beauty. Nagato swiftly found himself reverting to his previous sensitivity. This manifested itself by alarming thoughts: he knew an urge to sweep her away, leave Akatsuki and Izanami behind, and fulfill whatever dreams caused her large brown eyes to brim with emotion the way they were currently doing. She stepped right up to him, her lashes long, her soft pink lips parted…she smelled sweet and innocent.

An erection swelled and tightened the front of his pants. This alone nearly buckled his knees with amazement…he could not remember the last time such a thing had happened to him. Probably not since before he'd been old enough to drink.

Her face tilted up to his, waiting, seeking… Her lips were so close, so invitingly close. Cautiously, searching her eyes all the while, he let his head drop slowly to meet hers. _I have never kissed another…_

His head was grabbed painfully and yanked back. At the same moment, a sharp spike was shoved through the base of his neck, into his brain, by what he immediately realized was the girl's clone; even in the confused, endless moment wherein he realized he'd been tricked, he was able to see that Madara's opponent still faced him, so it wasn't her.

The girl's eyes were cold now, and full of violence. He brought his hands up to finish her, just as she grabbed him beneath the chin and shoved his head back harder onto that spike…and then his head felt as if it exploded. Only a second or two had passed from when he'd been close to kissing the deceitful creature.

-oOo-

_How to approach someone invincible? _That was the question. The answer, Akane found, was to find a blindside. And be unpredictable.

The insect poison was something she'd gotten from her brother Masaru. When Izuna had be re-enacting all their battles, he'd commented on how effective it had been during his own fight with the boy. Asami had then suggested it as a poison they all could use on weapons. They all had at least two shivs coated with the stuff, and carefully hidden on their persons.

She knew Nagato couldn't die, but now, while the stuff was corroding his brain from the inside out, and he was howling, she whipped out the long blade she had shoved down the side of her right thigh, and hacked his head off. The screaming stopped at once. Her clone, formed and hidden before they'd even showed up for the negotiations, executed a katon and reduced the open-mouthed head to ash.

The clone disappeared. Her entire exchange with Nagato had probably taken less than a full minute; Genjutsu could alter the perception of time. She turned to see how Akiko was faring, but just then a deafening roar of sound distracted her.

* * *

Akiko was about to answer that her sister had been nothing to Izuna, when the air erupted into sound. Nagato's scream had Madara cursing and snapping his head in that direction, at the same moment that his own army storming toward the village seemed to surprise him. Akiko judged that the time had come. _Please don't let him kill us. _"Now, Akane!" She launched herself at Madara.

-oOo-

Madara knew something had gone terribly wrong. Impossibly, he, immortal and most powerful one present, had been outsmarted. Nagato was down; his army was attacking without his order; and the two women were even now flying toward his head.

They would pay for this. For now, he had a wayward army to control. He recognized the attack as coming from Orochimaru's position. He sidestepped the two women, reached out a hand, and absently sent them to the dimension holding the rest of the allied forces.

-oOo-

He walked grimly to where Nagato's body lay. Whether or not Izanami would return him to life remained to be seen. He rather thought, though, that with no head, the job would be pointless. Then again, Hidan had been resurrected despite his body being dismembered.

Understanding was not long in coming. Returned to this world as he was now, apparently Izanami could communicate with him via her hold on his soul. His head nearly split in two at hearing her vituperative thoughts.

'_I asked you to tear the world apart, beginning with that pestilential village, and you sit negotiating terms? There are no terms to negotiate! The children are not here, you fool. Raze their home to the ground and no doubt they will learn of it through their extraordinary powers! I grow tired of your messes, Madara. Were I not conserving my energy for their arrival, I would manifest before you now and give you a taste of what Nagato is feeling.' _Here her thoughts paused long enough for Madara to hear the otherworldly shrieking of Nagato's soul being tortured and tormented in ways Madara couldn't even begin to guess. He felt sweat break out on his brow.

'_It is beyond belief,' _she resumed, _'that even immortal, you peons manage to bungle the simplest objective. My patience is at an end. This _is_ your last chance, Madara. Get it done.'_

"Yes, Goddess." In its wake her voice left him with a pounding headache and keen nausea. _I hope the children kill you, I really do._

-oOo-_  
_

He opened his eyes and found Nagato's body whole once more. The man got slowly to his feet, pale and shaking with the memory of his recent visit with the goddess. Madara hadn't bothered to bring up to her the fact that he'd already decided to attack. Arguing was pointless. The bitch had his soul, and he knew firsthand, without Nagato's screams echoing in his head, just how much worse things could be.

He walked to the top of the hill, ignoring Kakashi's body, and lifted his arms so that the rest of Akatsuki could see. The shinobi army and single platoon of aliens were halfway to the village walls. His comrades saw the signal and acknowledged with raised fists of their own.

The aliens, previously held in reserve, were given the signal by their Akatsuki lieutenants to attack. They did so in silence, their pincers making a continuous, menacing clacking sound that drowned out the voices of the ten thousand yelling men and women.

* * *

Arata had joined Hitsugaya on the wall. The village, having the Hokage Monument at its back, was normally surrounded on three sides by trees. Arata gazed at the clear space swiftly being overrun with shinobi and aliens, and touched his earpiece.

"Everyone. Hatake Kakashi has moved Onward. The enemy is on the move. ETA one, maybe two minutes. Yumichika-san, will that barrier hold?"

"It will, Arata-Taicho. For how long, I don't know. It would depend on the strength of the attack."

Arata nodded. There were precisely two hundred and eighty Jounin men and women in the village, six thousand villagers distributed in numerous safe locations, and ninety-seven ANBU agents. "Clan heads." There was a chorus of voices that responded. "How many fighters can you give us?"

"The Inuzuka clan is one hundred and twenty-five strong, ready and waiting to rip these bitches apart," Kiba answered via his earpiece.

Hinata's voice was calm and composed. "Three hundred and ten Hyuuga are present, Arata-san. We had more but they were in the field."

"We also had the majority of our number in the field," Shino added. Including his father. "At present there are seventy-five Aburame awaiting your orders."

"One hundred and fifty Akimichi," Chouji said.

Arata listened to the other reports coming in. The Uchiha were the fewest in number. All told, it swelled their ranks from two hundred and eighty to well over one thousand. "Distribute yourselves in units of twenty throughout the village, members of every clan in each unit, and at least two medics," he told them. "If the wall is taken or the shield falls, you are the last defense of the village."

There were distant shouts as people began organizing themselves accordingly. Arata listened to this with approval, his eyes never leaving the enemy's advance.

"All ANBU should now be on the walls, evenly spaced," he resumed quietly. He was getting nothing but alert silence from his com unit now. Everyone was listening hard to his words and to the muted roar of the approaching enemy. He glanced left and right and saw that ANBU was indeed in place. "Uchiha Akiko and Uchiha Akane have gone dark. Before she left with the Hokage, Akiko confided in me a daring plan that she and her sister intended to undertake. We must hold off until she is successful…as well as pray for her success. Now, though, while the barrier holds and the enemy cannot touch us, attack with everything you have. Long range fighters," he barked. "To the wall!"

The long range fighters from among the clans and other ninja inside the wall leaped up. Additionally, any short range fighters in ANBU who were on the wall dropped back. This shift took place just as the first wave of enemy shinobi and aliens were reaching the wall. They rebounded off the invisible, yet impenetrable barrier.

"Attack," Arata roared. "Repeat, attack at will!"

Ibiki, one of the ones on the wall, and Ikkaku, stationed on the ground, felt their hearts cramp at mention of Akane and Akiko, but remained focused. They added their voices to those of ANBU in a rising bellow of determination. "KONOHA!"

* * *

Akiko narrowly avoided landing on her face. She managed to twist so that she fell on her side instead. She heard Akane land with a tiny squeal beside her.

Lifting her head, she saw that she was surrounded by dozens of faces, wearing forehead protectors she recognized. She was given a hand and pulled to her feet, just as her sister was receiving the same treatment. Akiko took the time to look at her sister in triumph. They grinned, bumped fists, snapped their fingers, and waggled their hands in the air; a complicated little handshake of victory.

"Gotta hand it to you, I didn't think you'd be able to take Nagato out," Akiko chuckled. "I was right, and it shocked ole Madara enough to keep him from killing us right off."

"That and the army luckily attacking when they did." She paused. "Hokage-sama went down like a hero."

"Yeah." Akiko bowed her head a moment in respectful silence. Then she looked around.

The space was vast and predominantly dark. There was some faint extraneous light to see by, enough so that she counted tens of thousands of people. Konoha's allied forces.

"It seems you two are Madara's latest victims," Aburame Shibi stepped forward. "Did I hear you correctly? Is the Hokage dead?"

Both sisters nodded. The surrounding listeners were solemn with sorrow, their faces serious.

Then Akane lifted her voice to be heard by everyone in her immediate vicinity. "We've come to rescue you."

This information was passed back among the crowd in a spreading ripple of murmurs and shocked, hopeful voices. Temari, who happened to have been in the field as well, maneuvered herself so that she was standing beside Shibi. "Impossible. No one can release us from here accept Madara himself." There were mutters of agreement from the shinobi who were close enough to hear.

"As it happens," Akiko corrected her, "my sister and I have first hand knowledge of how to break out of one of these dimensions, having done so before. It's going to take some cooperation, though. And someone brainy. Any volunteers?"

Every hand around them shot up, every voice answered in the affirmative. Akane smirked toward her sis. "We _so _got this."

* * *

Madara clocked the multitude of attacks that rained down on his forces. The aliens were impervious of course, but the shinobi seemed to be falling. They fought back, but that barrier blocked any and all Ninjutsu. His shinobi were dropping like flies. He looked aside at where Nagato, now recovered, stood watching. The man had a livid expression of fury on his face, ashamed at how he'd been defeated by a slip of a girl. Having heard the tale of her seduction only a moment ago, Madara rather thought a measure of injured pride helped Nagato's anger along. "You'll have your revenge on her, don't worry. She and the other one are being kept alive for that very purpose. Right now, I need that barrier gone. Can you get through it?"

Nagato eyed it carefully. "Interesting jutsu. I believe I can, yes."

"How long?" The shinobi were down by a quarter of their number already.

"Not long." Nagato performed Shunshin and was soon at the wall, wedging himself between the writhing bodies of aliens and shinobi alike. His Shinra Tensei helped with this; the aliens were shoved out of his way so that he was finally able to reach the barrier. He held up his hands and began draining the chakra maintaining it.

-oOo-

Yumichika, one hand on his blade, the other held beneath his chin in a position of focus, eyes closed, recognized the reiatsu trying to drain his own. "Yumichika-sama!" one of the barrier team said anxiously. They were aware of the drain due to their connection with the Shinigami.

Yumichika was too focused on draining the usurping reiatsu in turn to answer them. He was breathing heavily from the exertion of withstanding the aliens' attack. "Ruri'iro Kujaku: Split and Deviate."

Beneath his hand, his Zanpaktuo began glowing blue. The watching barrier team, still lending chakra support, _ahh_-ed in wonder. He felt a corresponding spike in the reiatsu trying to suck his own. Yumichika opened his eyes, now glowing a malevolent blue, and let out a small, uncharacteristic growl. _Not this time, you soul-sucking fag. _

-oOo-_  
_

Nagato narrowed his eyes at what he was seeing and feeling. The entire gargantuan barrier surrounding Konoha now became visible as a bubble turning blue. He could feel his chakra being sucked powerfully from him, and hastily disconnected himself. He was back at Madara's side in record time. "Madara…"

"I saw." His human army was down to half their number now, and dwindling fast; the aliens greatly outnumbered them, and didn't trouble themselves to avoid them in their frenzied quest to get through that barrier. They cut through the remaining shinobi easily and, spurned on by this carnage, began eating them there. This still left the majority of the aliens free. They began swarming up the barrier, turning the huge dome black with their bodies. They began tearing at the barrier anew. They would soon overwhelm it by sheer numbers and brute strength; nearly one million indestructible aliens was a force no one and nothing could stand against for long.

Madara sent a katon into the air, a signal for Akatsuki to transform, but to hold off attacking unless they saw a second katon. That would only come when the barrier was breached.

* * *

The sun was blocked out completely. The ensuing darkness was blacker than any night. Arata saw, by the light of his chakra covered hand, that the village streets were empty except for ninja and ANBU. Good. The women, children, and elderly were safely tucked away. He'd already tried throwing his strongest attacks, of various nature elements, at those creatures only to have his jutsu bounce off their bodies.

Sweat dripped freely down his face _What sort of war is it when the enemy has no weaknesses whatsoever?_ Like the rest of his villagers, he'd dropped from the wall to stand on the ground. He stared upward, as everyone did. The sound the aliens made as they beat, beat, beat relentlessly on the barrier was like thunder. Beyond them, Arata felt the unbelievably oppressive chakra of eight released Bijuu and knew terror. _If that barrier collapses, we're done. Yumichika-san, hang on please._

-oOo-_  
_

The strain was immense. The blows from those aliens shivered through Yumichika's body, transferred by his chakra so that he wheezed and wilted in effort. He had one eye closed and both hands on his blade now, hanging on to his consciousness with brute force. The barrier team had long since collapsed from shock, their reiatsu gone.

Even in this desperate situation, he glanced around the silent room, making sure no one was present to carry any tales.

He'd trained hard on that world, sometimes alone. And like everyone, he'd managed to improve. The only one who knew of his improvement, Urahara, wasn't around. Taking a deep breath, Ayasegawa Yumichika let out all of his remaining reiatsu. All of it. He said a brief prayer of thanks that his limiter was released. "_Bankai!_"

-oOo-

The barrier glowed a brilliant blue, lancing up through the bodies of the aliens in thin beams of light. This stopped them, threw them off, or fried them in great numbers.

A cheer went up from the units in the village. Ikkaku, narrowing his eyes up at the barrier, whispered a curse. He turned and began running.

-oOo-

Madara felt bile rise up in him. Why couldn't they just be quietly annihilated? He had the second katon up in the air, but at that moment Nagato gave a shout. Then he was shouting himself, and hastily leaping to safety; the atmosphere beside him yawned wide and tens of thousands of enraged shinobi poured out, stampeding toward the black dome of aliens.

* * *

The sight of eight gigantic Bijuu lumbering toward the beset village was a somber one, but it did not stop the charging allied forces.

Akiko heard her earpiece crackle as it came back on. "Arata-senpai, the mission was a success! The allied forces need entry into the barrier!"

Arata gave a glad shout in her ear, accompanied by the sounds of everyone else in the village who'd heard her through their earpieces. "Get to the west gate," he ordered her.

Akiko leaped and ran, landing ahead of the army to guide them towards the west gate of the village, a gate that was rarely used, and thus designated as a side/emergency entrance.

-oOo-

Madara and Nagato had jumped out of the way and landed behind the streaming allied forces. Madara had immediately tried to close his dimension again, but apparently whatever force had opened it in the first place continued to hold it open so that he was forced to give up and flee with Nagato to a safe distance. Words could not express his rage.

They turned now and saw that the Bijuu had spotted the reinforcements and left off advancing on the village. They turned to deal with the allied forces instead. Kisame, however, who had the Eight Tails, got right up to the barrier, lifted both fists, and brought them down hard. Several dozen aliens were smashed in the process, but no matter. Madara grinned hard, a tight smile of satisfaction. He _would _have victory here today!

* * *

"Open the barrier at the western gate, Yumichika-san!"

Arata's panicked shout in his ear was all well and good, but Yumichika was in the process of struggling not to pass out. Whatever was hammering on the barrier would soon punch a hole right through. "Yumichika-san?"

He heard the voice distantly. His vision was dimming. He thought maybe he was already passed out, because that looked like Ikkaku bursting through the door, and bounding over to him. His partner skidded to his knees in front of him, shoving the bodies of the fallen barrier team out of the way, and put his hands on his shoulders. "Yumichika, hang on."

"Can't…"

Frowning, Ikkaku rolled up his sleeves. He placed his hands on Yumichika's glowing, quivering Zanpaktuo. "I'm here to help. At all costs, we've got to keep that barrier up."

Yumichika felt the infusion of Ikkaku's strength at once. His vision cleared and it seemed he was able to draw a proper breath. He focused. "Arata-Taicho, the barrier at the west gate will be open momentarily. Please have your soldiers ready to enter immediately, as I won't be able to hold it open for long."

"Affirmative," Arata confirmed with relief.

To Ikkaku, Yumichika said, "Akiko did it. She's with them."

Ikkaku tried to grin through the effort of having his reiatsu sucked out of him. "Heh. There's no stopping that woman."

"Ikkaku…thanks."

"Yeah. Not letting you fight without me…course I _will _have to tell the captain about this Bankai of yours, neh?"

"You're such an ugly man."

-oOo-

The allied forces wove between the stampeding Bijuu. It was a desperate run, with friends and family falling beside them, but at least half of them miraculously made it to the gate. Some of them were picked off by aliens who dropped on them, but the others fought back. At least thirty thousand streamed in through the opening in the barrier. Arata himself was there to usher their ranks in. They filled the village to capacity.

The rest of the allied forces, sadly, were caught by the seven Bijuu. They didn't stand a chance.

Seeing that they were lost, and saying a prayer for their souls, Arata hastily drew the heavy doors to the gate shut, and signaled through his earpiece for Yumichika to repair the barrier at that section of the wall.

-oOo-

There was brief, whining feedback as all the additional com units found the same channel. Arata leaped on top of the Hokage building and addressed everyone. They were grouped in every street, standing shoulder to shoulder, and staring up at him. Before they could begin speaking, Arata lifted a bullhorn to his lips. "Barrier Team!"

Fifty shinobi jumped from the midst of the crowd at various points to land in a straight line in front of the Hokage building. They knelt, awaiting orders.

Arata thought quickly and calculated. "We'll need a self-repairing barrier strong enough to withstand seven Bijuu. Not thirty-six layers, but as many layers as possible. Volunteers!" More shinobi separated themselves to land behind the row of crouching shinobi. Arata quickly counted two hundred all together. The leader of this team was a Kumogakure nin with fair hair and long mustaches. "How many layers can your team, now enhanced, create?" Arata asked him.

"I believe we can safely create close to one hundred layers, Senpai!"

"Get it done. Yumichika can't hold his own barrier for long, and those aliens are waiting to drop on us. The other Bijuu won't be far behind the Eight Tails once they're done killing off our comrades."

The Barrier Team disappeared. A lone man raised his hand in the crowd. Arata spoke through the bullhorn again as he pointed. "Yes, you there."

"Aburame Shibi," the man identified himself. "I believe I have something of interest." The surrounding Aburame clansmen with him stepped back to reveal the corpse of one of the aliens. There were loud gasps as everyone else stepped back farther.

Arata stared in shock. "How…when…?"

"During our run to the gate," Shibi explained. "I and a few clansmen were attacked. We had our kikai bugs surround one of the creatures. Akiko filled us all in on the Hokage's words before he died. He is right, and they have no weaknesses…save one." Shibi bent and, with the assistance of several men, turned the huge 9-foot-tall alien over so that it was face down.

Its entire body was covered in the impenetrably hard shell that withstood the strongest jutsu. The back of its head, however, seemed to consist of overlapping plates of this hard body covering. These segmented plates extended down the neck and allowed for movement of the head. Shibi hooked his fingers beneath the bottom-most plate, right at the base of the creature's head, and pulled. A whitish mass of squirming creatures was visible, as well as what looked like a knotted rope of raw nerves.

"The brain stem, such as it is," Shibi clarified. "How these things exist is a mystery…their very innards seem to consist of maggot-like creatures, but this bundle of nerves extends to what could be a primitive brain. My bugs invaded through this opening and killed it instantly. I'm thinking a kunai to this area would do the same."

Akane turned to her brother Kaito. "Just like how I took out Nagato," she grinned.

The watching crowd began to murmur in excitement. Arata silenced them with a raised hand. The ground-shaking _BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, _of the Eight Tails hammering on that barrier served to remind them that time was short. "This is wonderful news, Shibi." He repeated the information over the bullhorn, in case some of the forces hadn't heard. "The barrier won't hold forever. We have a way to kill them, but that doesn't mean it will be easy. They are taller, stronger, and faster than we are. It will take several shinobi working together to-"

The barrier vanished with a cold rush of displaced chakra. The aliens began dropping on them in the thousands, their pincers clacking madly.

-oOo-

Ikkaku caught Yumichika as he fainted, and gently lay him down. He needed a moment before he himself was able to stand up, but he drew heavily on his blade's power. He'd heard what Arata-Taicho had to say over the bullhorn. Blinking his eyes of sweat, he made his way outside. He paused in the doorway and glanced back at his partner's still form. "You did good, buddy." He stepped out, and jumped down to the street, right in the middle of a cluster of aliens. They whirled to face him. "Haaaaaaaa!" Ikkaku bawled, swinging Ryuumon Houzukimaru around his head. "Bring it, you fuckers!" His Bankai made whistling sounds as it swung.

-oOo-

The Bijuu left off crushing the remains of the allied forces and rushed to the exposed village. They were in time to be thrown back by a new, stronger barrier swelling into place. The aliens still in the process of dropping into the village were lifted and flung high into the air. Madara saw this, saw that at least two-thirds of his alien minions were prevented from entering the village. His Bijuu beat at the barrier futilely.

"Arata-senpai, the barrier is up!" the Kumogakure nin announced. "Nothing will get through, you have my word!"

That still left a couple hundred thousand of the beasts in the village, Arata thought. "Good work. Have someone from your team erect a smaller barrier around yourselves to protect you from the horde."

* * *

It was a slaughter. The women and children, not to mention the elderly, could very well hear that. Hidden deep in the caves behind the Hokage mountain, they trembled and wept as their young guards stood sentinel.

Choukichi grimaced. "We should be out there helping our parents," he hissed to his peers. He'd become a lot more aggressive since Aimi had left the village.

Hisa patted Kaminari's quivering body reassuringly. "We're supposed to be protecting these people," she whispered back. "It's our job."

Her twin, Hiroshi, agreed with Choukichi. "We _should_ be helping out there, but I'm thinking it won't matter." He had his Byakugan on and was staring through the cave wall, toward the village. "I think those things will reach here soon enough." He swallowed. A Hyuuga, he didn't know which family member, had just been messily decapitated.

-oOo-

Asuma and Sakumo sat with Kurenai. Asuma was visibly shaking. "Are you sure, Mom?"

Kurenai stroked his cheek. "I'm sure. Despite your name, Kakashi is more your father than anyone, Asuma. As the Hokage's son, it is your duty to stand by him when I can't."

The tall youth nodded. He was miserably afraid, but strove to hide it. He let his mother pull him in for a kiss, which threatened to have him screaming not to be sent out there. Then he straightened up and ran for the cave entrance far above them before he could shame himself. When Kurenai fell into a fitful sleep a short time later, Sakumo quietly got up to follow his older brother.

-oOo-

Watching them depart, Choukichi set his face into a stern expression. He was prepared to fend off any arguments. "I'm going out there, too."

Surprisingly, there _were_ no arguments. "So am I," Hiroshi answered.

"Me too," Hisa said. Kaminari whimpered, then _arf_-ed bravely.

"And me," Seiji said.

"I want to go, too," Naruto said. He ruffled Seiji's hair. "But who's staying here to protect these people if we go?"

"I will," Amaya said quietly.

"Me too," a small voice piped up.

The older kids turned to find Uchiha Miki standing with her smaller sisters. Choukichi laughed loudly. "You're a baby. And Amaya you're like, what, nine?"

"Eight," Amaya admitted.

"I'm not a baby!" Miki stamped her foot. "Look!" Her whole body went up in flaming chakra, right before she shot her hands out in front of her. Bars of fire _whooshed _toward the older kids, who ducked and yelled. The women and children behind them murmured in fright.

"Jesus!" Naruto bleated. "My dad told you not to do that shit around people who aren't enemies, you _stupid _little-"

Miki's eyes went red. Yamanaka Naruto wisely shut his mouth. Six years old the brat might be, but an Uchiha was an Uchiha. He stormed toward the entrance with a muttered curse.

Hiroshi frowned. "I don't know…that's only two guards, and really young ones at that."

"It's not likely this cave will be discovered," Hisa offered.

"Hey. You guys forgetting about us? Gosh, take a bathroom break and everyone assumes you don't exist." Nara Kumiko, with her younger brother Toushiro, was coming back from someplace at the back of the caves. "Go on. Amaya, Miki, Tou-chan, and I will hold down the fort."

Even with this further encouragement, they stood there, aware that they were abandoning their posts, while trying to convince themselves that it was for a good cause. In the end, the screams of the dying drew them; it might be their parents that were the ones screaming. They left the cave at a fast jog, single file.

As they did so, one of Shino's bugs made its slow way into the cave, and located Amaya. She let it rest on her index finger as she received the information it had to impart.

-oOo-

Pitch dark. Fire and smoke everywhere. Buildings in ruins. Aliens at every turn, and the bloody remains of family and friends. The Chuunin huddled together, staring around in horror. It seemed that for every alien body down, there were twenty or more shinobi bodies scattered around it. The village itself was completely overrun with the creatures.

The children halted on the stairs leading up the Hokage monument and gaped. Behind them, a host of Aliens had spotted them and were busily crawling down the monument toward them, silent.

* * *

The former rookie nine found themselves in a tight circle, with Arata, Ikkaku, Ibiki, and a few ANBU. Hanabi was present, though gravely injured, as were two of the harpies, Hiroto, Yukio, Kenta and Kenji. Together, they managed to keep the aliens off them for a few precious moments. One or twice they managed to kill one with great difficulty. How they'd survived this long was a miracle.

"Where's Juro?" Yukio panted. "We got separated."

"I saw him with Akiko, Hitsugaya, and Kaito," Sakura gasped. "Arata-sama, we need help, they're crushing us."

"There's no more help to be had. This is it," he wheezed.

Elsewhere in another pocket of resistance, Akiko, Hitsugaya, Juro and Kaito, were joined by Genma and Moegi. They were followed soon after by Ebisu. All three were dripping blood heavily. Moegi had an ear missing. Hitsugaya flew above them, most of the petals on his Bankai gone, holding off the horde.

"Who here can use wind jutsu?" Kaito asked breathlessly. He formed his hands into a tiger seal in preparation for a katon.

"I can," Moegi volunteered. "What'd you have in mind?"

Hearing the plan, Ebisu added, "I can use fire release as well."

Kaito eyed the aged Jounin. He nodded. "We can use all the help we can get, old man. On my mark."

_Old man? Forty-six isn't that old, _Ebisu thought in chagrin. He performed the hand seals in time with Kaito. "Katon: Habashiri!"

The circle of flames, amped by Moegi's wind chakra, swelled around them. Hotter than normal flames though these were, the aliens doggedly closed in and walked right through them.

* * *

While Itachi bravely continued to try and find a way to discuss what he wanted to discuss, Demon and Sasuke woke up from their nap to find Aimi snuggled between them. Honestly, she was just so soft and cuddly. Well, maybe not soft, but definitely cuddly. She had her hands tucked beneath her chin, snoring faintly. She had a small pink flower clutched in one grubby fist. The petals nodded lazily against her round cheek.

Demon kissed her hair, while Sasuke rested his head on her solid arm. They dozed that way until Aimi eventually yawned and stretched, displacing them from where they lay against her. She smiled up at them sleepily. Full of love for her, they leaned in and kissed her cheeks simultaneously, making her giggle.

Rasta-Sasuke, fed up with Itachi's painful attempts, sat up with a muttered curse. "What the hell, man, how long are we supposed to sit on our asses here?" He got up and stalked toward the tree line, already undoing his pants.

Demon yawned, but thought it a good question. He asked Aimi, "You've been checking the link every morning and night like your granny Kushina told you, right Sweetness?" He gazed up contently at the setting sun's orange rays.

Aimi was idly counting the flower's petals, comfortably ensconced between the hard bodies of her parents. She felt warm and safe and loved. She answered absently, without looking up. "Huh? What link?"

Sasuke frowned at the sky a moment, where he'd been watching clouds scud by, before slowly turning on his side to face her. "What do you mean, what link? The link you put in Kakashi's head, so he can call us when the time comes."

The rest of the trainees were starting to wake up. Hana's son wailed to be nursed. Her pregnancy had dried her milk supply though, so she handed him to Hinata, who obligingly pulled out one leaking teat. The baby drank hungrily. Sumiko and Udon sauntered into camp just then, pink-cheeked and obviously well sated.

Aimi continued counting petals for a moment, then she too frowned. She looked up at her Papa with confused eyes. At his stern stare, the memory of the link came rushing back to her. "Oh, that? Ummm…" she appeared to think.

Demon sat up now, a prickly feeling of foreboding skating down his spine. "Aimi? It's okay if you forgot to check the link today, but you need to check it right now."

The trainees were starting to notice the conversation. They listened.

Aimi chewed her lip as she sat up as well. She stared at her lap, twisting the flower round and round in agitation. "Okay, but…I can't."

"Why not?" Demon and Sasuke chorused. They both wore identical frowns of dread.

"It's not there."

"_WHAT? _What happened," Sasuke asked sharply.

The trainees drifted closer. Far off at the tree line, Rasta-Sasuke could be seen making his way back from answering his call of nature.

Aimi's face crumpled at being shouted at. "I removed it when I was in Konoha. It was such a bother. I didn't think I was coming back here, so I just…canceled it. And then when I had to bring Hisa and her dad here, I didn't think I would be staying. Then everyone was mad at me, and I had to train so hard, and I…I just forgot about it." She sulked tearfully up at her fathers.

Sasuke was livid. "The entire reason we were able to come here and train," he said in an ominous hiss, "was because we had a way to keep in contact with the village. If that link didn't exist, we would have conducted our training there, Aimi! My God, how could you be so fucking careless?"

Aimi cried quietly, staring at the flower clutched in her hand. "I'm sor-"

Demon turned her chin so that he could look in her eyes. "Go check on them. If everything's all right, re-establish the link and get back here."

Aimi nodded and Boomed right there. Demon winced at the backlash of her chakra.

Rasta-Sasuke strolled up as the last lavender wisps faded away. "Where's she off to?"

Blondie apprised him of what he'd missed. Rasta-Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at Demon and Sasuke. "Why didn't you just have her sense if anything was wrong instead of sending her all the way over there? She might take it into her head to make out with whatever kid was hitting on her last time and stay there. Again."

The Narutos and other Sasukes looked at each other. That was a very good point. Demon and Sasuke shifted uneasily. "She wouldn't dare," Demon hedged.

"You never know," Sasuke sighed. "The little witch might."

* * *

There were sweet sighs and high moans as Raiden and Wyatt, still trembling with nerves, lay naked in each other's arms. The feel of their privates in intimate contact with each other had both boys overheated and almost mindless with the wildfire of their desire. It was all they could do to keep their eyes open during this somber experience, to kiss and touch and kiss some more. The embarrassment of feeling skin on skin at once flayed them with shame, and inflamed their desire to a brilliance that was near apocalyptic in its strength. The feel of their erect nipples being gently abraded against each other's sweaty chests was a source of pleasure close to agony. Raiden's cock leaked heavily, and the clear moisture pooled in Wyatt's navel to overflow and run down the side of his stomach. This sticky evidence of what was about to take place further made their heads pound with lust. Their hearts knocked with anticipation that was liberally spiced with fear and nerves. And all the while they kissed, stopped, breathed, stopped, and squirmed in exquisite pleasure. They tried not to faint.

It was too much. Raiden at last buried his face in Wyatt's neck, nearly too weak to hold him anymore, though he was the one on top. "I…can't…do this," he wheezed feebly.

Wyatt wasn't faring much better. He was nearly cross-eyed at how being naked against Raiden felt. "Well…maybe we can…do something else?"

"Like what?"

"Okay, promise you won't get mad?"

"I promise." Raiden leaned up a bit to see Wyatt's face.

"I've peeked at your dads…doing it. A few times. Back in Konoha."

Raiden stared for a few blank moments. Then, "_EHHHH? _You watched my parents fuck?" Wyatt nodded. "In the name of… why? I mean…_why, _man?"

"I wanted to know what would happen when you and I did it. I wanted to, you know, understand what came after the kissing. Anyways, my point is they did a lot of stuff before the actual act. Wanna see?"

And before Raiden could protest, Wyatt sent him images. Raiden's mind being wide open with shock as it was, the scenes came through loud and clear, in color, with surround sound.

"Oh," Raiden moaned softly, eyes staring blindly. "Oh, _hell_ no!" He sank back down so that his face was in the crook of Wyatt's neck again. "Make it stop, please!"

Wyatt complied, noticing that Raiden was still hard against his thigh. He clasped his arms behind Raiden's back and waited. After awhile, Raiden spoke in a muffled voice.

"I'm, like, just _barely _keeping it together here. I don't know if I can…do that stuff yet."

Wyatt had to be honest with himself. "Me either. It was just a suggestion."

"Maybe we can work ourselves up to that? Next time?"

"Okay."

"But…I don't want you to think I'm a bad fucker so….if you _reeeaaallly _want to, we can try…"

"I think the word is lover," Wyatt laughed softly. He turned his head so that he found Raiden's lips. "And you're not a bad one. I was just trying to help, is all. I like what we're doing. I like it a lot."

Raiden let himself be kissed and his desire, which hadn't really backed off, came rumbling up stronger than ever. He repositioned himself on Wyatt, finding it in himself to lift the older boy's leg in the crook of his elbow and kiss the surprisingly smooth knee. "Let's try again."

They went slower this time. It was slightly easier; by now their bodies had been in contact long enough so that the shock and brazen pleasure didn't have them on the edge of madness anymore. Close. They were still severely stressed with delight, but not quite as badly as before. At least, not until Raiden braced himself up on one palm.

He took his dick in his other hand and used the swollen pink head to slowly massage the fluid it leaked into Wyatt's stomach. Wyatt shifted and sighed. Shivered. Stroked Raiden's arm up and down in growing tension. Raiden moved downward a bit, dragging the head of his cock over Wyatt's shaft, until he pressed and prodded at the soft pouch of Wyatt's balls. He nearly lost it then and there; Wyatt's pleasure took a sharp turn upward and so did his. "Oh…God," Wyatt choked out. "That feels so good. Keep doing that."

Raiden continued to gently mash at Wyatt's balls for a few moments. He was aware of his sister Booming, but it was extremely distant to him. The faint ripple her chakra caused as it displaced reality was normally like a sharp pinprick in his mind, hence him being aware of her at all times. But right now, his cock had slipped between the hairless halves of Wyatt's ass and scraped over the puckered flesh. He and Wyatt both sucked in a deep breath of nervous pleasure and fright. He rested there a moment, fascinated by the sight of his cock at Wyatt's ass, by the ass hole itself (he'd never seen one), and by the notion of his cock shortly being inside there.

"Oh man," he squeaked. "We're really doing this. You ready?"

Wyatt grinned so hard just then that his eyes were slits of blue happiness. "Yes, yes, yes! I'm ready, Raiden."

"Okay. Here I go."

* * *

In fact, Aimi did Boom straight to Choukichi, remembering right before she left her parents that she'd abandoned him without an explanation. Consequently, she materialized just as the aliens creeping up on her clueless friends sprang.

The Chuunin turned at the loud Boom of chakra going off right behind them, frightened out of their wits.

Aimi had a happy smile on her face at recognizing Choukichi's wild profusion of spiky hair. Her smile fell into an O of surprise at feeling several sharp objects skewer her body. She looked down slowly in puzzlement, absently aware that blood was dripping heavily out of her mouth. She frowned. "What?"

"_Aimi!" _Choukichi screamed.

And while the rest of the children ran screaming from the other aliens that chased them, the one that had Aimi impaled on four of its long, serrated arms suddenly yanked his limbs wide and tore Aimi apart.


	59. Chapter 59

A/N: Went a bit overboard. 21 pages, but that is so pointless to mention here. What I want to say is that this will likely be 61 chaps. Not sure, but there's way too much to fit into one more chapter; I want the end to continue to flow along orderly, as the the last two chaps have done. Also, the first few lines here talks about things all happening at the same moment, so if it's a little confusing, I'm sorry. I worked hard on the timing in this fic, so there's an excessive use of page breaks.

Also, more fight scenes next chap -.-

Onward!

* * *

Chapter 59

Clueless to his surroundings, maybe. Oblivious to what was taking place in his home village, certainly. Unaware of his sister, never.

* * *

Aimi arrived in Konoha, a smile already in place to greet Choukichi with-

* * *

-Below time and reality, Izanami lifted her head at sensing one of the children at long last-

* * *

-Several sharp objects skewered Aimi's body, surprising her-

* * *

-Raiden's head snapped up as he froze, his seventh sense fairly screaming at Aimi's pain-

* * *

-The serrated arms impaling Aimi were forcibly yanked free, leaving her torn and mangled, and with blood pouring from her mouth-

* * *

-Raiden Boomed so that he was in time to catch her before she hit the stairs. At that same moment, Choukichi screamed Aimi's name, sprouted wings of chakra from his back, and flew to her defense, intent of ripping the alien's face off.

* * *

Stationed on top of the Hokage monument as they were, the Barrier Squad had seen it all. Remembering how Akiko had relayed the Hokage's words to the allied forces before they'd been able to escape Madara's dimension, he hastily pressed the link in his ear. "Arata-sama!"

"Go ahead," came the distracted reply. Arata sounded as if he were hanging on by a thread.

"I understand Hokage-sama said we were to give aid to Naruto-san and his comrades should they arrive? And that Naruto-san's children have strange powers?"

"Yes." Arata sounded marginally more alert.

"I just now saw a girl child appear from a cloud of chakra before a group of Chuunin. The girl was gravely injured, but then a boy appeared just as she did, and whisked her away! Her and one of the Chuunin! Could this be the children in question?"

Arata was quiet for only a moment. The Barrier Squad leader sensed that everyone down in the village was paying close attention, despite currently fighting for their lives. "Did the girl have black hair? Was the boy a sandy-haired youth who looked like Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"It is them," Arata sighed in rapture. His voice was clogged with tears, and a cheer went up in the village that was quickly cut short. "I'm sure it was them. They know now, and they'll be coming back. We need only hang on till then."

Arata went on to issue commands for everyone to fall back to the center of the village, but the leader of the Barrier Squad turned to his subordinates with a gleam in his eyes. "You heard him! The barrier must hold until they come back. We may win this thing yet! Give it everything you have!"

* * *

The clap of thunder and black chakra appearing in their midst, when they'd been expecting Aimi, had the trainees frowning briefly in confusion…more so when they saw three people instead of just Aimi. But then they saw that one of them _was _Aimi, saw the condition she was in, and everyone present went on red alert.

The time had come, and they at last knew it.

Demon and Sasuke, though, had eyes for no one but their daughter. They did not run to where Raiden was gingerly laying her head in the grass. They did not cry out. They did not, in fact, do anything but stare. They were in shock; they'd been dealt a mortal blow at the death of their child, so recently alive and in their arms, and the grief cored them where they stood, so that all they _could _do was stand and stare.

Choukichi put his hand to Aimi's cheek, his tears falling on her face. He lifted ravaged eyes to Raiden, and such was young 'Kichi's distress that he did not comment on how he'd been brought here or where he was, or who these people were. "Is she dead?" was all he asked.

Raiden lifted his head to look into the distance. _**–COME. -**_

-oOo-_**  
**_

Wyatt had been braced for Raiden's penetration when his friend's sudden stillness had set alarms off along their bond. He got a faint impression of Aimi, of her being hurt, even as Raiden Boomed away in a painful swirl of chakra. He'd done nothing more than roll to his feet and orb his pants onto himself, something that had taken him one second, before he felt Raiden return and heard the imperative command thrum powerfully along his mental connection with him. _**–COME. - **_

Aware that Raiden could not Pull him anymore due to their bond, Wyatt went at once, as he'd been about to do anyway.

-oOo-

He appeared beside Aimi, his power already glowing in his hands, and knelt at her side. "Move," he said roughly. Raiden moved. Choukichi didn't.

Kenpachi strode forward, grabbed the first part of Choukichi his hand landed on, which happened to be a fistful of his wild hair, and yanked the youth out of the way. Choukichi stumbled, whirled, threw a wild punch with an over-sized fist… and had the wind knocked out of him as his chest collided with Kenpachi's flattened palm. A large man with corn-braids and long mustaches took hold of him then and kept him still. Choukichi yelled, but the man covered his mouth with a hand.

There was complete silence. A hush, a pall of dread. Aimi's intestines spilled out of one side of her, while broken, snapped-off ribs showed in her other side. The hardest thing to look at by far was the way a gaping wound split her solid body from shoulder to waist. The onlookers saw this, saw the amount of blood she had surely lost, and waited with bowed heads for the pronouncement of her death that they were sure would come soon.

But Wyatt Matthew Halliwell was not to be trifled with when riled. At feeling the unyielding faith in him from Raiden, and his wordless yet commanding pleas for him to fix his sister, one could most definitely say that Wyatt was riled. At the very least he was all business and then some.

And it was more than that. It was realizing that the war was at hand, that the danger to Raiden had finally come. Wyatt loved Aimi like a sister, but the cold hard fact was that if Raiden was going to survive, he would need Aimi at his side. Wyatt reached deep and called forth his healing as he'd never done in his life.

But as the seconds stretched to minutes, and the minutes mounted up, there was no change in Aimi's condition. She lay just as torn and just as still as when Raiden had brought her. Wyatt, though, did not remove his hands. This indicated to everyone watching that there was hope. Their eyes moved from Aimi's miraculously unmarked face to Wyatt's bent head and back, caught between expectancy and doubt.

* * *

The Kumogakure-nin leading the Barrier Squad's efforts stared upward. The Bijuu banged and banged on that barrier, and the ground quaked horrendously with each fall of their massive fists, lash of their tails, or whatever body part they were using to break through. "Hold!" he screamed at his straining subordinates. Their two hundred faces shined with sweat at the effort of doing just that.

-oOo-

Down in the streets, the humans' numbers had been reduced by at least a third. The remaining twenty thousand or so clustered in one huge circle, the aliens all around.

The creatures displayed intelligence by hanging back now. They stared with their eerie silence at the group of shinobi. Outside the circle of humans, scattered amongst the surrounding crowd of aliens, lay the corpses of their fallen comrades, alien and human alike. The aliens, still at least two hundred thousand strong, were eating these remains with grisly enjoyment. It was a hard sight to bear, for those who were still breathing.

Arata was at the head of the circle, one of those lucky few still standing. Nara Shikaku stood to his right. "Strategy?" he asked the scarred Jounin.

Shikaku's eyes moved left and right. "Now that we know how to kill them, they are leery. That won't last. They are too many for any strategy we have to work. And we are too weak. We can only continue as we have been and wait for N-

Whether or not the aliens understood human speech, they didn't know, but Arata and Shikaku shrank back as the aliens suddenly rushed them.

* * *

Madara walked up close to the Bijuu and remaining minions and had Nagato signal them with a bar of lightning thrown into the sky. They halted their hammering.

"Bijuu-dama," Madara said. "And when you have broken through, find whatever resistance still exists and crush it. Leave no one standing." He jumped back with Nagato to the hill that still held Kakashi's body after he said this. They both settled down to watch, alert for the arrival of the children or anyone else.

Black Zetsu was currently housing the Five Tails, but white Zetsu had provided the disturbing information that the resistance had discovered the way to kill the minions. After Raiden had come and gone on their world, Madara and Akatsuki had discovered this very weakness themselves, a fact that gave them control over the alien horde. Nagato alone could aim his chakra for the precise place at the base of their heads with his chakra and kill them in their hundreds. The minions feared them. If the minions grew to fear the resistance as well, there was no telling how this would end.

But just then white Zetsu sprouted from the earth. "Boss…I saw them both."

* * *

Her army was vast. Demons beyond number, evil spirits, horrors of the nether realms. All had flocked to her once she'd made them a promise. Other minor gods and goddess dotted their masses, towering above them. They were the ones to bring up the promise now.

"Once you have the children," Mikaboshi(1) rumbled, "You will keep your word, Izanami. We lend you our strength for a reason."

"And should you betray us," Ekibiogami(2) added slyly, "we will join forces to end you."

Izanami was not worried. None of them were more powerful than she, not even united. Still. "If I have the children, all promises will be kept. Now prepare yourselves. I sensed one of them not long ago, followed by another. They will come again soon…" Her words trailed off as she turned her head. The watching demons and gods looked aside as well, wondering what she sensed.

"Well, now," Izanami breathed. "Isn't that interesting."

* * *

Sasuke closed his eyes, spilling the tears that had gathered over his cheeks. A moment later, his knees gave up supporting him and he dropped to the ground, doubled over. He rocked in that position, hands clutching his head. Itachi went to him quickly, knelt beside him, and closed him tightly in his arms. A single tortured and shattered howl of agony left Sasuke. Itachi murmured urgently in his hair, rocking with him.

Naruto remained upright. His fists were down by his sides and clenched in fierce, iron-clad hope. The moment Aimi's body began responding to the magic, Wyatt would know. And the moment Wyatt knew, Raiden would know. Naruto therefore kept his eyes locked on his son, his only remaining child. _No! She will live, dammit. _

-oOo-_  
_

Raiden felt as if his insides were in some kind of weird suspended animation. Frozen in the silence between one heartbeat and another, or in the brief rest one's lungs take between exhalation and inhalation. Waiting.

He was kneeling to Wyatt's right, near Aimi's legs. Her hand lay there by her thigh, closed into a loose fist. A flower lay in her fist, held by its stem. The pink petals had a single, tiny drop of blood on them. Other than that, it was flawless, bouncing lazily in the wind. He stared at it. Still waiting.

He didn't need to look at Wyatt to know he was fighting hard to save Aimi's life. He could feel it. He could feel the strain as Wyatt reached as deeply into Aimi as his magic would allow. If Raiden thought it would help he would lend whatever power was necessary, but Wyatt said nothing. He trusted Wyatt. Wyatt always, always came through. Always. He would come through this time, though his sister's lips were turning blue, and her eyes remained fixed and staring.

She wasn't dead, but she was so close that she wasn't exactly alive either. He could feel this knowledge through his bond with Wyatt. Looking at her face, Raiden's tears swelled so that his vision became blurry. He dared not breathe. Breathing too deeply would shatter the fragile bubble of waiting suspense in him, and then she would slip away and be gone. So he sat as still as possible. And waited.

* * *

"Senpai," one of the Barrier Squad said in an anxious voice. "The layers are being bombarded too quickly for them to repair themselves. We're down to eighty…make that seventy-three layers."

The squad leader could very well see that. "Hold," he said again. "We must hold!"

But those Bijuu-dama were terrifying in their strength and intensity.

-oOo-

"Take that!" Chouji, using the released state of his clan, swung his fist and crushing three aliens at once. He knew using the red pills were often fatal, especially used for any length of time, but he would make sure to take down as many of these assholes as he could. Around him, the majority of his clan were using the pills as well, and the aliens were backing away from them.

-oOo-

Ikkaku stood at the center of a mass of dismembered alien body parts, his Bankai glowing balefully as they persisted in trying to take him down. He was gashed to ribbons and laughing diabolically, but he swung Ryuumon Houzukimaru with deadly accuracy, slashing away.

-oOo-

Lee, operating on six gates, punched, whirled and kicked a swath through the creatures, with Sakura following in his wake and knocking any who went for his back far away. Her fists were bloody.

-oOo-

Five went for Neji and forced their way through his Kaiten. One caught him by the neck in its pincers, while another grabbed his leg, and prepared to rip it off. Hanabi landed from a high jump, blasting chakra at the same moment that Hinata and Ino closed in from opposite sides. Hinata's chakra shrouded fists wrenched one alien's head forward while Hanabi sent a pulse of chakra at the right spot and killed it. Ino's scream was cut short as an alien bit through her neck. She was dropped as Neji roared and ran to her, but he was speared from behind by the third alien. He went down beside his wife.

Hinata and Hanabi, too beleaguered to grieve, crouched back to back as they were surrounded by aliens.

A host of Hyuuga rushed to the aid of their clan head, and were in time to fight with her and Hanabi as the aliens closed in.

-oOo-

The Aburame clan stood in a tight box formation, all facing outward. They were the most effective, outside the Akimichi clan, at defending against the aliens. The way to beat them was not with superior strength or jutsu. Their kikai were too small for the aliens to fight, and all it took was for one or two of the tiny insects to slip beneath the covering on their necks and chew through their brain stems. The aliens dropped like flies around the Aburame, and steered clear of them. The massive cloud of insects chased them down.

Gradually, the others in the resistance began making their way towards them, going for the middle of the Aburame box so that the bug clan formed a wide, loosely spaced circle around the remaining allied forces. The Akimichi clan filled the gaps.

The Nara clan was also enjoying a measure of success. Their shadow bind could and did snake its way to the desired sweet spot on the aliens and severed the brain stem with cool efficiency. As the village was shrouded in darkness, there was no shortage of shadows to use. And the shadows appeared to be invisible to the aliens.

Shikaku and Shikamaru directed their family to fill any remaining spaces in the protective circle the Aburame and Akimichi clans had set up. The aliens attacked in force. The resisting shinobi were outnumbered 10 to one but they held their own with blood and guts, sweat and tears.

"Until Naruto comes!" Arata shouted bracingly to his overwhelmed villagers. "We must hold till then!"

The barrier held. The Bijuu finally got it into their minds to execute a massive joint Bijuu-dama, one that would obliterate the village entirely and anything inside it. There would be nothing left of Konoha but a few stray leaves, floating in the wind. To this end, they leaped backward as one, and faced the village in a line. They opened their mouths wide as the dense, black chakra began taking shape. The remaining seven hundred thousand aliens waited to attack anything that happened to survive.

* * *

Wyatt could feel her, but she kept slipping away from him. As if she didn't want to come back, or was unable to come back. Raiden's emotions were a chaotic stew of hope, grief, and tenuously maintained faith in his, Wyatt's, abilities.

Distracting. He shut Raiden out by the simple expedient of shoving the bond as far away as possible.

Focus.

Find her.

Focus.

_Aimi? Can you hear me?_

-oOo-_  
_

…_.aimi?...ca- ….-ou -ea…e?..._

_The voice was far away and broken. She heard bits and pieces of words, as if through a bad connection on a radio. The faint echoing voice was not important, anyway. She ignored it._

_Aimi continued to walk, feeling nothing, trying to think of nothing, along the cloudy, shadowy path beneath her feet. She was barefoot, she saw. She had on the clothes she'd died in, but she was barefoot and clean. Her hair fell around her like a shroud and she continued to walk the path._

…_ai…mi?..._

_She had no idea where she was. It was dark, with the single path of clouds the only feature to be seen. The clouds gave off dull, whitish light. She was left with the impression that the blackness all around her was a void. Endless. She stayed on the path. _

_Here was preferable to there. Back there. She'd screwed up so badly. She'd finally screwed up too badly for it to be fixed. People were dead because of her. She didn't deserve to live, didn't want to live, not with that kind of shame and guilt. Besides, she was nothing. Look how easily she'd been killed. She was glad she was dead. She'd never been cut out for war, anyway. Everyone thought she could do so much, but she couldn't. She was just a weak, scared screw-up who'd finally gotten what was coming to her._

…_-mi!..._

_-oOo-  
_

_She walked on the path for a long time. Eventually, a tall gate of skulls and bones loomed in front of her. Stepping to the edge of the path, she looked down. The gate stretched downward out of sight. Looking up, she saw that she couldn't see the top of the gate. Gazing left and right revealed that the gate stretched as far at the eye could see. The gate wasn't something that had been in the distance and drawn nearer the longer she'd walked. Rather, she'd been walking and then the gate was suddenly there._

_It was kind of pretty. An ancient ivory color, with veins of brown. She reached out a hand to touch it-_

_Izanami appeared._

_Aimi had never seen her, but she knew who it was. Raiden had said she was ghostly and airy when he'd seen her, but that had been up in the land of the living. Down here, Izanami was vital and strong, and seemed nearly as tall as the gate. She shrunk herself down to the size of a mortal adult, and regarded Aimi with white, pupil-less eyes. She was utterly gruesome to look at, and reeked of dead things. Aimi stared up at her calmly, aware that this thing wanted her and her brother. Well, now Izanami could have her, at least._

_-oOo-  
_

_Izanami was fascinated. She had never seen Raiden's sister, but recognized her at once. The power in the child, the vitality in her, was even greater than Raiden's. _

_But weakened without flesh. Without life, the power was useless._ "_You cannot enter," she told that solemn face. "Go back."_

"_You want me and my brother, right?" Aimi asked. "Well, here I am. Now you can leave everyone else alone; you'll never get Raiden…but I'm here."_

_Izanami coveted the child's innocence, her goodness and purity…all things that were lacking here, but it would defeat her purpose for this assault on the living realm. She could see that the trauma of death had already affected the child's mind. "I will have you and your brother, and the other…alive. Soon. Until then, you are forbidden entry."_

"_I don't want to go back."_

"_That is not my affair."_

"_What do you want us for, anyway?" Aimi asked curiously._

"_Simple." Izanami leaned down close to Aimi, so that her dead stench wafted around Aimi's head. Aimi didn't flinch, but stared into those vacant eyes. "Power. I will leech your power, your brother's, and become flesh. And when I am whole, I will have dominion over all creation."_

Power, _Aimi thought. Izuna had spoken to her of power once…_

_Izanami vanished, as did the gate. _

_Aimi sighed. She could no longer hear anyone calling her. She looked at the cloudy path stretching before her. She looked along the path back the way she'd come. Which way?_

"_I suppose I could just stay here," she mumbled. Her voice sounded very small, the sound quickly swallowed by the void. _

_She sat down._

-oOo-_  
_

Wyatt let out a choked sound that was half sigh, half sob.

Raiden stared daggers into his face, willing him to succeed, ignoring the fact that his own tears were coming hard and fast.

"She's gone," Wyatt whispered. He let his magic fade slowly, though, unwilling to accept this failure.

Demon at last went and knelt by his baby girl. He'd birthed her. Carried her, birthed her, nurtured and nourished her through the years. He leaned down, his hand to the top of her head. "Goodbye, Princess." He bent and kissed her parted lips, then used his hand to gently brush her lids closed. His tears wet her lashes so that it looked as if she was crying.

He hesitated there, not sure if he'd be able to bear the grief. Then he got up, wordlessly took Sasuke from Itachi's arms, and held him. Just held him. At feeling Demon's arms around him, Sasuke knew the truth at last. He wailed, clutching his man's strong shoulders and burying his face in his tan chest.

Choukichi sagged in Tessai's grip, crying with heartbroken, but silent gusts of air.

* * *

Kei was running. He'd slipped away from the silent crowd around Aimi and was running flat out in the field around the tree, hell bent on getting away. As far away as possible.

The war was here. Aimi, one of their aces in the hole, was down. Dead. He missed her and was sad and all that, but-

He ran into what felt like a brick wall, and rebounded off it hard enough to have him black out briefly. When he opened his eyes, it was to see his father staring down at him sternly. His eyes were still wet with grief.

Itachi asked quietly, "Where are you going, Kei?"

* * *

The glow around Wyatt's hands started to lessen.

Rasta-Sasuke stared downward at Aimi's face, currently turned aside, and still wet from her father's tears. He had actually liked the rug rat. She was powerful and selfish, and greedy, and no nonsense when she had to be. All traits he could relate to. She didn't talk his bleeding ear off either, another fact he'd liked about her. And she did quirky things he privately thought were funny. Like cheering on her dads when they'd transformed into Hyuuga. She was thoroughly devoted to her brother, a characteristic that reminded him of Blondie.

Seeing Wyatt's healing jutsu slowly begin to evaporate as he gave up, Rasta-Sasuke shoved his way to the small amount of space around Aimi. He got down on his knees, brushed her thick hair from the delicate shell of her ear, and put his lips down to it. "Aimi," he whispered.

* * *

_Lost on a bridge to nowhere, Aimi lifted her head at hearing her name so clearly._

* * *

"If I was ever going to have a kid, I would want it to be just like you."

* * *

_Aimi felt emotion fill her, where previously she'd felt nothing. She tilted her head back, looking up into the black void, imagining the face that went with that snarky voice. "Rasta-Sasuke?" No one had ever paid her such a compliment before…_

* * *

"I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I know you're not going to give up. I know you're one mean-ass bitch. Death has nothing on you, so I know if you're not with us it's because you can't come back. You wouldn't leave Raiden to fight by himself, or the rest of us, not when we're fighting for you."

* * *

_Raiden. Her family, her village, her friends. How had she forgotten just what was happening? She felt as if she were waking up from a dream, yet still trapped in the dream. She looked around, suddenly afraid of this place. Had she just now offered herself to Izanami? "Oh God…" _

_Aimi got to her feet and began walking back the way she'd come. After a moment, she broke into a jog. Then she was running along that cloudy bridge, her hair blowing back from her face._

* * *

Rasta-Sasuke leaned closer, putting his lips right against her ear. "If you _can _hear me though, and if nothing's holding you back…if you're just scared and shit…get back here, Aimi. You get back here-"

* * *

_Aimi ran harder._

* * *

"Take your place as queen biatch-"

* * *

_Faster._

* * *

"And help us kick-"

* * *

_Down on all fours, positively flying._

* * *

"…some-"

* * *

_Streaking along the bridge so that its cloudy vapor cycloned in her wake._

* * *

"ASS," Rasta-Sasuke yelled down at the still girl's ear. "You get back here and handle your business, bitch! Help us!"

* * *

_There, up ahead. She could see Wyatt's magic glowing like the sun, but it was fading fast._

* * *

Blondie came and pulled Rasta-Sasuke away.

Wyatt started to pull his hands away, having extracted all but a little of his magic now. He released the blockade he'd put up to keep Raiden's thoughts out, ready to console him in his grief. He was turning, only one hand remaining on Aimi's bloody mid-section, when something stopped him. He turned toward her again, eyes widening…then he was quickly pressing both hands to her broken body. He felt Raiden's feelings flit along the bond, asking, questioning….

"I have her!" Wyatt crowed.

Everyone heard. The tension in the ring of onlookers eased somewhat, but did not leave entirely. Demon lifted his head from Sasuke's, looking back over his shoulder. "Aimi?"

Sasuke bowled him over, and threw himself down beside Aimi. He took her hand in his, inadvertently crushing the pink flower. "Baby, please," he whispered hoarsely. "Come back to us."

Demon was right behind him. He pressed a lingering kiss to Aimi's forehead, before looking up at Wyatt. "Will she be all right?" he asked in a low voice. "Will she be able to fight?"

"I don't see why not," Wyatt answered breathlessly. "My magic will put her as good as new."

Demon nodded. He didn't know how Raiden had gotten to her in time, was only grateful that the kid had. Raiden was naked, he noted absently. He himself was still shaky from swinging between the certainty that his child was dead and the relief that she was going to live, but he had a war to think about. That knowledge at last took its place in the forefront of his thoughts. He took half a second to breathe deeply. Standing, he located Choukichi with his eyes and went to him. Every eye in the group followed his movements, waiting for instructions.

Choukichi was struggling in Tessai's grip again, trying to get to Aimi. "Let him go," Demon ordered quietly.

The boy was released. He made a beeline for Aimi, but Demon snagged him by one meaty arm, and slung him back so that he bounced off Tessai's chest. "Aimi-" Choukichi blabbered.

Demon's voice was a hiss of command. "Shut. Up."

Chouckichi's mouth snapped closed. He stared up at Aimi's dad with wide eyes.

* * *

Itachi was sitting beside his son in the grass. The boy had his face pressed into his father's chest, nearly hysterical with weeping. Itachi had an arm around his trembling little back, listening to the muffled words that poured out of him.

"I can't, Dad! I just _can't. _The seals are so hard to do, and Aimi's gone, and everyone's counting on us…" There was more, much more that Kei went on about. Itachi let him speak, feeling the warm breath of Kei's words on his chest.

He thought back to when Willow had gone into labor with the triplets, how he had been working with Sasuke at the construction site at the time. Gaara's clone had come to tell him of the news and he'd rushed to the hospital. He remembered that Kei had been born first.

How happy he'd been then! Gaara and his children all around him. Willow with them all. Three fine new Uchiha drawing their first breaths. He'd been the one to name Kei. Gaara had named Ryota and the children had decided on Masaru. Itachi thought now that though he loved Gaara intensely, and had wanted to show this and repay the man for consistently putting his relationship with him before his Kage duties, it had been wrong of him to leave his children. He could not remember just now why he hadn't brought them to Suna. Why had he left them with Sasuke? Regardless, he felt the hot tears Kei shed drip down his chest and thought _I don't know him. _

He'd learned much with Gaara. He'd watched how the man parented Yanagi, how he'd been a second father to Hiroko and Sumiko. He new now, for instance, that some children were more sensitive than others…as seemed to be the case with Kei here. Using this knowledge, Itachi thought it safe to conclude that though Sasuke and Naruto had no doubt kept his children safe, and looked after them to the best of their capabilities, this one son, at least, had been keenly aware of his parents being absent. Maybe all of his children had been aware and had simply shown it differently, but Kei had grown to be a sensitive child with some measure of insecurity.

It was his first instinct to chide Kei for being weak. Uchiha were never weak. But the more Kei rambled and wept, the more Itachi felt that perhaps the boy just needed his father. Maybe he just needed to feel safe. He wished Gaara were with him. Gaara excelled at these kinds of situations, but then maybe that, too, had been noticed by his children. So he held Kei and smoothed his hair awkwardly and listened. When the boy seemed to be winding down, Itachi ventured a response. "You're afraid."

Kei nodded. His breath hiccuped in and out of him jerkily. "Are you ever afraid, Dad?"

Itachi considered it. "Not often. Not of the things you seem to fear."

Kei, attention caught, tilted his head up to look at his father. He found him looking down at him, and his little heart contracted around a knot of love for this man he rarely saw. "What _are _you afraid of?"

Itachi looked back at the last rays of the setting sun, thinking. "Losing my family. The ones I love. But when I was a boy…"

"Yes?" Kei whispered. He sat up straighter, captivated.

"I seem to recall a fear of butterflies."

Kei laughed loudly, the sound falling out of his open mouth without warning. He clapped a hand over his mouth quickly, afraid he'd offended his father. A giggle escaped. "Butterflies! Dad that's so…lame," he finished sheepishly. His laughter bubbled up again.

"I couldn't have been more than three or four," Itachi said, watching him. "But I remember how awful I found them. The way their wings would flit open and closed so rapidly, the thought of those wings touching me…their antennae were so repulsive that I used to have nightmares. I can remember the cold sweats I used to wake up in, of having visions of them filling my room with their silent presence."

Kei became quiet. "How did you get over it? The fear?"

Itachi looked his son in the eye. "I never did, really. But as I got older, I realized that the fear itself actually did me more harm than a butterfly ever could. And so, though I still feel on edge when they are around, I've learned to control my response to the fear. I go on despite it. I don't let it rule me."

Kei dropped his head. "Except, this war _will _harm me, Dad. And if we mess up-"

"That is your fear talking. You're letting it decide outcomes before you even begin. Fear has its place, Kei. It makes us cautious, makes us careful. Drives us, sometimes. But too much of anything is never good. Fear _must _be controlled, son."

"But what if I die? I don't want to die."

"No one _wants_ to die, no matter how brave they may seem. But we will. All of us. At one point or another. Not many get to choose how they will go, either. We choose _how_ we meet our end, standing or running. I choose to stand and face it. What can't be avoided, must always be faced head on."

Kei looked up at him, the image of his mother. His hair was on fire in the sun's dying rays. Itachi cupped his still-wet cheek kindly.

"I believe in you, Kei. You'll do well, despite being afraid, hm? All we can do is our best." He drew the boy in for a last hug.

* * *

"What's going on back home?" Demon asked. The trainees and Shinigami were quick to gather round and listen. Sasuke remained by Aimi, but he turned his head, also listening.

"W-war," Choukichi stuttered. "There's these big black creatures everywhere, thousands and thousands, killing everyone…"

"Raiden," Demon barked without looking from Choukichi's face.

Raiden had his eyes on the way Aimi's body was knitting itself back together. He jerked at being called. "Huh?"

"Tell me what you sense."

What? Oh, right. The village. It was hard redirecting his thoughts, but he made an attempt to pull himself together. "Uh…Konoha's surrounded," he said when he'd closed his eyes. His voice became more crisp and alert as images streamed through his mind. "There's a barrier up and in place. Thousands dead. Some villagers are still fighting the aliens. They're outnumbered, but handling their business… Shit." His eyes flew open. "Dad, the Bijuu are right now cooking up a chakra blast that will level the village!"

"Game time," Demon snapped. "Uzumaki, formation one!"

Nearly every Naruto present flashed into line, and accessed Kyuubi chakra. Kushina had shown them all how to perfect the seal so that they now each glowed a brilliant yellow-white.

Sasuke kissed Aimi's fingertips before getting to his feet; Aimi would be all right and he had to stand by his man. "Uchiha!" he bellowed as Itachi appeared with Kei in tow. "Second formation!"

The Sasukes with Mangekyo fell into a second line. Itachi and his children formed pincer-like extensions to this line.

"Extraction team!" Demon looked around.

Ryota stepped up with Masaru and a composed Kei. "Ready." He clutched his spell book. Kei noticed around a lump in his throat that Ryota was shaking like a leaf, saw how he controlled his fear, and took hold of his brother's hand.

"What's the time frame?" Demon asked Ryota.

"Thirty minutes," the redhead answered.

Demon nodded. "Shinigami!"

"Born ready," Kenpachi responded with a lethal smile. "Bring it on!" He and those with him stood to one side of the Uchiha.

"Raiden," Demon turned back to his son. "Send everyone's families back home, then Boom us. I'm leaving Aimi to you, _trusting _you to handle things here."

Raiden stood up, realized he was naked, and folded his pants to himself. He only held them in his hand as he gave a firm nod. "You can count on me, Dad."

"I know." Demon wanted to go to his son, to hug him and tell him how well he'd done in getting to his sister. He had to settle for an encouraging smile, as inadequate as that was. "Do it."

Kit protested. "Wait!" Queenie was with him, not with the other Sasukes. He had a request. Raiden listened impatiently, nodded, then Boomed them all away.

In their wake, there was deep silence. The area around the tree was empty. Wyatt still knelt beside Aimi. Raiden, aware of the pants dangling from his hand, wordlessly stepped into them. He went and stood at Aimi's feet, and waited for her to wake up.

* * *

The aliens inside the barrier were now in active retreat, trying to run from the courageous knot of allied shinobi. They were hunted down, each of them, and dealt with.

Hitsugaya, flying above everyone, was able to peer outside the barrier. "Arata-Taicho," he called downward. "The demons are preparing a massive kido spell. It will destroy this village and everyone in it."

"I don't understand!" Arata squinted up at Hitsugaya.

"Chak-ra!" Hitsugaya said with an effort. "They're preparing some kind of giant chak-ra ball. It's bigger than the village already!"

_Bijuu-dama, _Arata thought. A cold sweat broke out on his already clammy skin. "Squad leader!"

His earpiece crackled. "Yes, Senpai!"

"Can the barrier withstand-" Arata suddenly got static as he heard the squad leader gargle out a choked sound. "Squad leader!" Nothing now. "Dammit." He turned to assign someone to check out what had happened.

-oOo-

What had happened was simple. White Zetsu had appeared behind the two ninja maintaining the shield around the Barrier Squad, and snapped their necks. Their shield vanished. With the squad now exposed, he'd proceeded to attack and kill the Kumogakure-nin acting as squad leader. The two hundred men and women maintaining the barrier did not dare release it to get up and fight him, so they were easy pickings. Some did try to fight at the end, but they were dealt with. Zetsu looked up as the barrier bled away into the atmosphere.

Madara had given him the task to deal with the barrier, just in case it was able to withstand the combo Bijuu-dama. Zetsu put a hand to the ground now and made his report. "Mission accomplished, Boss."

* * *

Arata and the rest of the shinobi stared upward in dismay. Then the thunder of many things running met their ears and Hitsugaya yelled, "Incoming! The rest of the alien army is swarming over the wall!"

All present remembered hearing through the Hokage's earpiece when Madara had named his alien army as slightly less than one million. That would mean between seven hundred, and seven hundred and fifty thousand aliens coming their way. They'd survived the ones in the village just barely. This new wave would finish them.

"Here comes the chak-ra blast!" Hitsugaya shouted a moment later. Arata saw that he dropped to the ground, wings gone, as he located and embraced a brown-haired woman.

The shinobi clustered into a tight huddle, now down to fifteen thousand, give or take. The aliens were drawing nearer, covering the broken buildings and lingering flames like a black ocean. Behind them, blocking out the twilit sky, was a black ball of dense chakra so huge that its oppressive weight could be felt by them all.

The black aliens and the black Bijuu-dama. Endless night in both, certain destruction for everyone present.

The aliens were closer. A hundred yards away and closing, and then they all felt the Bijuu-dama as it was fired from eight Bijuu. Its leading shock wave blasted them with a cutting wind. The feel of it swelled, blistering and dreadful in its intensity, and some people turned to family and loved ones in their miserable group and hugged them.

There were sighs of defeat as the aliens closed the distance to half what it had been-

Five brightly glowing men appeared in another blast of chakra. They stood between the advancing enemy horde and the allied shinobi, just as that Bijuu-dama struck the village and the aliens were leaping in for the kill.

One voice among the five, instantly recognizable, lifted itself in a thunderous command. "UZUMAKI, FIRE!"

A counter Bijuu-dama, if it could be called that, exploded up and outward, deflecting the one from Akatsuki. The blast deafened the shinobi, and flattened them with its impact, but the five glowing men held firm.

Those still able to see, saw that the glowing men hadn't arrived alone. A black-haired man, belatedly recognized at Konoha's own Uchiha Sasuke stepped up. "Rasta-Sasuke!" he yelled.

A dread-locked replica of Sasuke stepped up next to him, held out both hands and bawled, "Eat this… FUCKER!"

And the aliens that had quite literally been nearly on top of the shinobi and glowing men both, were incinerated in a blast of heat so severe that even the shinobi felt it, though the jutsu was aimed away from them.

There was a brief period of silence that followed this. Not all the aliens had been vanquished, but those that remained, maybe half, retreated to a safe distance. The glowing men turned around, and the shinobi gasped.

Arata, though, remembered his orders and got unsteadily to his feet. He walked up to the one he knew for sure to be the Naruto that had grown up in this village. He bowed low, and held it. "Naruto-san-"

"Sorry I'm late," Demon interrupted. He looked around as he spoke, taking in the damage. He spotted Neji's body, Ino's…Gai-sensei's…and forced himself to look at the man still bowing to him. He swallowed. "Get up, please. Where's Kakashi? We need to-"

"The Hokage is dead," Arata said when he'd straightened. "His express orders were that command go to you when you arrived, whether you like it or not."

Demon winced. A silent, not-so-subtle reprimand from Kakashi from beyond his grave for letting the village down when it had needed him. It had been counting on him. _God, Kakashi-sensei, I'm sorry. I fucked up._ But he nodded. "Understood."

"He also said that we were to give aid to the people with you…no matter how strange or fantastical they seemed." Here, Arata looked at the other four Narutos, the five Sasukes, and knew that all of the listening shinobi were also staring at them.

Demon didn't offer an explanation other than to say, "We appreciate it, but I think it's time we handled this. Keep everyone here safe and out of the way. My kids will be here soon to transport you all to safety." Then, realizing that he had command, and as a leader he needed to say something more, Demon lifted his head and took a few steps toward what remained of the allied forces. "You guys did an amazing job of holding things down until I got here." He bowed to their staring faces. "Please let me take it from here."

Naruto's friends broke from the group and rushed to him. He let his chakra die down as they each hugged him or came up to him to touch him. Itachi's kids were in this mix too, the ones who'd already been in Konoha. "Naruto! Uncle Naruto!"

Demon let it go on for a minute. "Okay, enough guys. I missed you too, but this ain't over."

"We're not leaving you, baka," Sakura sniffed. "We're with you all the way."

Demon would have protested, but just then a cacophony of sound erupted from beyond the village walls.

"It's them," Sasuke said as he landed next to Naruto. He was transformed. "Akatsuki. Look."

Eight transformed Jinchuuriki were leaping up and coming down toward the village, their tails lashing the air so that hurricane-strength winds swept over everyone.

Chibi-Gaara was the first to transform, followed by Bee. Blondie went next, followed by Kage-Naruto.

The fight was on.

-oOo-

The triplets materialized with the rest of the trainees, but Ryota quickly teleported them to a location far outside the village, a spot agreed on during training. When the time came, it would fall to the other trainees to lure Akatsuki to this place.

Ryota summoned his scrolls and the enchanted kunai. He set these out before Masaru and Kei, who were taking up seated positions side by side. So far, so good. Once the kunai were imbued with their power, Ryota would use the chakra stored in the scrolls, and his brothers' power, to extract the Bijuu from Akatsuki. Before they began, he used an incantation to enlarge the kunai, until each one was at least ten feet long. Finished, he turned to his brothers.

"Okay," he said nervously. "This is it. I know you guys are scared and hurting, but we got no choice. You with me?" He held out his hand.

Masaru and Kei put their hands on top of his. "We're with you," they said solemnly.

"Start," Ryota said.

Taking deep breaths, Kei and Masaru began the long process of executing five hundred and twelve hand seals.

* * *

Still, as meticulously as things were planned, mistakes were bound to happen. Aimi forgetting the link was one. Everyone forgetting the kids was another.

Fem-Naruto and Stud-Sasuke assumed their children would be sent with the families of everyone else to safety. Gaara assumed Yanagi would be sent to Suna with Hiroko.

Raiden, not having been the one to Pull these people in the first place and operating on the sketchy information he'd gotten from Aimi when they'd been linked, did the best he could and sent everyone to their own homes or with their own parents. Thus, Hinata, Hana and their children went to their home world with their babies, while Yanagi, the twins and Yo-chan went with their parents. He couldn't be blamed for this; it was not easy to remote-Boom so many people to different locations, and he wasn't even linked with Aimi to do it.

-oOo-

Yanagi, the twins, and Yo-chan were not noticed as the Bijuu-dama was deflected and half of the big uglies vaporized. They managed to leap out of the way of Rasta-Sasuke's Fucker. Yanagi put up a sand shield for good measure. They took shelter in the rubble of a textile shop some distance removed from the group of allied shinobi.

A whimper behind them had them turning around. They saw a group of children older than themselves crouching farther back along the wall. A small black puppy trotted forward and sniffed around them. It lingered around the twins, growling softly at their strange scent, more so at Yo-chan, but Yanagi was recognized and greeted with a soft _arf _of gladness.

Yanagi searched the older kids for Kaminari's owner. "Hisa?"

Hisa had her arm around her twin, who was crying wretchedly. "Our cousin Neji and his wife Ino are dead," Hisa whispered to Yanagi in explanation.

Yanagi stepped closer to them, followed by the twins and a toddling Yo-chan. She found Naruto and Seiji, Neji and Ino's sons, in each other's arms. They were sobbing and trying to muffle the sound against each other's necks lest the aliens hear them. Asuma stood apart, facing the wall with his forehead pressed against it. His shoulders shook, but he wasn't as bad off as Sakumo. Sakumo stood alone, staring at nothing. Yanagi went to him and drew him into a hug. She and Sakumo were roughly the same age.

Sakumo let himself be held, but didn't cry. "We heard them out there," he said in a ghostly voice against Yanagi's hair. "We heard them say the Hokage is dead."

"I can still smell my mom and dad," Hisa spoke up quietly. "The aliens stink like crazy, but it can't mask their scent."

Yanagi made shushing sounds as she rubbed Sakumo's stiff back. "I don't think we should stay here. There are more aliens out there."

Hisa nodded. "We're supposed to be guarding the women and children. I think we should go back to our posts. Choukichi was with us….Aimi appeared, but then Raiden came and they all sort of vanished, I think. I don't know. I was scared and running away…" Hisa trailed off. "I guess Choukichi and Aimi are dead."

Yanagi was happy to report otherwise. "Raiden got to Aimi in time. Choukichi was with them, but he should be around here somewhere. I'm sure he was Boomed back with the rest of us."

There was no mention of Raiden's powers, Yanagi noted. She guessed everyone had by now seen too much to be surprised anymore. And most of them were still grieving.

Asuma straightened from the wall. He took a moment to swipe a forearm across his eyes, before looking at everyone. "My dad's gone. Both my dads. The last thing the Hokage told me to do was keep the women and children safe. As his son, I'm honoring that. We should never have left them." But he thought of how his mother would feel to know her husband was dead, and cringed at her pain. It would be just like when his real father had died, with him in her belly. "Let's go. Hiroshi, you bring up the rear, scanning with Byakugan. Hisa, up front. Who're these kids?" He looked at the twin girls and the baby boy.

Before Yanagi could answer, a host of aliens had apparently scented them out. They crowded in through the doorway and windows, quickly overwhelming the shrieking children.

* * *

Aimi's chakra took over healing her once Wyatt's magic had done a sufficient job. The whole thing was quite reminiscent of the last time he'd pulled her from the jaws of death. She'd been a nine-month-old baby then. Now, her chakra _whooshed _out of her, knocking Wyatt aside.

Wyatt picked himself up. Aimi opened her eyes and sucked in a long, deep breath. She blinked.

Raiden, seeing his sister fine at last, finally released the tension he'd been holding. His shoulders dropped from around his ears.

He would deal with her in a minute.

Right now, he took Wyatt's hand and walked off until they were directly beneath the Shinigami tree. The sun was completely down.

-oOo-

Without a word, he drew Wyatt's head in and kissed him long and hard. Slowly. Wyatt's arms came up to wrap around Raiden's solid body. The kiss deepened. Raiden held Wyatt so tightly that the Whitelighter/witch was lifted off his feet, crushed in Raiden's strong arms. Wyatt moaned audibly as their love throbbed along their bond. It did away with any lingering fear and worry they'd been feeling, so that all that was left was how they felt about each other. There were promises in that kiss, of things to come, of a life to be shared and lived in each other's cherished company.

But for now, Raiden gently set a dazed Wyatt on his feet, and steadied him when the older boy seemed somewhat wobbly. He saw Wyatt blink to bring his sight back into focus and smiled. It was a thoughtful, tender smile. "I'm really, really sorry about before," he whispered. He still had his hands on Wyatt's waist.

Wyatt nodded. "I know. It's okay."

Raiden brushed a lock of Wyatt's wavy hair aside. "I am so ready for you. Wait for me, okay? When this is all over, and everything's settled, I swear to God I will bring it as hard as you want. We'll do all those things you saw my parents doing. I promise."

Wyatt couldn't help the tears that appeared. He held them back as best he could, but they were there, in his eyes, if not yet falling. "I love you _so much, _Raiden."

"Not more than I love you." He leaned in and kissed Wyatt's lips, paused, and kissed them again. "But you gotta go. I'll be right behind you with Aimi, but you have to go now. School their asses on who they're dealing with."

"You know it." Wyatt smiled then, which made one tear fall. Raiden caught it.

They stepped apart. Wyatt held out his hand, and Excalibur orbed itself into it. The sheath he carried it in likewise orbed into being on his back, complete with the large, exotic flower. Seeing it, Raiden shook his head around a chuckle. "You are so gay."

Wyatt grinned. "I know. I'm sort of okay with that now. Beam me up, Scotty!"

"Whatever that means," Raiden snorted. But he obligingly Boomed Wyatt away. He stood there a moment, then looked down at the tear still on his fingertip. He kissed it and let the faint saltiness evaporate on his lips.

-oOo-

And now.

He turned to where Aimi was slowly getting to her feet and began walking purposefully.

* * *

(1) Mikaboshi- Japanese god of evil.

(2) Ekibiogami- Japanese god of plagues and epidemics


	60. Chapter 60

A/N: -.- In order to finish this story, i told my family that I needed to go into complete seclusion for 48 hours. No phone, no contact. I brought food and water. I have emerged exactly one minute ago as of this author's note. Did I finish this fic? No. But I got two mind-numbingly difficult chapters done. 61 will be up once I've edited it, and after a break I will try and write 62.

Quick review of the kids:

Neji/Ino: Naruto, Seiji

Shika/Tema: Kumiko, Toushiro (Tou-chan)

Kiba/Hina: Hiroshi, Hisa

Shino/Hina: Amaya

Kaito/Hanabi: Miki (and others not mentioned this chap)

Asuma/Kurenai: Asuma

Kakashi/Kurenai: Sakumo

Gaara: Yanagi

Beta: None, of course.

* * *

Chapter 60

_Running, virtually flying along that smoky white path so that she barely felt her hands and feet touching the surface. She had leapt with an outstretched hand to grab that last fading shred of Wyatt's magic, feeling it warm her immediately. _

-oOo-_  
_

There was a clear distinction, she discovered, between where she'd just been, and the reality of life. Her mind returned first. With its return she became aware that it had been gone in the first place. That Down There she hadn't been herself. This was different from her body being dead, she realized. Her body _had _been dead, while her soul had been intact, and her mind…well, her mind hadn't exactly been hers. Or at least the thoughts she had been thinking weren't thoughts she would have entertained if she'd been alive and well.

It was difficult to process these new concepts of what it meant to be alive with what she now new of being dead. It used to be that being alive, to her, was simply walking around and breathing. Dead, she now understood, meant many things. In the wake of this new realization she supposed that life had levels. For instance, the quality of life she enjoyed was undeniably higher than that of her father due to her abilities, just as his was higher than her Papa's due to Kyuubi and the Uzumaki chakra. So too did death have levels. There was ordinary death such as she was sure her Papa had experienced. Then there was her death, wherein she'd apparently been split several ways: her body, her soul, and her consciousness.

She didn't remember dying. She remembered being hurt, but right after that, she'd been unaware of anything. Choukichi, a greeting ready on her lips, her pain, and then blackness. She knew some time had passed between the sight of Choukichi screaming her name (her last memory before she'd died) and finding herself on that path. She suspected that the lost time contained exquisitely detailed memories of her death and the process of dying. She only knew that Down There, she'd been cowardly. Afraid. Eager to explore any possibility besides going back to face what had happened to her. Even down to forgetting her family, and offering herself to Izanami.

Rasta-Sasuke's voice was the embodiment of life. Not that she would have been capable of this kind of analysis on his character before she'd died, but now that she _was _thinking about it, she understood that for all his negativity, he was the most _alive _person among their group. And also the darkest. In retrospect, his ability to reach her beyond the realm of life and death was unsurprising. His voice was enough to bring back at least some awareness on her part of just how dangerously close she was to being completely, irrevocably dead. And at hearing his words, and remembering her brother and the coming war, she suddenly didn't want to _be _dead.

Ensconced in Wyatt's magic, these thoughts flitted through her mind, which was yet again different from how it had been before she'd died.

Feeling returned next. Pain. Lots. It wasn't bad. Or…it was bad, but the hurt felt good to her. Nor was her interpretation of the pain feeling good left over from her cowardly mindset from when she'd been Down There. Rather, this was a manifestation of being resurrected.

She wasn't the same as before she'd died.

Her senses returned. She smelled her blood, tasted some in her mouth. She could hear and feel her body repairing itself. Wyatt's magic was warm in her cold body. Her heart beat erratically, trying to pump blood when there wasn't enough blood reconstituted yet to circulate through her veins. This too hurt. The way her lungs screamed for oxygen before she could really take a breath hurt. She withstood it all, as yet unable to move, but aware. There were people around her. Voices.

'_Baby, please. Come back to us.'_

'_Will she be all right? Will she be able to fight?'_

Her Papa kissing her fingers, her Daddy kissing her forehead. Nice, warm feelings. Then more talking, farther away. Choukichi? The war. People dying. Raiden Booming everyone away, and now just Raiden, her, and Wyatt. Her big brothers, as she liked to think of them sometimes.

Curious. These thoughts and feelings felt familiar, yet at the same time foreign to her now. Memories of her old life. From Before. She loved her family, and tried to feel it, but it was an idea now. Only an idea. She couldn't feel her love for them fill her like it used to. _Maybe I'm still dead. Inside, _she thought. She found that this didn't distress her. She lay there in pain, and waited.

Abruptly, everything in her body clicked into place. Her blood reached sufficient volumes, and her chakra was able to circulate. At once it swelled and bumped Wyatt's magic aside in order to take over the job of healing her. She sensed he was knocked backward, but did not care. Her chakra made a quick sweep through her body, feeding her an assessment: she was fine. Her lungs expanded in a deep breath and all her pain faded to leave her body feeling calm and relaxed. She opened her eyes.

The sun was set, but the sky was still light enough for her to see. She heard Raiden, who'd been standing at her feet, take Wyatt and walk off. After a few moments of blinking and breathing, she sat up. Looking to her right, she saw the Shinigami tree a few hundred yards away, and her brother kissing Wyatt beneath its spread branches. She looked away, down at her torn clothing.

It did not bother her that her parents hadn't waited for her to regain consciousness.

It did not bother her that her brother had walked away before greeting her return to life and health.

Nothing bothered her, she decided, but the fact that she had offered herself to Izanami, a creature who was even now in the process of trying to eradicate her home world in the hopes of obtaining the power she, Raiden, and Wyatt possessed.

_Power._

Aimi absently stared at the crushed flower in her palm. She had the strange and fitting thought that the flower represented her life before she'd died. Back when she'd been a normal girl. Back when she could feel love, and become sad, and know fear. Crushed. Gone. A breeze sprang up and carried the flower from her open hand. She didn't follow its flight with her eyes, only stared at the skin of her palms where they rested in her lap.

_Power._

All was quiet inside her now. No more thoughts. She lifted her head when she heard Wyatt Boomed away, and got to her feet. Raiden was coming toward her, and it was interesting to see his feelings. To see how anchored he was in them. She was no longer hindered by feelings and emotions, she knew. She'd been freed.

_Power._

* * *

Raiden marched right up to where his sister stood passively in the waving grass, drew back his fist, and sent it plowing into her face. He felt her cheekbone shatter beneath the blow, saw her head turn aside slightly, but that was it. Her head turned back slowly as her misshapen cheek set and resumed its former shape.

She gazed at him without blinking.

Raiden was too incensed to let her lack of reaction deter him. He punched her again, then again, screaming down at her the entire time.

"I am _sick _and _tired _of your _screw-ups! _How could be so retarded as to forget the fucking link with Kakashi? How could you be _that _stupid? You nearly got yourself killed! From now on you don't so much as go to the _bathroom _without linking with me first! Stupid _bitch!_"

The information on the link was something he'd picked up from his Dad's mind; while waiting for Wyatt to heal her, he'd had a quick discussion with Kyuubi, wherein the Fox had apprised him of just what had gone on while he'd been macking in the cave.

She didn't answer him. He hadn't really expected her to, but her continued silence, not to mention that stare, were starting to cool his anger. At remembering how he'd found her, torn and falling to the steps on the Hokage monument, his anger left him completely and he dragged her into a hug by the back of her neck. She didn't resist, but she didn't hug back when he squeezed her hard. He frowned. Aimi could be counted on to hug back when squeezed. Hugs were one of her favorite things, right up there with food.

He continued to hold her for a minute more, very aware that their presence was urgently required elsewhere, but just as aware that his sis wasn't exactly herself. He finally leaned back from her and held her by the shoulders. He brushed her hair from her face, and found her large eyes still looking at him. "Aimi? Sis?" He gave her a little shake, a half smile. "You okay? You know you deserved that just now, right?"

No answering smile. Raiden felt his own smile fade as he studied her, really studied her.

He knew his sister better than anyone else knew her. Seeing her face now, knowing what she'd gone through, his heart suddenly went out to her. He pulled her back into his arms and kept her there. After some time, he dropped his chin in her hair. He loved her immensely, but he'd never been great at the big brother mushy stuff. Still, he tried. His Dad was counting on him.

"I understand," he said as twilight ripened to full dark. "Maybe you think I don't, but I do." She stood quietly in his arms, and he continued. "Remember when we went to Akatsuki's world? With the triplets and the twins and everybody? I was gutted. Probably almost died. I remember getting so scared, seeing my guts in my hands like that, that I just…sort of blacked out. Shut it out of my mind. Aimi, I know that's what happened to you. You probably got scared, probably didn't want to come back to us, and that's why it took so long for Wyatt to heal you. It's okay, Aimi. I was mad at you for messing up, but that's over. Okay? Aimi?" He stood back from her again so that he could see her face. "I need you with me if we're going to do this."

She didn't want to think about when she'd died. Couldn't think about it. She was fine with her feelings being gone for now. Her dark blue eyes, surrounded by long black lashes, merely looked at him.

"Gimme a smile at least?"

Nothing. Her smiles were all gone too, it seemed.

Looking at her, Raiden wondered if her ready laughter had been killed when the aliens had ripped her open. _Aimi, please_. They had to go. He couldn't continue to waste time here when he could practically feel the battle taking place in Konoha. He tried one last time to reach her. "I love you, Aimi."

No good. It hurt him when she didn't respond. He'd been certain she'd answer to that, at least. Feeling very unsure of his sister, he held up his hand between them. Aimi took it, and then they were gone in a swirl of her lavender chakra.

* * *

In what was left of Konoha, it was amazing to all present how quickly things devolved into madness. Months of fear, dread, and training all boiled down to what was later calculated to be a war that lasted mere hours, at most a complete day. Undeniably the most catastrophic war in history, anywhere, but shockingly short.

Even as Demon transformed in preparation to assisting his otherworldly counterparts, Arata quickly shouted an account on how to destroy the aliens. Demon didn't acknowledge, if he'd heard. In any case, he went straight for the Two-Tailed Cat that was descending on them and flew with her out of the village. The Shinigami heard, though, and exchanged a glance. Urahara then leaned in to whisper hastily in Tessai's ear. That large man nodded, and proceeded to do the following:

He performed a kido spell that had every Uchiha and Gaara shoved into the knot of allied shinobi, along with Naruto's friends. While they all roared and cursed in outrage, Tessai quickly muttered the words for another, two-part, and vastly more difficult spell. The first part of this spell was a tall oblong barrier that sprang up around the allied shinobi. All the remaining aliens were outside this barrier. The second part of the spell was a similar barrier, stronger, and dome-shaped. It surrounded the entire village, above and below ground.

Both Bijuu armies were outside this barrier, and apparently already duking it out. Great fountains of dirt, fire, wind, water, and trees were flying and swirling everywhere. The ground split and cracked in earthquakes that sent fissures across the land. Had the second barrier Tessai put up not, in fact, been a sphere that encased Konoha around all sides, the village would have been obliterated. It really was Armageddon, or so the shinobi thought as they alternately watched the Bijuu and the aliens in awe.

The aliens. A formidable host of creatures, and no doubt the dominant life form on their own world. But, as is generally the case, no matter how strong something is, there is always something stronger. Rasta-Sasuke had taken care of half of the remaining seven hundred thousand with a single blast of Fucker. Captain Kuchiki Byakuya, Ururu, and Jinta took care of the rest.

Byakuya unsheathed his blade and calmly stepped out of Tessai's oblong barrier, with the two children following behind. It sealed shut behind them. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." The watching shinobi saw his sword disintegrate into the ground, before hundreds of swords rose up in its place…and then countless tiny blades were swarming over the remaining aliens, covering them and likely slipping easily beneath their plate armor, to sever their brain stems in their hundreds and thousands. They fell in droves, vainly trying to flee, and being brought up short by the oblong barrier surrounding the humans or the one keeping the Bijuu from crushing the village.

Jinta was a downright whirlwind, yelling and attacking with his _kanabou_ in wild, swinging arcs. The aliens would shatter on impact with the force of his blows. They quickly learned to run from him just as hard as they ran from the floating pink cloud of Byakuya's Bankai. They collectively thought of this cloud as the pink death. Running from Ururu was pointless; her Senren Bakusatsu Taiho was capable of taking them out in their dozens while she herself stood in one place with the shoulder cannon. Between the three of them, the aliens were wiped out in minutes.

From behind the oblong barrier, Yoruichi smirked. "Not bad, Byakuya-chan."

Byakuya quelled his annoyance at the remark. _Bitch. _He ignored her to lift his face to where the real fight was taking place. Kenpachi had managed to leap up before the barriers were in place, putting him right in the thick of the dueling Jinchuuriki, along with Urahara.

Seeing the aliens down, Tessai released the barrier around himself and the shinobi. He too looked upward.

* * *

The children in the ruined shop cowered in fright as a host of surviving aliens swarmed inside. Yanagi had thrown her sand sphere up around them, but it had been ripped apart by two of the aliens. The little shop was briefly alive with Hisa and Kaminari's Gatsuuga, Hiroshi's Kaiten, and Sakumo's imperfect Chidori. There was a shrieking confusion of alien pincers, leaping, snarling twin girls, and Yanagi's slicing wind from her small fan. After many sustained wounds, and much expended chakra, it became clear that the aliens were doing nothing now but standing still. Perfectly still. The children backed away to a wall, huddled in on each other. Yo-chan, previously crying hysterically through the noise and fighting, was safely pressed between the thin, trembling bodies of his older sisters. He sucked steadily on Izuna's wizened ear, using it to pacify himself.

Seiji whispered, "What are they doing?"

His brother answered, also in a whisper. "Looks like they're…listening to something."

Hisa peeked out the window above her crouched position, trying not to make any noise. The aliens had their backs to them, but any sudden movement might remind them that there was fresh meat close by. "There's a weird pink cloud chasing the rest of the aliens. Most of them are dead," she observed quietly. Even as she said this, she saw the last ones running away neatly cut down. She tried to scent the pink cloud on the wind and received only the smell of metal. Very odd metal. She turned and sat back down. "I think these ones here are trying to hide from what's going on out there."

Naruto looked around at the scared faces of his friends and brother. He found it nothing short of an outrage that these monsters should escape execution by using _their _hiding place. "Well, screw that!" He jumped up and ran for the doorway, intent on making their presence known to whoever had killed the others.

There were perhaps fifteen aliens crowded into the shop. They stood slightly hunched due to their height and the low ceiling. They were between the children and the doorway. As long as no one moved or made a sound, they seemed content to stand motionless with the children. Yamanaka Naruto leaping for the door, though, would bring death to them, a fact they were aware of. One alien reached out a clawed arm and swiftly sliced the pony-tailed boy's head from his shoulders as he passed. His body fell so that it was half in, half out the doorway he was running to.

This happened so quickly that it was several moments before the children's brains made sense of what they were seeing. But Naruto's head still swung by its ponytail from one set of pincers, leaking heavily. They'd scarcely registered him jumping up to run for help, and now he was dead? They stared, too shocked to comprehend at first.

Seiji understood. He got quietly to his feet, staring at his brother's swinging face. The turquoise eyes, so like their mother's, were half open. Squinted, as if Naruto had begun to feel the pain of his decapitation before he'd died.

His brother was dead. His mother, father, and now his brother.

A deep, dark wave of black rushed up to swallow what was left of young Seiji's mind. He had one thought left to him, and that was to join his family. He ran for the doorway silently, and hoped his end would be quick.

Yanagi's sand caught him around the waist. She and the others had finally recuperated enough to feel wild fear and shock at Naruto's demise. Some of them were crying all over again. Some just stared. All gasped and hissed as Seiji made his kamikaze run for the door.

Seiji's mindless screams and howls at last had the aliens stirring. They turned and faced the children, assessed the situation, and came to the conclusion that their continued safety lay with a few more deaths. They moved toward them as one.

It was a bloody fight. During it, one small, badly wounded black puppy slipped out and went for help.

* * *

Byakuya scanned with his eyes, but saw no more aliens standing. A small black shape streaked past him, low to the ground. He almost had Senbonzakura finish it off, before realizing it was a dog. It disappeared into the crowd of shinobi at his back.

Akamaru lifted his blood-stained head at hearing the distant bark. It was calling him. One floppy white ear perked up to listen. The peculiar dog speech used by ninja hounds was as yet immature in Kaminari. His words and thoughts were jumbled with his youth and fright, but Akamaru understood loud and clear. His hackles rose.

He got painfully to his feet and _woof-_ed loudly to his own partner. Kiba looked around at him. Kaminari trotted up, Kiba's eyes fell to him, and Akamaru gave a series of short, sharp barks, conveying the situation; owners generally only understood their own hounds, as per the nature of the Inuzuka bonds. Kiba yelled, staring frantically off in the direction Kaminari had come. Hinata was shouted for even as Kiba caught the scent of other children on Kaminari's fur, other people's blood. Akamaru caught Kaminari, his own pup, in his jaws and turned to bound away, leading as Kiba shouted additional names.

Gaara, Inoichi, and Hinata ran behind Akamaru with Kiba. After hearing tell of Yanagi being with Kiba's daughter, Stud-Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion and leapt after them. Byakuya, seeing this group speed past, executed a few flash steps and followed them.

* * *

Meanwhile, it became apparent that the aliens trying to kill off the children weren't the only ones to survive. There was a small host of them atop the Hokage monument. They were feeding off the remains of the Barrier Team. At seeing their brethren cut down, they paused. They watched, unmoving, as virtually all of their numbers were erased. Communicating with the subtle, soundless vibrations they issued by means of their joint mind, a retreat was decided upon. They turned and slipped through the shadows around the Hokage monument.

One of them sensed something. Meat. Living meat. Nearby. Young and soft. Some old, but still soft. Accessible.

Following the one who'd sensed more food, they moved swiftly and silently, until they discovered a set of caverns. The entrance to these seemed to be a single, long tunnel.

-oOo-

The Kikai bug she had stationed as a lookout at the entrance flew back to Amaya to make a report. She stood up from where she'd been crouched and talking to Tou-chan. Kumiko looked around from talking to Kurenai-sensei. "What is it?"

"They're coming," Amaya whispered. Her eyes were very wide. "The creatures have found us."

-oOo-

The aliens were able to communicate with others of their number who'd managed to hide and survive here and there throughout the decimated village. They sent out the information that there was a safe pocket full of meat where they could escape the pink death and the others who'd killed them. The group of people who wielded the small killing insects and the one who directed the pink death were especially feared. The aliens on the Hokage monument could feel their kin leaving their various hiding places to come and join them.

In the meantime, the ones in the tunnel dropped to all six arms and legs and scuttled urgently toward the overwhelming scent of red blood and juicy flesh.

To say they were surprised to find a youngling of the insect-wielding humans standing in their path was an understatement. They halted on the ceiling, walls, and floor of the tunnel. Perhaps they weren't seen. Humans had poor eyesight in shadows, this they knew.

-oOo-

In fact, it wasn't just Aburame Amaya. There was a short line consisting of Kumiko, her brother Tou-chan, and Miki as well. They stood between the now-still aliens, and the cowering women and children behind them.

Amaya's heart fluttered mightily in her breast with fright. She'd never seen battle, had never even been on a mission. She was still enrolled at the academy, for Pete's sake, not even a Genin yet.

But her father had sent one of his Kikai a while ago, giving her the information on how to kill these creatures. He must believe she could hold her own. With that thought, she directed her cloud of Kikai forward, at the motionless aliens that clung to walls and ceiling some hundred yards away.

Kumiko had her large fan, identical to her mother's, off her back, but she didn't use it. Instead, she ushered the women and children farther back into the caves. The smaller children started crying, but their parents shushed them and moved them quickly. She started to send her brother with them, but he ducked under her arm and ran to stand beside Amaya. "Tou-chan!"

Amaya had shared the information her father had sent along via his Kikai. He was small and terribly afraid of those huge things, but bravely took up a position by Amaya. Tou-chan's Shadow Sewing technique snapped along in sinuous tendrils toward the aliens, who were even now pressing forward past Amaya's Kikai. Kumiko paused at seeing him take down two of the nasty things in quick succession.

The surviving aliens had at last managed to reach the Hokage Monument. They rushed in to lend aid to their falling brethren, swelling their number from a dozen to a couple of hundred. Together, they pressed their attack.

"There's more of them," Amaya said in a breathless little voice. "I can't keep up! Tou-chan-!"

"I'm trying!" Shikamaru's little son said through his teeth. He didn't have a huge amount of chakra. Heck, he was littler older than Amaya herself. "Kage Nui ain't easy, dang it."

They aliens sensed victory was near and doubled their efforts to get past the insects and deadly shadows to where there was a veritable feast waiting for them.

Kumiko watched helplessly. There wasn't enough space for her to swing her fan. Besides, her brother and Amaya were in the way of any wind she could call up.

Amaya and Toushiro retreated a step as the aliens managed to advance, then another.

* * *

The chakra blast erupting in their midst frightened human and Shinigami alike, so that poor Wyatt materialized to find several swords and prepped hand seals pointing his way. "Hi, guys," he smiled sheepishly. "What'd I miss?"

Several people pointed silently upward at where the Bijuu armies were fighting.

-oOo-

The Two Tails Demon Cat, operating with Konan, hunkered down, eyeing the Demon Fox facing her. This one, unlike the others, was female, and thus more dangerous, at least to the Niibi's mind.

–_**Retreat- **_Niibi urged. **–**_**We must retreat!-**_

-_No. We can defeat her. Remember, I can't die.-_

_**-She's too strong!-**_

Konan considered this. Simple common sense would suggest that the Nine Tails would be stronger than the Two Tails. She was sure the rest of Akatsuki was receiving the same information from their Bijuu; they were all up against one Kyuubi or another. She herself had never enjoyed much control over her Bijuu to begin with. Now that Niibi was dead set on retreating, it was either that or risk losing control altogether. _–Alright.-_

Fem-Naruto grinned maliciously where he was housed in his Kyuubi. _–Get that bitch. Get her!-_

_**-With pleasure- **_

-oOo-_**  
**_

The Two Tails turning and loping away with Fem-Kyuubi in hot pursuit was noted, but distantly. Everyone was occupied; Blondie-Kyuubi leapt and pounced on the Six Tails Slug with a roar and blast of flames that he shot from his mouth. The Rokubi, housed by Hidan, lashed out by spewing a great glob of some dripping white slime that solidified upon contact with Blondie-Kyuubi. Encased in the stuff, Blondie was immobilized. Rokubi rushed in for the kill, fleet despite its ungainly slug body.

Demon-Kyuubi currently had his hands full with the Five Tails. The Gobi's tails were quite as deadly as his own were, lashing out with lethal force. Demon rolled too close to the golden dome around Konoha, and ducked as one the Gobi's white tails whipped toward his muzzle. It struck the dome instead, and he clearly heard the loud gong-like sound contact between tail and dome made. Gobi was quick too, galloping after him when he retreated with enough speed to have flames churning up from his flashing hooves. Demon-Kyuubi pivoted once he was a safe distance from the village, and faced the oncoming Five Tails with a growl. He mentally kept track of the time. -_Fuck, only eight minutes have passed? Kyuubi, will you end that piece of shit already!- _He received an answering growl of disdain. Kyuubi did fire off a jet of flames that countered the Bijuu-dama ejected from that dolphin head. In the brief time sight was obscured by fire and black chakra, the Gobi had leapt. Demon-Kyuubi raised his head once this all cleared to see four enormous hooves coming toward his face. He gathered himself on his haunches, hunkered down, and threw himself upward. His teeth sank deliciously into one white shoulder, his claws already ripping and shredding.

-oOo-

Apparently, the Seven and Three Tails saw that one of the Kyuubi were down. They rushed to help the Rokubi subdue Blondie-Kyuubi, who was breaking free of the substance holding him.

"Blondie!" Rasta-Sasuke screamed. He prepared to blast a hole through that barrier, but before Tessai could warn him not to, three individuals appeared before the group of allied shinobi.

"Honestly," Madara drawled. "If you want something done right, you must do it yourself." He, Nagato, and White Zetsu smiled thinly.

* * *

"Damn."

Ryota turned from watching the distant battle at Masaru's whispered curse. His mouth dropped open at finding them both stalled on a boar seal. "What's the problem?"

"Missed a seal," Masaru mumbled.

"What the-" Ryota began, already working up into a rage.

"It's nothing," Kei deflected. "We'll start over."

But Kei thought to himself that Ryota would never understand how desperately tricky the process was. Raiden had made it seem easy, but then Raiden was Raiden. He and Masaru had to regress themselves to a trance-like state in order to perform the seals in perfect synchronization. There was a rhythm, a chant of the seals that they did in their minds, and the slightest break in concentration disrupted the chant, which in turn usually disrupted the seals. Masaru, he knew, had a major cramp in the muscles of his left hand. Triplets as they were, and identical at that, Kei could almost feel the throbbing burn from his brother. He took a second now to rub Masaru's arm comfortingly.

Ryota saw this. He went to Masaru and took his hand. "Let me see. Is it cramped again? Where, here? Okay. Okay." He rubbed and soothed, trying to put Masaru, who had silent tears in his eyes, at ease. "I think I have something that might help." Ryota reached for his spell book.

Kei felt like throwing his arms around Ryota in hug. For once his brother was being understanding, instead of brow-beating them. He contented himself with a few discreet tears of his own, trying hard to ignore the awful chakra blasts and gusting elements from the Bijuu battle.

"We're behind schedule," Ryota muttered, flipping pages. "But I think I have a spell here to improve concentration, or block outside influences. Where…oh, here it is. Hold still you two." He looked up at his brothers and whispered three words.

The frowns Kei and Masaru had been wearing smoothed away from their brows Ryota was pleased to see. He took both of their hands and performed a minor healing spell, enough to ease whatever discomfort they were feeling. When he was done, they both looked to be completely at ease, if a bit spaced out. "Okay. Get it done."

Masaru and Kei lifted their hands and started over again.

* * *

They could hear the screams of the children as they neared a destroyed store of some kind. Akamaru dropped Kaminari as Kiba shouted for him to be careful. Gaara was the first one inside, and collided head-on with one of the 9-foot aliens as it and several others apparently tried to leave the shop. They exploded from the doorway and windows, all heading deeper into the village, in the general direction of the Hokage monument.

Gaara was more than ready, feeling the ancient bloodlust he'd tamed in his youth surge to the fore. He had the alien immobilized and a kunai jammed into the base of its skull before it could attempt to break free. Hinata darted inside the shop, chakra crackling all around her, as Inoichi leapt up and came down in a swirl of his ponytail, driving his blade to the correct spot on one alien as it ran past. Stud-Sasuke leveled his hand at three that were almost beyond reach and shot lightning bars to the base of their skulls, aiming and controlling his chakra with a precision that was entirely Uchiha. Those three dropped, and he was able to enter the shop as well, drawn by the screams of his young son.

Another scream had the other parents and guardians rushing in behind him. They were brought up short at seeing Hinata on the bloodied floor, with Naruto's head in her lap. His body lay by her side.

Hearts froze. Then eyes warily looked up, dreading the sight of other children, possibly their own, also being dead.

Kiba breathed a sigh at seeing Hisa stoop shakily to pick up Kaminari. His son, Hiroshi, seemed okay as well.

Stud-Sasuke withstood his girls climbing up his body to cling to him in fright. He had Yo-chan in his arms, trying to soothe the shivering boy.

Gaara wasn't so lucky. Yanagi lay near a fallen Asuma. He was at her side instantly, only to discover that she was still breathing. Asuma wasn't. Gaara looked up and found Sakumo standing in a corner with Seiji, lightning still crackling around his small hands.

Byakuya had not gone into the ruined shop. He'd remained outside, and hence was able to cut down each and every alien the others had missed, all except one. He let the last one get away. He'd seen the way the creatures had all seemed to be heading in the same direction. The thing was fast. Using a modified Shunpo, he followed it.

* * *

More aliens had survived than originally thought. The tunnel was jammed with them steadily pressing forward through the carcasses of the ones Amaya and Tou-chan managed to kill. First one, then another managed to slip through to the valiantly fighting children. Then more.

-oOo-

Kumiko was in the process of leading the women and children even deeper into the caves. She stopped, a hand to her mouth, at the high scream that pierced the stale air around them. That was her brother, she knew it. She turned, ready to run back to him, but Kurenai-sensei blocked her. "Onward," the dark-haired woman commanded. "The needs of the many outweigh the one, I'm sure I don't have to tell you."

"But that's my _brother_-" Kumiko whispered weakly. Her hand clutched at where her heart seemed to be incapable of beating.

Kurenai shoved her. Kumiko stumbled, but picked herself up, tears nearly blinding her.

-oOo-

Miki was short. She was able to slip past the fleeing adults. "Mind Taro-chan," she admonished her sisters. "I'm going back to help Amaya."

No one seemed to notice her weaving past them, going in the opposite direction in which they were heading. She probably shouldn't have gone with them at all, should have stayed to help Amaya in the first place, but her sisters had cried at seeing the big black monsters. She'd run with them, trying to comfort them.

She skidded to a halt, staring. The monsters had paused over the small bodies of Amaya and Toushiro. Even as she watched, one small arm was tugged free of Amaya's body and torn as three monsters fought over it. As one, the aliens looked up at seeing her. They were silent, as was the girl who watched them with slowly reddening gray eyes.

Then the aliens pounced.

Uchiha Mikoto had died some twelve years previously in this exact same spot, doing the exact same thing her granddaughter was doing. Protecting the women and children of the village.

Daddy's Little Pyromaniac, that's what Kaito called his eldest child. She had an uncommon affinity for fire based chakra, more so than any normal Uchiha. She was able to shape and control her chakra much as Hyuuga had mastery over their chakra, but she was able to take it one step farther. No one had been around to teach her, what with her father gone on the training world, but she'd worked out on her own how to master shape manipulation to the extent that she could form bars and swords of fire, much as her great uncle Sasuke could. She'd done this as a demonstration when the others had doubted her, just before they'd gone down into the village. She used this ability now, but made the bars exceptionally fine, thin enough to locate the precise spot Amaya had told them about.

The aliens believed they could overwhelm one youngling…until those filament-like threads of fire snaked their way into their midst. The tunnel was too clogged with their number for immediate retreat to be possible. Some still persisted in trying to move toward the tiny girl who sent destruction through their ranks, while some tried to force a retreat. They dug frantically at the tunnel walls, at the ceiling, causing a minor collapse. Their soundless panic did nothing but generate more confusion, so that the glowing threads of fire found them easily.

But they were determined. Several were able to move closer to Miki.

Miki, whose rightful name was Uchiha Mikoto, and who was ever called by her nickname, was quite as fierce as her grandmother had been. The strain of manipulating her chakra like this formed another tomoe in her left eye, bringing the total in that orb to two. She was the first of a new generation of Hyuuga mixed with Uchiha, and as such a prodigy in her own right, but she was six. Before long, her limbs began to shake.

* * *

Arata stepped forward and addressed Madara. "You don't think you'll honestly be able to take all of us on? You're grossly outnumbered."

At least ten thousand shinobi stood at Arata's back, still combat capable. Yoruichi, Jinta and Ikkaku had joined them and stood immediately to Arata's right, with Wyatt and Hitsugaya to his left. The fight between Akatsuki and Naruto's army was a muted roar outside the dome. Inside, the village was littered with hundreds of thousands of alien corpses, and the one circle of standing shinobi.

Madara displayed his power now by sending the alien carcasses to one of his dimensions. There were murmurs from the shinobi. "Room to move around now," Madara said pleasantly. "And yes, I do think I can take you all on. After all, none of you have seen Eternal Mangekyo and what it can do, have you?"

"Well…I have," a voice said.

Madara, along with Nagato and White Zetsu, turned to find a line of Uchiha standing with swords. The one who'd spoken was a teenage youth. "And who might you be?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," Psycho-Sasuke replied. "Not only have I seen it…"

Madara's eyes widened at seeing Eternal Mangekyo in his eyes. He swept his gaze left and right along the line and saw that each face was a variation of the boy's, and each one held Mangekyo.

All except one, who stepped forward now. This tall man did not have Mangekyo, but he leveled his sword at Madara. "I, too, am Uchiha Sasuke. You and I have had the pleasure of meeting. Years ago. I believe I owe you for kidnapping my son Raiden, and killing my man."

"And don't think of escaping," one dread-locked version spoke up. "I got your phasing jutsu covered, thanks to your bro Izuna." To demonstrate, he sent an application of Fucker at Madara, surrounding him. Madara immediately made himself insubstantial, whereupon Rasta-Sasuke smiled widely. "I can hold this jutsu almost indefinitely. You can only go five minutes like that, at which point it's _sayonara, _asshole."

Madara glared, surrounded by Sasukes.

-oOo-

Nagato and White Zetsu weren't faring any better. Itachi, his children, and what remained of the Shinigami surrounded them. Tessai and Wyatt were moving through the shinobi army, healing whoever needed to be healed.

Nagato knelt and summoned several large animals, among them his giant multi-headed dog, snake-tailed chameleon, and centipede. He would have them crush the last of this resistance before-

Konohamaru summoned the monkey king Enma.

Temari stepped forward and summoned her sickle weasel, Kamatari.

Sakura joined the circle as Katsuyu appeared behind her.

Anko likewise made her presence known by summoning several giant snakes.

* * *

While the standoff between Madara, Nagato, White Zetsu, and the shinobi took place inside the dome surrounding Konoha, the land outside that dome was in ruins. Night had come some time ago, but the sky was balefully lit with fire and chakra. The demons had spread out, no longer anywhere near Konoha, but still visible due to their sizes. Fire Country, miles upon miles of the pretty land, was completely destroyed. There was the one bubble of safety in Konoha, and the smaller bubble some five miles away, where the triplets sat doing their part.

Ryota maintained the protective shield with his magic, loathe to waste power and energy on this when he knew he'd need his strength for the extraction. He judged twenty-eight minutes had passed since the second attempt had begun. He kept his eyes on his brothers when he wasn't staring around at the devastation taking place outside his small shield. Masaru and Kei's hands were blurry with speed, but so far, no more slips. Their faces were serene, eyes closed. Ryota made not a sound, wanting their focus to carry them through to the end. None of the tremendous roars of sound from outside the barrier seemed to deter them, though, so maybe it wouldn't have mattered.

* * *

Kage-Kyuubi snarled in acute frustration. That Seven Tails Beetle kept flying away, making it nearly impossible to catch him. From that elevated position, it was easy for him to release one Bijuu-dama after another at where Kage-Kyuubi crouched. He retaliated in kind, but what he really wanted was to rip those wings off and chew through that blue armored skull with his bare teeth.

When the Nanabi circled yet again and let fly another Bijuu-dama, Kage-Kyubi hunkered down. When the dirt and dust cleared, Nanabi hovered, inspecting the stretched out body of the Fox. Kakuzu, housing Nanabi, directed it to swoop lower for a closer look.

Kage-Kyuubi lunged up, snagged the seventh tail in his jaws, and used his momentum to swing the huge beetle and slam it into the ground with an almighty crash. He went in for the kill immediately, his roar deafening and triumphant.

-oOo-

Blondie-Kyuubi had long since turned his own fight in his favor. He and the Rokubi were locked in a bitter battle to the death. Psycho-Kyuubi now faced the Three-Tails.

Deep in his Bijuu's mind, Psycho-Naruto remembered coming up against this thing when that mess had gone down with Yuukimaru. _Go for that right eye, Kyuubi. _Before the demon could comply, though, Sanbi made a lunge and latched onto him with its strange hands. Its three armored tails swung in for a fatal blow, one that Psycho-Kyuubi's tails managed to block. Their jaws snapped dangerously at each other. The Sanbi was at a distinct disadvantage with no water around.

-oOo-

'Bee and Kisame, who was also in Hachibi mode, rolled and bit, flattening a mountain to dust. Their tails were twined tightly about the other; 'Bee, located behind his opponent, used his tails to restrain Kisame's powerful arms, straining, struggling not to have his own arms pinned down in turn by those eight strong tails. He reached around the massive shoulders, grabbed hold of two of the other Hachibi's horns, and yanked backward with all his strength. Kisame roared loud enough to be heard for miles. There was a loud, satisfying crack as his spine snapped in two.

-oOo-

Kenpachi _wished _he could go up against Kisame. After all, that was a large part of the reason he'd stayed on to help fight this war, but the cards fell where they fell. When he'd jumped up to join the fight, he'd ended up paired with the Four Tails. Urahara was with him, and together they had their hands full with the giant gorilla.

He and Urahara used the basic strategy of remaining to either side of it, attacking from Yonbi's left and right. It was incredibly fast, incredibly strong, and that lava it spat out was to be avoided at all costs. They'd long since lured it far away from the village, not wanting the lava to damage anyone or anything else.

Urahara privately thought the regenerative capabilities he'd witnessed in these strange Bijuu creatures the only reason the Yonbi was still standing. Of the nine reiatsu monsters, the Kyuubi, Hachibi, and now the Yonbi were the ones who seemed to regenerate instantaneously. The others did so to a lesser degree, displayed most often as simple imperviousness. However, as the Yonbi was his opponent, he confined his analysis to him.

"Haaaaa, _yes!_ Come, Monkey-balls! Come, come, come!" Kenpachi, eye patch long gone, was equal to the Yonbi and more. His Zanpaktuo sliced and diced the ape with gleeful abandon. He either dodged the Bijuu-dama fired at him, or else countered with a point-blank blast of his own massive reiatsu. Really, between Urahara's wickedly calculated attacks, and Kenpachi's raw power, the Yonbi didn't stand a chance, despite its strength and speed.

-oOo-

Deidara, housing Shukaku, was in active retreat from Chibi-Gaara's released form. There were reasons for this.

Problem: He wasn't fast. Problem: Shukaku kept subduing his consciousness, trying to take over. Problem: he simply did not do well with close-range combat, not in human form _or_ Bijuu form. Problem: he couldn't use clay in Bijuu form. Solution: run like hell.

Chibi-Gaara had never really let it be known, but he enjoyed a close relationship with his demon, quite as close as 'Bee enjoyed with his. The reason was probably that Chibi-Gaara and his Shukaku were both bloodthirsty freaks who enjoyed a good time. As such, he was not in danger of having his personality eroded by Shukaku, though sleep was still something scarce in Chibi-Gaara's life. Still, they got along famously when in pursuit of the same target. Their combined bloodlust made for sweet harmony. Maybe Shukaku had influenced Chibi-Gaara's bloodthirstiness from birth, who knew. What Chibi-Gaara did know was that he pursued the lumbering Ichibi with great pleasure, him and his Shukaku both cackling.

And there was one other thing that lent sublime satisfaction to Chibi-Gaara's pursuit: Deidara, the one in his world, had been the one to kill his father. Deidara had come to collect Chibi-Gaara for Akatsuki. He remembered fighting Deidara himself, before his father had stepped in. The Kazekage had ordered Baki to take his youngest son from Suna, to drop him off with the current Raikage and his brother. Chibi-Gaara had been restrained, drugged, and smuggled out of the village. Later, Baki had come to the little valley he was then sharing with 'Bee and informed him of the Kazekage's demise in that battle.

So yes. There was pleasure in the pursuit. Great pleasure. Justice, even. _Let's go hard Shukaku, baby!_

_**-Right on!-**_

And so the battle raged.

* * *

Just before Aimi Boomed them away, Raiden got something from her at last through their link. His mind swept past hers, even as hers was doing the same thing, and he was plainly horrified to see just how _much_ she was changed. When they'd first learned how to join, he remembered thinking of her mental presence as being like a soft summer breeze. Feminine. Almost unassuming, despite her power. Now, though, Raiden had no analogy that would suffice for the towering, unyielding, and utterly _menacing _manifestation her mind took. This…thing…was his sister. No wonder Aimi hadn't responded to him; Aimi was gone.

The thing turned to his mental presence and he saw that she wasn't all gone. Not quite. A ghost of his sweet sister was discernible, but barely. It was this remnant that spoke to him. _I love you too, Raiden._ That was it. The thing turned away from him again, ready for battle.

It was hungry.

-oOo-

The gust of lavender chakra had heads turning to see Raiden and Aimi standing hand in hand. Wyatt looked up from healing Yanagi and sent a welcoming smile Raiden's way. _You made it! _he communicated along their bond.

Raiden received the thought absently, too shocked to respond. He released Aimi's hand to take a few disbelieving steps forward.

Madara was kept immobile by the Sasukes and Rasta-Sasuke's jutsu.

Nagato and White Zetsu were apparently being handled by uncle Itachi and his cousins, not to mention a few other people and some of the Shinigami.

Looking up at the dome, and spreading his senses, he was able to learn that his Dad and the other Narutos were taking care of Akatsuki. He was even able to sense the triplets somewhere in all that madness outside the dome.

As for the shinobi army, they were keeping away from where Nagato, Madara, and White Zetsu were being kept neutralized. Some of them were being healed by Wyatt and Tessai, while others were actually sitting or milling around. He saw Hitsugaya and a battered-looking Yumichika talking quietly.

Raiden snapped. "_WHAT THE FUCK?" _he screamed hoarsely. "I'm nearly killed with training, my sister actually _does _die, we're all fucking hijacked to another world and made to starve and go without sleep, and all that was just so I could get back here and find out that my ass isn't even _NEEDED? _Are you_ kidding _me?_ Jesus_ fucking Chri-"

Arata stepped up to the screaming youth, and put a hand on his shoulder. Raiden cut off mid-sentence to glare up at him. "I believe," Arata said quietly, "that you're to transport everyone to safety. At least, that is what Naruto-san said."

Raiden blinked angrily a few times, resentment hot in his gut. What a fucking letdown. Eventually he swallowed and took a breath. He looked up at where the guy was still looking down at him. He couldn't see the eyes, but he recognized the wolf mask as belonging to the captain of ANBU. He nodded, managing to swallow some of his anger. "Yes, sir. Who exactly are we transporting?"

Arata breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this nightmare was almost over. "I don't know that we still need to transport anyone, seeing as this war seems to be almost over, but your father said everyone. That he and those who came with him would handle everything. It's not a decision I agree with, but then he's in charge now, not me."

Raiden glanced at the group of allied shinobi. "Is that everyone?"

"There are women and children hidden in the caves behind the Hokage monument, but I hardly think-"

"My dad said everyone, then everyone goes. Anything else?"

Arata remembered when Raiden had been under his command as captain of his own hunter-nin squad. The boy always had been quick on the uptake and superb at getting a job done. "No, that's all."

"I'll be transporting you along with everyone else. I don't think I need to move you too far. I assume the cat's out of the bag regarding my powers and all, so you won't be scared of where I send you. You and everyone else will be in a slightly different dimension."

"I…beg your pardon?"

Raiden spoke as he sent his senses in search of the women and children in the caves. "There are millions of dimensions everywhere. Realities. Some press on this world, using the same timeline and everything. The one I'm sending you guys to will allow you to see what's going on here, but we won't see you. Nor will you be able to participate in, or affect anything happening here. You'll be safe, don't worry. Nothing lives where I'm sending you."

"Ah," Arata managed. "Similar to a displacement jutsu?"

"Not quite. I've used this dimension before. You guys will be fine, trust me," Raiden said. It was the same place he'd sent Willow and his uncle Itachi to when he'd killed Madara in preparation to raising his Pop from the dead.

Having located the women and children in question, Raiden carefully plucked them and the rest of the allied shinobi and sent them to the dimension he'd spoken of.

-oOo-

Byakuya, who'd reached the caves and done away with the aliens trying to force their way through the tunnel, had just walked up to a small girl child. She gazed up at him with one red eye, one gray eye, and an exhausted smile. Dozens of the aliens lay dead around her. She'd just collapsed in a dead faint in his arms when she suddenly vanished.

* * *

"Done," Kei said.

Thirty minutes exactly, Ryota thought. "Yosh." He had to work fast. He placed the enlarged kunai hilt first toward his brothers.

This was where things got tricky. Just about all of the rest of the extraction was now down to him. He knelt next to his brothers. They were the ones able to copy the jutsu, but joined was the only way their power would be enough to be effective. They each joined hands: Kei took Masaru's left, who in turn took Ryota's left. The power the Fuuinjutsu seals had called up was now accessible to Ryota. They each put their free hands on the kunai, while Ryota muttered the incantation to release the chakra he'd stored from the trainees in the scrolls. The chakra whooshed up and out, filling their small shield. It mixed and funneled downward into the kunai, as directed by Ryota, who also guided the Fuuinjutsu accurately.

The kunai levitated away from the triplets and glowed red.

The strain of channeling so much power was enormous. Maintaining the link with his brothers, Ryota released the shield at last and quickly shot a massive energy ball into the sky.

-oOo-

Seeing it, Demon-Kyuubi gave a howl; it was time. His companions saw, and set up their own inhuman howls or roars of affirmation. They each locked their jaws on their defeated opponents and ran, dragging the defeated Bijuu with them to the designated place. Kenpachi and Urahara supported the massive monkey on their hands and performed Shunpo. They arrived first, but the rest weren't far behind.

The senseless bodies of eight Bijuu were dropped in a rough circle. Ryota stood between his brothers, their hands on his arms as their combined power swelled. The kunai soared up at Ryota's direction, quivered, turned slowly, then plunged downward. They embedded themselves deeply into the Bijuu.

Nothing happened for a second. Then, as had happened with Hisa, the power and energy in the kunai expanded outward with a thunderous sound. It formed a red, impenetrable shell around the heaped Bijuu. All present could see the demonic chakra swirling up and out of the bodies in question. The bodies themselves were returning to their human forms. Once complete, Akatsuki lay unconscious. The kunai dropped to the ground beside them, glowing malevolently.

-oOo-

Demon-Kyuubi shrank back to just Demon. He leaned his hands heavily on his knees, laughing weakly. He saw his comrades also returning to normal and they grinned. Meeting each other's eyes, they suddenly indulged in a shared laugh. Some of them wheezed in pain. "We did it," Chibi-Gaara gasped.

But Demon walked over to the triplets, kids he'd raised for the most part. He clapped them on their heads, ruffling their sweaty hair. All three appeared ready to faint. "No, _they _did it. We only-"

A low, Earth-shaking rumble cut him off.

* * *

Raiden, standing with the Shinigami and the rest of the trainees, was in the middle of a conversation with Wyatt about how much it sucked that he'd trained for nothing. He too cut off as the rumble was felt. He turned to look behind him. He frowned, seeing nothing at first…then he did see. They all saw.

"You were saying?" Wyatt asked fearfully.

* * *

Izanami had bided her time. Long years on Earth, but hardly a blink for her. Still, she'd waited and planned. While Akatsuki had been caught in their temporal loop, before they'd found Raiden grown and with a sister, she'd gathered her army of demons and dark creatures, recruited other lesser gods and goddesses. Her army was beyond count. Endless.

She had noted the boy of Light, had watched him with narrowed eyes while he healed the humans. His power could prove troublesome, she decided. She would not try to take it after all. But when Raiden and Aimi appeared, she could not help her smile. The girl had returned to life with all human inhibitors absent. Gone were the muzzles of emotion, feeling, and insecurity. Her power had been notable before. Now, though, Izanami saw that Aimi had undergone an evolution; she was the embodiment of the source of her powers, something that had never walked the Earth. Sucking her dry would be a pleasure.

And Raiden. Raiden was maturing quickly, coming into his full power as well. Not there yet, but coming along nicely. He and his sister would be sufficient for her.

She turned from contemplating them, and addressed her army. "The time has come," she intoned. "Bring me Raiden and Aimi. Neutralize the child of Light, for I sense his bond with Raiden will cause him to be a nuisance. Succeed and you will be rewarded. A word of caution, though," Izanami added, speaking directly to the demons. "In the human world, you will be subject to the laws that govern their existence. You can be killed. Only the gods will be immune."

They did not react. Izanami lost no more time. Lifting her hands, she called on her power and used it to raise her doorway to the underworld, the very gate Aimi had come across a short time ago. Not many mortals ever saw it. And the last time it had been raised to the human world had been centuries before.

* * *

Demon and the other Narutos watched the gigantic ivory-colored gate rise from the earth, a mile thick, miles and miles wide, stretching across the entire horizon. It rose up between them and Konoha.

-oOo-

Tessai's protective shield around Konoha dissipated in his shock. Up and up the gate rose, drowning out all other sounds, until its top disappeared in the sparse cloud cover above. And still it rose. Raiden hastily located his dad and the others and Pulled them so that all the trainees stood looking upward at the rising gate. Sadly, they had the members of Akatsuki draped over their shoulders when Raiden brought them. Madara, Nagato, and White Zetsu stood with the trainees, staring just as hard. The moon cast enough light to illuminate the skulls and bones, in some places whole skeletons, that made up the gate.

-oOo-

In the alternate dimension Raiden had sent them to the allied shinobi had a front row seat. They watched, mouths and eyes opened wide in horror, as the gate finally clanked resoundingly to a stop.

* * *

Izanami lowered her hands. The doors on the gate slowly began opening outward at her command. Her army marched up the wide, rocky staircase that led to the base of the gate. If the gate remained opened a thousand years, it would not be long enough to empty her realm of her army. They were that many.

-oOo-

Seeing the demons that poured out, Sasuke felt his heart sink.

Demons. Spirits.

Strange glowing creatures, taller than the demons, that he belatedly realized were gods.

Together, they were legion.

The sound of their marching was a steady _THUMP-badump, THUMP-badump _that shook the ravaged land around them. The expanse of the gate itself ensured that the small group was quickly surrounded.

Wyatt appeared at Raiden's side. He, like everyone, now raised his eyes to the impossibly tall image of a rotting, putrefying goddess more powerful than all the demons and gods in her realm. Izanami. She couldn't pass through the gate, but she stood at it, watching for a moment, before she was gone. The sight of her deathly smile lingered in the minds of those who'd witnessed it.

* * *

The allied shinobi in the alternate dimension weren't the only ones watching these events unfold. Izanami left the gate to go to a special area in the underworld she'd set up. There, the souls of the thousands of casualties of this war stood shoulder-to-shoulder. They were able to look up through time and space to the living world above, much as Izanami herself frequently did.

Kakashi stood there with Asuma, Yamanaka Naruto, and Gai-sensei, his long time rival, now his comrade in death. "You won't get away with this," Kakashi said evenly. "They _will _stop you."

Izanami laughed. "Mortal you are, even in death. I should think that now, at least, you'd be able to understand that _no one_ has the power to stop me. No one on Earth, and precious few in the cosmos."

Neji and Ino stood behind their son. Neji said, "It will be our pleasure to watch you eat those words."

* * *

Raiden licked his lips nervously. "Wyatt, I need to tamp down our bond to focus on the link with Aimi." Wyatt nodded. Raiden left him with a small squeeze of his hand. He jumped, and landed next to Aimi.

With the arrival of the gate and the demons, and having seen Izanami, his sister seemed animated at last. Somewhat. She turned to meet his gaze, at any rate, and there was a small smile on her face. "You with me, sis?"

"Yes."

He grinned, glad to hear her voice finally. "Righteous. Looks like we're needed after all," he went on as the demons continued to surround them. "They'll be coming after us. Remember what Pop and Dad said: One, they can handle themselves, so don't get distracted by trying to protect them. Two, start off easy and build up to the harder moves as they're needed. Three…."

Aimi supplied the last part. "Bring it like it's never been brought. No mercy, no retreat, and absolutely, under no circumstances whatsoever, no surrender. Period."

"Right." He risked smiling at her and was relieved to see her small smile widen a bit. "Aimi, you scared me, man. You okay now?"

Aimi turned to walk with him to the head of the small circle the trainees formed. "Never better."

But Raiden wondered. The look on her face was nothing like his sister, and their link throbbed alarmingly with the sheer power of her. He wasn't so much linked to her as tagging along. Still, he faced the gate and incoming waves of demons resolutely.

-oOo-

Behind him, the Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Shinigami faced outward, swords drawn. Wyatt, Konohamaru, Udon and Ibiki were towards the center of this circle. Akatsuki stood off to the side, mostly recovered from the extraction. They looked to Madara for instructions, but he shook his head. They couldn't die, but he'd be damned if he'd help Konoha fight Izanami's army. He just didn't know if that army would treat him with the same courtesy. He looked back and forth between the demons and the humans.

Demon caught Sasuke's eye. "You ever call me demon after this and I'll castrate you."

"Agreed."

Demon nodded once, firmly. He looked behind himself and saw his kids in place. Facing front again, he said a brief prayer. There'd be no surviving this he was sure, but he hoped his kids at least made it. _Please, God, let them rip Izanami a new one. _"CHARGE!"

The demons seemed to take this as their signal too. They closed in on the miserably small group.


	61. Chapter 61

A/N: 18 pages this time, but the last chapter was 24, so I feel it balances out. I hope that by the end of this chapter you guys aren't tired of the fight...because it's not close to over. -.-

Beta: None...

* * *

Chapter 61

Forty-four. Without Hiroko or the triplets there were forty-four of them. Shinigami, humans, Jinchuuriki from other worlds…all equaled forty-four. So few against so many.

The real war had arrived. At long, long last. _This _was what they'd trained for. _This_ was what the blood and sweat and tears had tried to prepare them for. Looking at what they faced, and what they'd gone through in order to prepare themselves, each one had the thought that there _was _no preparing for something like this. Another ten years of non-stop training wouldn't have been enough. The humans and demons charged each other.

* * *

Raiden and Aimi didn't charge. Senses heightened as as they were, time seemed to slow down for them.

Raiden's red eyes assessed the demons. They weren't as big as the relatively few gods, but they were certainly taller than the humans. They were quite as tall as the aliens had been. The difference was that the demons had flesh and bone, and humanoid features in most respects. They were broad, with muscles and large, clawed hands. Some went on all fours like beasts, but most walked on two legs. A few could be seen swooping around on large leathery wings not unlike Raiden's. Some had protruding fangs, tusks, or horns. All of them, without exception, were fast and inhumanly strong, Raiden could tell. The sound of their hooves or cloven feet vibrated upward from the ground, and through his body.

"Fold them away?" he hissed at Aimi.

"We could try…"

Linked as they were, this was performed by both of them. The space around them was briefly free of demons…until they were brought right back. Raiden and Aimi folded them again, and they flickered right back into place around them.

"Izanami's doing," Aimi concluded quietly. "She has complete power over her minions."

Raiden shot a tiny Death Sphere at one. It dropped immediately, dead. "Not complete power."

"We can try sending them farther away, to someplace outside her control," Aimi suggested.

They tried Booming them to the training world, only to encounter the unpleasant sensation of the demons somehow resisting. Raiden grimaced. "They're anchored to this dimension. _Fuck_." It would have solved the problem neatly if they could have swept the demons away in one broad move. All of this had taken place in the few seconds it took for the demons and humans to close in on each other. Raiden licked his chops. "Looks like we fight."

* * *

The others were doing just that.

Itachi's children, already tired in body and spirit, were reminded of the hell dimension they'd been sent to on Buffy's world. This was exactly like that…to a power of one hundred. There was no holding back, could _be _no holding back. Once it was determined that Raiden and Aimi would not be fixing this with a convenient blanket jutsu, they dug in. Itachi and every Sasuke capable of the technique had Susanoo up and blazing, and Amaterasu streaking in every direction. The demons descended on them, and their numbers were such that the humans were forced to separate. They became isolated singly or in small groups of two and three.

Fireballs shot upward into the sky, the better to facilitate the several versions of Kirin that struck the demons over of a ten mile radius. Great fountains of earth, stone and demon bodies erupted upward into the air wherever the fierce lightning stabbed. Whole waves of demons were knocked high into the sky at each swing of the Susanoos' swords. Amaterasu raged unchecked over the demons in their thousands. The humans and Shinigami, trained as they were, avoided being caught in these massive jutsu.

* * *

Konohamaru dug his hands into the collar of Enma's kimono shirt, moving with the rolling motion of the monkey king's four-legged gait. He remembered his grandfather calling him into the Hokage office when he was about five years old.

-oOo-

'"_Ah, Konohamaru. Come, sit on my lap." _

_He'd squirmed his way onto his grandfather's bony lap. "Am I in trouble?"_

_The third Hokage had laughed around his pipe. "No, boy. I want to show you something. Your father approves. See this scroll?"_

_He'd looked at the scroll spread over the entire length of the desk. "Uh huh."_

"_It is a contract for the ninja animals. Specifically primates. You're too young yet to summon them, but in case anything should happen to me before you reach the proper age, your contract with them will exist. Neither Asuma nor your father were compatible, but you, I sense, are different. Give me your hand." His grandfather produced a small blade._

"_Ouch!"_

"_There, now. One day you will pass the contract on to your child."_

_His blood had been dabbed on the fingertips of one hand, and he'd been shown how to complete the contract. On the training world, Jiraiya and Minato had assisted him in finally perfecting the summons._

-oOo-_  
_

Konohamaru smiled at thinking of the daughter Hiroko carried. His daughter.

Enma was a beast, whirling and clawing his way through the demons with Konohamaru on his back.

Behind him and Enma ran various red-eyed ninja apes, monkeys, and gorillas of all sizes. They had claws and teeth to rival the demons. Konohamaru led this small army of his own, crashing into a section of the demons with his apes snarling and screaming in rage.

* * *

Rasta-Sasuke, sweating, was an army unto himself, though he fought back-to-back with Blondie. Fucker was unrestrained, incinerating whole swaths of demons wherever he swept his hands, and he hadn't even gotten around to opening his gates yet. At his back, Blondie was letting loose Rasenshurikens to cut the demons down by the score.

Demon and Sasuke, hands united, put forth an enormous tornado of fire that cut a path through another section of the demons. They followed up with another after that, then several more.

Between the other Sasukes and Narutos, wind, rain, and lightning combined in the atmosphere to have it alive with a terrible storm that shot the same lightning, or pelted burning rain down on the demons. There were slicing winds that shredded the demons where they stood, while avoiding the humans and Shinigami. This feat was a testament to their training; their parents had drilled them on control of these massive maneuvers so that should they encounter just such a situation they'd be prepared.

The Shinigami, limiters released, and recovered from their previous battles, were now unstoppable. Yachiru especially proved to be quite the little fiend. Her reiatsu, once unleashed in its entirety, could almost be considered comparable to Kenpachi's. She fought at his side, and the demons were sliced in half or in pieces with each swing of her Zanpaktuo.

But all this barely put a dent in the demon's numbers. They displayed great strength, agility, and a smattering of supernatural powers. They just kept coming, and coming, and coming through that sky-high gate, rolling out of the Underworld with no end to them in sight. For those who could not employ summons, or who did not have more than the normal abilities of a ninja, the fight was especially brutal.

-oOo-

Hiroto and Shouta were fighting together, as they preferred to be. They were accustomed to cooperating with each other, both earth types as they were, and had collaborated on missions for a number of years now. Fighting the demons one on one was nearly ineffectual, as they soon discovered. They quickly arrived at the same conclusion that everyone else had: one needed to use attacks that took out large numbers with one stroke.

"Let's go with that latest move," Hiroto panted.

Shouta nodded, flinging his dripping hair our of his eyes. Four hand seals, before he and his older brother slammed their palms on the ground. "Earth Style: Lava Swamp!"

The result was basically Swamp of the Underworld infused with fire based chakra, or a quagmire of boiling lava that appeared beneath their opponents' feet. Hiroto and Shouta used their chakra to suck hundreds of the demons under.

-oOo-

Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu formed another knot of destruction amidst the horde. They stood with their backs together, much as every duo or threesome did, and defended their tiny section of ground staunchly. Ururu was in Genocide Mode, her shoulder cannon long since expended. There was nothing that survived her punches and kicks, yet the demons kept right on coming. Jinta swung his _kanabou_ tirelessly, roaring as hard as the creatures he fought. Tessai called on his kido mastery heavily, digging through the depths of his long memory to recall the truly devastating spells. He was able to obliterate thousands of the demons, time and again, but the numbers didn't decrease. Where one demon dropped, ten thousand more marched out of that gate.

-oOo-

Hitsugaya tackled many of the flying demons to great effect. They weren't nearly as numerous as the grounded ones, and once or twice Sasuke flew up to assist him. More followed from that tall gate, to which Hitsugaya showed no mercy.

-oOo-

Byakuya was another who found himself fighting alone. Senbonzakura was a force of nature, dealing death on a large scale. He coolly estimated that he could keep up the use of his reiatsu like this for some time, perhaps two or three days…if it would do any good. The numbers marching out of that gate suggested that even his long lifetime as a Shinigami, and they were essentially immortal, would not see the end of them. Still, he'd faced the impossible before, and lived to tell of it. He would conduct himself with no less dignity here.

-oOo-

Udon was ashamed and afraid of the fact that Sumiko did more to protect him than to fight off the demons themselves. He was Jounin, had trained with the others, but simply was not a strong fighter compared to everyone else. When your comrades were Uchiha and Uzumaki, or some combination thereof, what was an ordinary nerd-type fellow to do? He'd always kept his shame to himself, had swallowed his bitter embarrassment that he didn't even measure up to Konohamaru. He always did the best that he could. Sumiko's love helped ease his dishonor, and she fought fiercely at his side, but he knew in his heart that she would not be able to fight at her full capacity as long as she was also trying to protect him. And at all costs, he wanted her to survive.

It wasn't suicide, he told himself, not really. He loved his wife more than he could ever express, was all. She had to live. He would be eternally grateful to Fate for letting him know her at all, and for having such a gentle flower love him in return.

-oOo-

Sumiko turned at feeling the solid weight of his back against hers suddenly fall. She was vigilant, Sharingan activated, and aware of any threat that came near him. She thought maybe he'd moved from her to deliver a killing blow…

He was down. A demon lay beneath him, her husband's kunai in its eye, and his fist still wrapped around the hilt. The demon's own clawed hand protruded from Udon's back, where it had been shoved clean through his body.

Her scream wasn't heard, nor was it distinguishable from the screams of everyone else, demons or humans. The battle raged on.

-oOo-

Urahara, calmly fighting with Yoruichi, idly wondered whether it would be better to use Bankai now, or only after all other assaults had been exhausted. On the one hand, using it now would mean throwing out his strongest moves first, depleting his reiatsu, and then having nothing but Shikai and kido to rely on later. On the other hand, leaving Bankai till all other options had been utilized would mean he'd be using it at diminished capacity anyway since his reiatsu would be depleted from extended use. If only there were a finite supply of the demons to calculate against. One could then parcel out one's strength and abilities accordingly.

This…this never-ending army of the Underworld…it was not something any human host could withstand. Ideally, an opponent was either strong or numerous. A single strong opponent could be defeated in time, as had been done with Aizen. If, instead, the opponent's strength was in numbers, well then broad moves that wiped out many at a time were utilized to great effect. But it had to be one or the other. Strong enemies did not need large numbers. Those enemies that _did _rely on numbers, did so because they were relatively weak. He couldn't say that these demons were especially strong. Compared to a Menos, they weren't really, but their numbers…the sheer volume of them was worse than if there had been a hundred or a thousand Aizens. Whether or not he used Bankai now or later became irrelevant; strategy was pointless in the face of certain death. He only continued to do so now because to do otherwise was also pointless.

Besides, he was a firm believer that as long as one was alive, there was always hope.

-oOo-

Gaara found himself floating side by side with Chibi-Gaara on their respective sand clouds. Between the two of them, they were able to have waves and oceans of sand consuming demons beyond counting. Occasionally he or his miniature twin would descend long enough to perform Desert Requiem, or some other technique that necessitated the contact of hands and ground, but they generally remained airborne. Sometimes the winged demons would swoop in for an attack, but they were dealt with.

He never knew what possessed him to glance aside and say, "Strange. You aren't singing of your wretched mountain now. I wonder why."

Chibi-Gaara spared a strained smile for Gaara's benefit. "Eh…the mood comes and goes. When can I hear _you _sing?"

Affronted, Gaara's lips thinned to a straight line. "You have no idea how much I hate you."

"And the knowledge warms my heart. Ah! What do you know, I feel the urge! _First there is a mountain…_"

Gaara grit his teeth, but inwardly smiled. This display of the little beast's resilience set his mind at ease; as long as the wretch could sing, he'd be less likely to succumb and die. That was a comfort he'd take to his grave.

* * *

There came a point when the Narutos had to fight separately from their Sasukes. It was necessary in order to execute the full range of their capabilities.

Senjutsu, was evident everywhere. Through their extensive training, they were able to hold Sage Mode almost indefinitely, or for however long they fought a given enemy, but the utter unending magnitude of the demons would likely exhaust even them. _Nothing _deterred that mass, not Rasen Tarengan, or any other variation of Rasengan. Not Rasenshuriken, not Kage Bunshin, and not Sage-amplified Kage Bunshin. Kyuubi chakra was not limitless, yet they couldn't hold back either.

But they weren't giving up. No one gave up, but they could all see that it was only a matter of time. Against such overwhelming odds it was hard not to compose their death poems in their minds.

That was where Wyatt, Raiden and Aimi came in.

If Rasta-Sasuke was an army unto himself, and Byakuya's Senbonzakura was a force of nature, then Wyatt, pride of the of the Halliwell name and first male descendant of that line, was nothing short of apocalyptic in his own right.

Wyatt gripped Excalibur and leaped eagerly into the fray, hair plastered to his head from the rain. Excalibur blazed blue in his two-handed grip, and his magic glowed white all around him. The demons fell in droves before his headlong rush. Often, Excalibur was enough. The blade, now thoroughly synced with its owner and rightful master, was nearly sentient in its capacity to fight in accordance with Wyatt's wishes. It lashed out with fire, or its own magical light, a light that vanquished anything evil that it touched, but passed harmlessly over creatures of good. Wyatt need only direct his sword arm to have the demons vaporized on the spot. It was well that his bond with Raiden was suppressed; Excalibur filled his mind with its wordless voice, its response to the danger surrounding Wyatt, and its desire to destroy. In anyone else's hand it would have controlled the wielder. Wyatt, as the Ultimate Power on his version of Earth, easily tamed the sword to his bidding.

One couldn't forget that long before Excalibur's presence had been introduced into Wyatt's life that he was a powerful being. Whatever demon wasn't slain with Excalibur, was most certainly obliterated with Wyatt's other powers. Nothing touched him. Nothing came _close_ to touching him. A wide space, a demon-free zone, surrounded Wyatt. Despite their numbers and their assurance that they would prevail, the demons feared him.

-oOo-

And yet Wyatt, as powerful as he was, did not equal Raiden and Aimi. Here, now, it came down to these two. Joined, they finally let loose what they were capable of. Here at last was a situation requiring the full extent of their powers.

The situation was desperate, after all. All of creation was on the line: Raiden had been sent a brief communication from his sister's mind, a rapid replay of her encounter with Izanami. Hearing how the goddess planned to suck him, Aimi, and Wyatt dry and 'have dominion' over creation sort of made it crucial that they win. He didn't even know what it meant to have dominion over creation, but it didn't sound good.

Raiden led with Ninjutsu. He started off easy, as instructed. Fire, wind, water, earth and lightning radiated out from the aura of purplish-black chakra surrounding him and his sister, obliterating the demons in their tens of thousands. He was interested to note that the demons, once dead, did not leave corpses. They dissolved into smoke or sludge, and then evaporated completely.

His mind was now more or less tucked away into a small kernel, and left to sit at the bottom of his consciousness. Much as Aimi's was, he realized. What was left was a murderous beast of violence and destruction, one he supposed had always resided in him. It wasn't equal to Aimi's, but it was close, and with this knowledge he felt he understood her transformation better; her death had scared away any softness in her, the majority of her humanity, to leave this drooling creature in its place. So too did the demands of this battle dictate the absence of any emotion that would hinder his strength and deductive skills. Maybe once this was over she'd return to normal, as would he, but for now the beasts inside them ruled.

-oOo-

Aimi wasn't taxed. Nowhere near.

She glanced left, and a distant mountain range cracked and rumbled, crumbling in large sections, to reform itself as an army of stone giants that marched swiftly toward the Death Gate. The ground shook from their approaching footfalls, as much as from the incoming demons.

She glanced right, and the ground for as far as the eye could see boiled and writhed, humping up to form another army, this one of giant earthen men. They fell on the demons in droves and sucked them deep underground, were they were subsequently smothered to death.

She looked straight ahead, past the Death Gate, toward the vast bodies of water she knew lay beyond Fire Country. She'd never worked with what she couldn't see, but by pushing herself slightly, she was able to draw several colossal typhoons of water the many miles to where she stood. They made whistling sounds in the air and swept the demons up, where they were promptly drowned in the spinning depths. These watery twisters traveled across the ranks of demons, picking up more. The spray these cyclones gave off was cool on the skin.

Her stone giants arrived to fall on the demonic horde and begin crushing it. They slammed their huge, rocky fists downward, or stomped their enormous feet, and caused minor earthquakes. Demons swarmed over these stone giants, but were unable to harm them in the slightest.

For a while it seemed that the human army was holding its own. Not winning, but not dying either, and dealing serious damage of its own. And that in itself was a victory.

* * *

The triplets stayed where they were, too weak to do anything else. They didn't speak. They could hear the hellish howls, screams, and shrieks of whatever was coming out of that gate. Ryota tiredly put up another shield to guard against the major jutsu being cast everywhere, and not before time. The creatures coming out of that gate were so numerous that some of them spread throughout the countryside. A few found where they sat and began beating savagely on their shield.

Kei gasped in fright, but Masaru had his eyes on the enchanted kunai they were guarding. A while ago they'd begun humming. Now they were vibrating, and the glow was starting to fade. The blades were now starting to emit a high-pitched screech. "Ryota."

But Ryota had already turned around in dread. "No. Oh, _God_ no. No, no, no!" He made a grab for the pile of kunai, magic already sizzling in his hands, but he was too late.

At the last split second, Ryota switched directions and threw himself over his two brothers. He sucked hard on the power that contact with them gave him, and had a dense magical cloak covering them at the same instant that all the kunai exploded in a flash of brilliant chakra.

The demons beating the shield for entry were vaporized where they stood. The explosion was big enough to send a huge mushroom cloud of chakra leaping into the sky, the shockwave of which rocked even the Death Gate. Demons and humans alike paused briefly at wondering what that explosion could be.

-oOo-

What it was, Kei saw when he was able to lift his head some time later and see, was simple. The kunai, though magically enhanced, had been nowhere near strong enough to contain the power of the Bijuu. The chakra monsters had escaped, and were now probably scattered to the four corners of the Earth. All that work and preparation for nothing.

Great.

His head dropped back to the ground in a dead faint.

* * *

Things were starting to change on the battlefield, too. The humans were starting to flag, yet the demons kept right on rolling out that gate. Summons' were called into play. Several versions of Gamabunta and Manda rampaged throughout the demon host.

Scarcely an hour had passed.

At sensing the time, though, Raiden suddenly remembered Kit and his request. He'd asked Raiden to bring him back after ninety minutes. That time was up. Sparing a tiny part of his chakra, he Pulled Kit and Queenie from their world…and suddenly snatched Aimi up and flew into the air.

Kit arrived in a battle tank. He stood in the open turret, dressed in flak jacket and helmet. Queenie sat in a customized up-armored Humvee that had a BGM-71 TOW missile mounted on its hood and four ground-to-air missiles similarly mounted behind that, and angled upward. Both men began firing as soon as they arrived, having seen and analyzed the situation immediately. Raiden wasn't the only one to leap out of the way. All the trainees either flattened themselves, or else high-tailed it to safer ground. The explosions from those missiles, and from the machine gun on Kit's tank, were stupendous.

Kenta and Kenji were the exceptions to the ones who ran. They took one look at what they deduced to be explosive weapons and swerved to join the new arrivals. Kenji let out a ragged whoop. One twin ran up to Kit and climbed into the tank to assist him, the other jumped into the Humvee with Queenie.

The pause in fighting was brief. With a renewed roar, the demons surged toward this new threat. The humans regained their senses and resumed the fight. Raiden descended with Aimi, and they, too continued.

-oOo-

The Bijuu, freed as long last from any human host, had indeed scattered far and wide. However, the battle raging in what used to be Fire Country was like a siren call; the violence and hatred was irresistible. Each turned and raced back the way they'd come, destroying the land entirely in their wake.

* * *

Ryota rolled over at feeling them sweep past. Then he looked down. Masaru and Kei were both unconscious, Masaru with a deep gash in his head.

It took him a few tries, but he managed to push himself shakily to a sitting position. Looking around, he saw that the land was cleared of demons, trees, and anything else in their immediate vicinity. They were at the center of a blackened ring of dirt and stone. After a few minutes, he dug his battered spell book from where he'd had it shoved down the back of his pants. The thing was bent from having been pressed against his butt cheek for so long. He flattened it as best he could and opened it to the healing spell. Masaru and Kei were taken care of in short order. It was a bit trickier to heal himself, but he managed to. His cuts and abrasions, at least.

His head ached horribly from using so much magic. He couldn't do anything about that. He felt nauseous. Cocking his head, he stared off into the distance at that gate, debating on whether or not he was going to throw up. Then he leaned to the side and puked up some brownish crap. He wanted to lie down, but forced himself to stand up with his brothers. Masaru supported him with an arm.

It really was Armageddon, they saw. Earth and sky alike boiled and blazed with every element imaginable. Sounds were deafening, and the ground regularly heaved beneath their feet. They kept their balance with difficulty. Ryota threw up again. Masaru reached over and rubbed his arm.

"Now what?" Kei asked softly.

"Those-" Ryota managed to swallow what came up this time. "Those Bijuu are the extraction team's responsibility. We have to try and stop them."

"How?" Masaru asked hopelessly. "Even if we were strong enough to seal them away in something, we don't know _how _to seal them. We don't even have anything to seal them into."

"I don't know," Ryota fretted. "I just know that if our army isn't dead yet, they soon will be once the Bijuu join in. We have to get there and do something."

Kei eyed his brother, who was now being completely supported by Masaru. "You're in no condition to go anywhere. Look at you. I say we stay here a minute or ten, and wait until you recover some more."

Masaru concurred. Ryota was lowered to the ground and supported between his brothers. They watched the battle from afar.

* * *

Deep in his consciousness, where he was busily analyzing the fight, Raiden admitted that they were all in trouble.

Awhile ago, the Bijuu had all returned. The sight of them all leaping simultaneously over that gargantuan gate had hindered the demons not at all. His Dad had leapt up and morphed mid-air into Kyuubi. He'd slammed into the Eight Tails, carrying it right back over the gate. The other Narutos had followed suit, and this time their Sasuke counterparts went with them, running up and over that gate with Shunshin. Chibi-Gaara had crashed into the gate with the other Ichibi, but they too had leapt away. 'Bee had gone on before, dragging the Six Tails with him. The Four Tails had been left with no opponent, but Kenpachi had looked around, and yelled, "You again? Ha! Got somethin' for ya!" He and Yachiru both had leveled their swords at the galumphing ape. The dual torrents of chakra, one yellow, the other pink, that had been fired at the Yonbi had sent the Bijuu bellowing for cover. It leaped the gate in a single bound, with Kenpachi and Yachiru hot on its tail. Or tails.

Without the Narutos and Sasukes, Raiden saw, the summons' didn't last too long. Now the fight was down to Itachi, his children, what remained of the Shinigami, himself, and his sis. And Wyatt. And now that the Bijuu were back in it-

_(Fuck, Ryota, what hell's up with that?)_

_-_there was just no telling how ugly this battle would get. Correction, it was already plenty ugly enough. But…

But those demons were still coming strong out of that gate.

And the gods and goddesses had yet to step in, so even if by some miracle they _did _survive the demons, there was them to contend with.

And let's not forget Izanami herself. She'd yet to step in.

These things served to have Raiden pulling the reins on his baser nature long enough to come to a decision: A line had to be drawn. They could not continue to take it like this from every side.

He thought carefully. His dad and the Narutos had the Bijuu covered for now. The gods would continue to bide their time, as would Akatsuki, it seemed. It hadn't been lost on him how Akatsuki managed to stay out of the fight completely. They weren't attacked by the demons, and did not step out of Nagato's protective shield to engage the demons themselves. _It's the demons, then. I have to stop them somehow. _

Kit and Queenie were making a dent, though. How many missiles Queenie had in that Humvee was unknown, but he fired several while that tank either rolled over, or blew up other demons in large groups.

Still, the demons were winning.

Raiden felt for Aimi's mind. -_You got the Izanagi rocking?-_

_-Yes.-_

_-Then why can't you crush that gate?-_

_-It's impervious. I can only affect things of this world.-_

But if the prophesy was to be believed, he and Aimi were unstoppable once joined. Well, they were joined. He looked at the gate critically. He was reasonably certain that no gate meant no portal to the Underworld. No portal, no demons. Least, no new ones. _–I refuse to believe that thing can't be fucked with. Anything can be destroyed, you just need enough power. We need to step it up.-_

_-How?-_

Raiden felt around in his mind for his bond. -_Yo, gay boy-_

_-Screw you- _Wyatt's thoughts were suffused with amusement, though.

_-How's the flower?-_

_-Seriously?-_

_-Nah…was thinking. We need to destroy that gate.-_

_-The thought crossed my mind. That's powerful dark magic, though. Don't think I could even get past it.-_

_-I know, which is what had me thinking. Remember that time I came to your house and you were doing science homework?-_

_-No.-_

_-And it was all about the behavior of light or the light spectrum or some stupid shit?-_

_-No.-_

_-And you were telling me how if you mixed red, green, and blue light at the appropriate intensity that it would produce white light? You remember that?-_

_-Uh…vaguely.- _Wyatt pulled his mind back from battle long enough to peer at Raiden's thoughts. _–Oh, so that's where you're going with this. Why didn't you just say so?-_

_-Needed to explain it for Aimi's benefit too. M'kay, so you got it?-_

_-Yup. Count of three?-_

_-Nah, I need time to get Kagutsuchi going. Aimi?-_

Aimi had also gotten a look at her brother's idea. She was up to speed. _-I got the gist. How hard you want me to push?-_

_-Hard as you can.-_

She gave the equivalent of a mentally raised eyebrow. –_You sure? I thought we...-_

_-For this I need you to go all out- _Raiden insisted. –Okay?-

-_Okay.-_

Raiden prepped himself for Rasenshuriken, thanking his grandparents for their endurance training. Without it, he would have been collapsing already. He carefully added fire chakra. He heated the miniature sun in his hands with every ounce of his strength, putting a similar amount of effort into his wind chakra. The sphere glowed yellow, then yellowish white, until finally it was so white he couldn't even look at it.

Aimi prepared a dense ball of chakra not unlike a Bijuu-dama, and held it ready.

Wyatt gathered every ounce of magical strength he had, and channeled it through Excalibur, leveling the sword at the gate and awaiting Raiden's signal. He looked up to where Raiden was flapping his wings slowly, hovering over the battle to avoid burning anyone with what was taking shape in his hands.

The skin on Raiden's hands melted away, to be replaced by his healing ability, and so be melted again. His cheeks were also peeling, the skin of his chest, his wings…and still he pumped the heat into the wildly spinning sphere until he could do no more with it. Ready, he held his hands up, before looking down and behind himself to tell everyone to take cover before he gave the signal.

He froze. There were only a few standing.

He'd been peripherally aware of the ones still living who were fighting desperately. He'd heard their yells and screams of effort as they struggled to fight on…

But Yoruichi was down. Sweeping his eyes here and there, he saw that Juro and Shouta were down. Akiko. Hiroto. Udon. Even as he watched, Enma vanished with a loud _pop!_ And Konohamaru was gored by a demon with bull horns on its head. He slammed a retaliatory Rasengan through its face, but he fell down next to it. He didn't get up.

Raiden swallowed hard. That was his family dying down there. He forced himself to focus on the matter at hand…and in his hands. "Take cover!" he bellowed. He turned back around and face the Death Gate. "Wyatt! Aimi! _NOW!_" He drew back his skeletal hands, crying in pain and rage.

He fired Kagutsuchi. Aimi's chakra zoomed upward in a thick bar of lavender, meeting with Raiden's. Wyatt fired his magic through Excalibur, also angling upward. The three power sources came together to form a huge swirling vortex of destruction, one that set people's teeth on edge with it's ear-splitting shriek. The demons howled in pain, grabbing their ears.

As one, Raiden, Wyatt, and Aimi then fired their combined power at the Death Gate. For a few seconds, it seemed the gate would hold. Raiden suddenly screamed, fear briefly taking over his mind. The images of his dead family members played through his stressed mind; the thought of how long his parents could continue to hold out against the Bijuu in unsealed forms plagued him; and finally, the thought that if they couldn't even destroy this gate then there would be no hope for any of them did the job of pumping out an extra burst of power from him. Linked as he was to Aimi, bonded as he was to Wyatt, they were sucked along for the ride, and had their power siphoned off from them.

The Death Gate didn't crack, or crumble, or topple, or even sink back into the earth. It _exploded _with such a catastrophic burst of sound and energy that all of them, demons, gods, humans, and Shinigami, were knocked senseless.

* * *

Those allied shinobi watching from the alternate dimension gave a rowdy cheer. They'd watched with bated breath, hands at hearts, mouths, or throats as the trainees began dropping. Now they silenced themselves to continue watching.

* * *

The souls of the fallen allied forces were also watching. They didn't cheer. Juro's soul, newly among them, followed his twin with his eyes, willing him not to die.

Izanami went still. The destruction of her gate sent shockwaves throughout the entire Underworld. It was… inconceivable. Her Gate destroyed, her army trapped below. She could not make another gate, had not made the first one. She'd been dealt a grievous blow.

She screeched in outrage, loud enough to be heard by immortals everywhere.

_Now _the souls of the fallen shinobi cheered.

* * *

Demon was running. Transformed to full-on Kyuubi, he'd successfully baited the Eight Tails into chasing him. For a creature with no hind legs, it was more than fast enough. Hachibi gave chase, enraged. He and Kyuubi tore up the countryside in their flight, determined to lead the Hachibi far from the battlefield.

The shockwave of the gate being destroyed sent him skidding forwards briefly. Kyuubi took a moment to cock an ear to something only he could hear, and sent thoughts to where the Host's mind was enveloped in his own. _–__**The kitling has angered the goddess…her gateway is no more.- **_He winced at the scream the Host let loose in his mind.

_-That's my kid! That's my fucking kid! You work it, boy!-_

Sasuke had his hands buried in orange fur, riding Kyuubi's muzzle as the Fox began running again. He'd stared at where the gate had shattered and vanished in a long cloud of displaced energy and black smoke. He set up a cheer, realizing that it could only have been his kids who'd won that victory. He slammed one hand down on the muzzle beneath his ass in fierce pride.

Kyuubi took exception. _**"**_**Tell me, Uchiha. What is to stop me from tossing your carcass into the air and swallowing you whole?" **His voice was guttural.

Sasuke leaned sideways to peer down into one huge red eye with his Sharingan. "This, for starters. And Naruto." Sasuke gave a hard grin at Kyuubi's disdainful snort. He looked behind them again, and noted the Hachibi gaining on them. "Faster, fleabag."

Kyuubi addressed the Host mentally. -_**I will chew your mate to a juicy paste on my tongue, you mark my words.-**_

-oOo-_**  
**_

Blondie, also transformed, carried Rasta-Sasuke in a similar fashion. The difference was that the Nanabi was flying after them. Rasta-Sasuke had only waited until he was far enough away from the battle, before opening six gates and frying the overgrown wasp out of the sky. It wasn't dead, but it vanished soon after to parts unknown, which was fine by him.

He spotted the Yonbi some distance away and running hard. Looking closer, he saw Kenpachi and Yachiru speeding to keep up. He jumped up to the space between Blondie-Kyuubi's long ears and shouted into one. "That way! Get me close enough to roast that gorilla!"

Blondie-Kyuubi swerved to comply.

-oOo-

Psycho-Kyuubi had been running, with Psycho-Sasuke perched on his nose, but the Niibi had leapt out of hiding and attacked him head on. They scrabbled and bit, clawed and scratched, with him finally unleashing a great gout of fire at the Two Tails Cat. He'd come out the victor, with the Niibi disappearing from sight, but when he'd turned to look for Psycho-Sasuke, he found his body shredded and laying in the grass.

He changed to his human form as he ran to him. Dropping to his knees, he screamed Sasuke's name. His hands hovered over him, trembling, hesitant to touch him. But Sasuke was so mangled already, that it really didn't matter. He drew the taller boy's torso into his lap. "Sasuke?"

-oOo-

Kage-Kyuubi was going for the Sanbi's throat, Jailbird-Sasuke right behind him, when they heard Psycho-Naruto's agonized scream.

* * *

The distant yips, howls, and roars of various Bijuu being defeated drifted to the downed armies faintly. One scream in particular made Aimi's eyelids twitch. She groaned, murmured, lifted a hand to her face. Some time went by, and then she opened her eyes. Things seemed unnaturally quiet. She was strongly reminded of when she'd woken up after dying.

The first thing that struck her was how _present _she was. Gone was the cool indifference to everything that she'd enjoyed after Wyatt had revived her. Now her feelings seemed to be rushing back. She groped around for that aloof feeling of contentment, of waiting violence.

It was gone. That last blast of power had sucked it all out, leaving her stripped bare. Frowning, she realized she felt drained. Not seriously, but that had been a major pull on her power. Feeling shaky in body and mind, she rolled to her hands and knees, and unsteadily got to her feet. "Raiden?"

"Fuck….me…" a voice quavered behind her. "Did we do it?"

She turned and lurched haltingly to where her brother was sprawled on his back in a mud puddle. His transformation was gone, she saw. She looked up at where the gate had been before dropping down beside him. "It's gone."

"And the demons?" Raiden was waking up more. He propped himself on his elbows and shook his head. "They're not growing out of the ground, are they?"

"No…"

Raiden sat up all the way, and ground one filthy fist into his eye, rubbing it. He stopped. "Hey…you're talking again."

Aimi had been looking around at the demons starting to stir. She turned now and caught her brother's eyes on her face. At remembering the things he'd said to her before coming here, she suddenly broke down and burst into tears. It was like waking from some terrible dream; she clung to the first comfort she could find.

Raiden wobbled under her weight but welcomed the outburst and storm of tears. He smoothed her snarled hair and held her tightly, relieved beyond the telling of it that she wasn't damaged permanently. Truth be told, he was feeling a bit shaky himself, and secretly needed the connection. "I got ya, sis. We're good."

"Raiden, I'm sorry!" she wailed. "I messed up _everything!_"

He couldn't say anything to that. He no longer believed she did, not really, but it just didn't matter anymore. He only held her and rocked with her, and felt both their power slowly returning after the depletion of that joint jutsu they'd done.

* * *

The gods recovered rather quickly. They looked around, assessed the situation, and came to the conclusion that Izanami could not be pleased about this development. Remembering their orders concerning the boy of Light, they all converged on Wyatt now, where he was moaning himself to wakefulness, and whisked him away.

* * *

Raiden and Aimi looked around. In doing so, they saw Itachi kneeling by Hiroto, Juro, and Shouta's bodies. Urahara was cradling Yoruichi. Before the demons could regroup, Raiden took Aimi's hand and had a spinning Death Tornado sweep through their ranks and finish them off. Now it was just the humans and the Shinigami on the battlefield. He supposed that technically they were still in Konoha, but the village was no more. He helped Aimi get to her feet while getting to his own, and began making his way to his uncle.

"My, my, my," a pleasant voice tsk-ed into the ringing silence. "Demons gone, gods gone, loved ones dead. I hope no one's thinking the worst has passed?"

They all turned to see Madara, backed by the rest of Akatsuki, sauntering toward them.

"We've sat out this last round, but now I think it's time to finish our mission at long last." Madara offered a smile.

Raiden turned to look for Wyatt…and suddenly realized that he could neither feel nor sense him. That should have been impossible. He turned slowly back to Madara, noting with dread that the gods were indeed gone as the elder Uchiha had said. Scared, tired, and aware that things were far from over, he steeled himself. "Aimi, you take Madara. I'll take the rest. Everyone…I'm sorry, but I can't let anymore of you die." With that, he sent the survivors, Shinigami included, to the alternate dimension to wait with the rest of the allied shinobi. Itachi's loud protest was left hanging in the air.

* * *

The first thing Wyatt did, upon realizing he was being kidnapped, was shove his bond with Raiden as far down into his consciousness as he possibly could; if Raiden thought for a moment that Wyatt was in danger he'd drop everything and come to his aid. Raiden needed to stay focused right where he was. Wyatt would have made an effort to free himself, but he was barely awake, and as yet still reeling. He was recovering, though.

His kidnapping was done quickly. He was grabbed, and then almost immediately released. He caught a glimpse of several huge, glowing creatures he recognized to be lesser gods, then he was dropped. He gave himself a moment, wherein he realized Excalibur wasn't with him. Strangely, he wasn't attacked. When he sat up at last, he saw why.

Wherever he was, it was a rocky place. Mist shrouded the landscape. There was a full moon hanging in the midnight sky. The air was crisp and cold. He was alone.

Eyes narrowed, Wyatt got slowly to his feet. "Oh no." He looked up again, but he'd already realized the truth. Confirming that those constellations were not the same as on Raiden's world wasn't necessary. "Oh, man…where _am _I?"

* * *

Raiden kept them all in sight, though they spread out. He could feel and hear Aimi growling at his side.

"Just us now," Madara smiled, still advancing.

"Not quite," a new voice said.

The Akatuski members looked behind them to find the gods and goddesses returned, and lined up behind them. One god in particular stepped forward with a wide grin on his strangely demonic face. His red skin sported equally red flames. He was twenty feet tall if he was an inch. He passed Akatsuki without looking at them, and walked right up to the two staring children. This god leaned down when he'd reached them.

Raiden's nostrils flared. "Who the fuck are-"

"I," the god rumbled with a humorless grin, "am the _real _Raiden." So saying, his boulder-like fist shot out with insane speed and punched the teen boy hard.

Taking up their former positions, Akatsuki watched as the rest of the gods closed in on the children. Aimi was screaming, and Raiden was out cold.

-oOo-

"Looks like this war is done," Kisame commented. His eyes narrowed in appreciation of how the girl was summarily silenced. "No way those kids can withstand that many gods." He counted at least a hundred of the glowing beings, and Raiden was already down.

Konan tilted her head, listening. "Do you hear something?" she asked.

They turned their heads towards the distant sound of thunder. At first they could see nothing. Then they realized the sound was coming closer, and the ground was shaking slightly.

Abruptly, six huge shapes leapt out at them from the night: Four Kyuubi, one Shukaku, and one Hachibi shattered the air with their roars as they landed in crouches around the gods. They moved in as one.

Akatsuki, momentarily shocked, jumped to intercept them.


	62. Chapter 62

A/N: I have to share my computer these days, so haven't been getting quite as much writing done this summer as I thought I would. Also been taking care of grandparents. Anyways, someone asked for a list of the dead. Here it is, minus the casualties that take place in this chapter: Uchiha Hiroto, Uchiha Akiko, Uchiha Juro, Uchiha Shouta, Nara Toushiro, Yuuhei Asuma, Hatake Kakashi, Mito Gai, Hyuuga Neji, Yamanaka Ino, Yamanaka Naruto, Aburame Amaya, Sarutobi Konohamaru, Udon, Shihouin Yoruichi,, Psycho-Sasuke. Plus one other that I can't mention right now.

* * *

Chapter 62

For what was left of the allied shinobi army, to be removed from the fighting and yet still be able to see had been a blessing. Now it was a curse. Witnessing the way the gate had been neutralized, and the demons finally bested, they felt renewed strength and hope suffuse them. At seeing the gods and goddesses first take Wyatt, then converge on Naruto's heroic children, the hope had then brightened into outrage and protectiveness, until they were all clamoring and arguing amongst themselves, debating ways to possibly exit the dimension somehow; they felt a keen urge to help the two children, despite Naruto himself and his strange companions arriving just then to do that very thing. The argument came to a momentary halt as the battle drew their attention once more.

For Raiden and Aimi's immediate family, it was harder to watch. Itachi stood stiffly as Gaara tried to console him. His eyes burned, resting here and there on the corpses of his children that he could not now reach. His children. Their husbands. The grief was large and raw, so large that it was thankfully too much for him to process now. His eyes followed his niece, who was shrieking in the grip of some god who had her suspended by her hair, then latched onto his nephew, who lay unconscious on the battlefield. His brother, Sasuke, was in his transformed state, but even as Itachi watched in agonizing dread, he was struck from the sky by a bolt of lightning from god-Raiden. He saw, while everything in him screamed in denial, how the god then leveled both hands at his brother and fried him on the spot with a dose of lightning that shattered the earth around him. Demon went mad, nine tails swinging wildly as he launched himself at the god. Somehow, fire and a streamlined form of Bijuu-dama poured from his mouth, and this had the god screaming in pain, even as Demon's Kyuubi body collided with his. God-Raiden saw him coming and swelled himself to his full height just before the collision.

The Narutos, it seemed, were the only ones capable of withstanding the strength of the gods, but only in Kyuubi form, and only barely at that. Watching as Stud-Sasuke was torn limb from limb, for which his twin daughters shrieked somewhere behind Itachi, he thought it only a matter of time before this war was decided one way or the other.

_Oh Sasuke, my heart!_

-oOo-_  
_

"Oi, Urahara." Kenpachi addressed the shorter man standing in front of him. "Get us back into that fight. They won't last 5 minutes."

"Easier said than done," Urahara murmured. He, too, tracked the action taking place with narrowed eyes and hastily concealed winces. "I'm not sure I can-"

"I must concur with Zaraki-Taicho," Byakuya stepped up and said. "We are here to assist, then by all means, let us do so; if those children are defeated, we can kiss any hope of being returned to Soul Society goodbye. And I, for one, do not relish the thought of being stranded here."

Urahara swallowed, searching out the long, plum-colored ponytail in the dead bodies littered about the battlefield. He nodded. "I'll see what I can do. Tessai, come."

He and his tall assistant distanced themselves a little ways from the rest of the allied forces.

* * *

She only had wits enough to regret the loss of her detachment, the hunger for violence that had rose up in place of her normal disposition when she'd died. Some _thing _had her by the hair, was swinging her wildly this way and that, and slamming her bodily into the ground. She supposed it hurt; to be slammed on the ground by one's hair would have killed anyone else, and she supposed she might have a broken bone or two, but she couldn't feel anything. Besides a nanosecond of disbelief that her hair was still attached, she only regretted the loss of the hungry beast of violence she'd been resurrected with. It had not known fear, and right now, her fear was making it almost impossible to do anything but scream.

Her brother was down. She'd seen him punched by god-Raiden. The link with him was gone in her fright, lost when she'd been seized. Her panicked mind couldn't even take in what was happening around her, but she thought she'd caught a glimpse of her daddies and the other Narutos and Sasukes. There was an earsplitting cacophony of sound as the gods fought them, elemental powers flying everywhere. She was caught in a maelstrom of fighting and confusion. She couldn't _think. _

-oOo-_  
_

The god holding her, Mikaboshi himself, ceased swinging the brat around, having had his fun. "Oi!" he called to his comrades. "We have them. Let us leave!"

One of the others, Fujin(1), bent and scooped up Raiden, while the rest battled the Kyuubi. Mikaboshi turned his back on the battle and surveyed the atmosphere pensively. "Izanami could possibly open a portal from her side of the Underworld, but it would be easier, I'm thinking, for us to simply open a rift from here. We will need to concentrate our powers, Fujin."

Fujin shook the unconscious mortal in his grasp. "Too bad we can't eat these two first, neh?"

Mikaboshi snorted. "Prepare yourself." So saying, he let his true nature show, growing taller and broader in preparation to using his full powers to open a doorway to the underworld.

* * *

Kakashi watched as Sasuke's soul materialized next to him, and felt deep sorrow. His former student looked disoriented a moment, but then his eyes cleared. Sharpened. Sasuke looked around in a panic. "No," he whispered in anguish. "Not again. Not without Naruto."

"Sasuke," Kakashi said gently. He moved to put a hand on his arm, as the other newly deceased shinobi looked on somberly. "It's all right-"

"_AIMI!" _Sasuke screamed. He'd looked up and caught sight of his daughter. He now stood clutching his cheeks. His teeth were bared, body tensed to spring…all pointless. No one had the powers of their living bodies here. Kakashi tried once again to reach him, but just then Izanami, who'd briefly vanished, returned.

She looked down at the newest arrival. The grin that spread across her hideous face, so clearly full pleasure, was frightening. "_You_," she breathed blissfully. "The one who got away. The one who defied me. The sire of those magnificent children. It will be my pleasure to have you watch me suck them dry, and then kill them. What are your thoughts on the matter?" she finished pleasantly.

As Izanami was returned to her full height, Sasuke had to crane his neck. He gazed up at her with a wealth of fury. "My kids are unstoppable when joined. They'll end your ass, you bitch. What are your thoughts on _that?_"

His wording was curious. Unstoppable? Joined? Izanami cocked her head, accessing info through omniscient qualities she possessed. "Ah. You refer to a prophecy. Interesting. My thoughts?" She flicked a glance upward, considering Raiden and Aimi. "I think the prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. Observe," she gestured to where Fujin and Mikaboshi were in the process of preparing to open a gateway. "They are babies yet. Once ripened to full maturity, I have no doubt that they will indeed be the unstoppable force the prophecy speaks of. But long before that can come to pass, I will use their power for myself."

"They'll stop you," Sasuke said in rage. "Or Naruto will. You will never get to them."

Izanami turned away. "Your mortal inability to grasp simple concepts is pathetic."

Sasuke launched himself at her retreating back, and was snatched back by Kakashi. "No, Sasuke. Don't."

Sasuke turned toward him desperately. "My kids-"

Kakashi wished he could offer some words of comfort or solace. Unfortunately, the situation was far outside even his skills in diplomacy. He joined the man in staring upward in dread.

* * *

Wyatt turned in a slow circle, trying not to panic. Whatever rock he was on, it was small. Probably not so much as a planet, as an asteroid. Space was right above him, black and oppressive, with stars seemingly close enough to touch. He judged the rock to be less than a hundred miles, if that. He could clearly see the way it curved on the horizon on all sides. It had the peculiar characteristic of having just enough atmosphere to sustain him, but breathing was a bit difficult.

The full moon he'd seen was not, in fact, a moon. It was another asteroid, possibly smaller, that was held in orbit by the gravity belonging to the asteroid he was standing on. Something like binary stars. If so, the one he stood on was the primary asteroid.

He sat down carefully, crossed his legs, and got down to analyzing his situation. He was fucked, that much he knew, but he had an idea that he could remedy his situation, with a bit of luck.

First, the good news. He had every reason to believe that the gods were under Izanami's command. As such, they followed her orders, which meant he'd been removed from the battle at her direction. Which in turn meant that she considered him a threat. Good. Also noteworthy was how the gods had not opted to engage him in any way. Either they feared him, or Izanami suspected that he could possibly kill them. Very good.

Now the bad news. He would need Aimi to Pull him back into the thick of things. Raiden could no longer Pull him. Their bond interfered with this, somehow; it would be like Raiden trying to Pull himself. It had to be Aimi, but doing so might distract her at a crucial moment. However, for them to continue fighting without him was maybe worse. He had to weigh the benefits against the risks here, and right now, he thought it would be better if he were with them. That said, he closed his eyes, and emptied his mind. He brought up his bond.

At first he couldn't. The bond was broken…no, that was impossible. Wyatt visualized his bond with Raiden as a silvery rope that stretched between them. What he was feeling now, was as if the rope stretched from him as usual, but now had no one on the other end to receive it. His brows came together as he delved deeper.

* * *

Mikaboshi and Fujin, now close to a hundred feet high, each held a kid beneath one arm while stretching their other hands before them. The portal shimmered and wavered, coming slowly into existence. Aimi howled and screamed, nearly mad with fright. Raiden lay limply in Fujin's grasp, but his eyelids twitched now.

-oOo-

'_Raiden….Raiden, wake up. Raiden!'_

'…_Wyatt?'_

'_Raiden, your link with Aimi is gone-'_

'_Where are you?'_

'_-I can sense her faintly through your general awareness of her. She's in trouble. I think you both are.'_

Raiden was having a problem focusing on the dim voice in his mind. He had to concentrate, which made his head ache unbearably, but now that he was surfacing from consciousness he could hear Aimi's screams, also distant. God, why couldn't he just stay unconscious until this whole mess was over? _'Cause I ain't no punk, that's why. _'_Wyatt…where are you? Are you okay? I can hear you, but not sense you.'_

'_Just wake up, Raiden…please. I'm on my way.'_

-oOo-_  
_

_Easier said than done,_ Raiden thought. But now that he was aware, his body was doing so of its own accord. He couldn't stop himself from waking up if he wanted to. Consequently, he was able to feel that his bond with Wyatt was still oddly inaccessible. The more he tried to reach it, the more his head ached, and the more he woke up. Within moments he came to with a gasp. He saw where he was, what was happening, heard his sis loud and clear, and folded them both the fuck away with a frantic little bleat of terror.

Which did no good. The gods who'd been holding them roared loud enough to shiver the air around them. Raiden had no idea where he'd placed them, but the surrounding land was uninhabited. Aimi clung to him, shaking hard enough to have his body also trembling, or maybe that was him shaking on his own, but he looked up and felt all the gods coming for them at once. He tried to grope for her hand, to link, to prepare himself. Aimi met him halfway. She choked down a sob of fright, eyes wide, as she pulled some nameless soul from God knew where. A man, eating a bowl of soup. The man took one look at them, at his changed surroundings, and fainted. Aimi transformed, grabbed her brother's hand, and sank into this stranger's timeline just as the gods appeared around them with signature blasts of lightning, wind, or thunder. _Yes, sis finally came through for once, _Raiden thought wildly_._

* * *

A few of the gods arrived in whirlwinds consisting of insects, or rotting corpses. They all stopped at seeing the strange man. They could sense the children, but were unable to extract them from the stranger. They debated whether or not to cart the man to Izanami, and thus present the children to her that way.

* * *

Safe inside the man's timeline, Raiden and Aimi could hear the gods' bickering. The two of them didn't speak at first. Aimi was drawing in shuddery breaths, trying to calm down. Raiden was busily trying to sense the progress on the battlefield. He sensed that his dad was badly hurt. His Pop…he couldn't sense his Pop. At that moment, he felt a rift open in the dimension he'd sent everyone to, and felt the way they poured out, surrounding the other Narutos, his dad, and what was left of the Bijuu army. Tessai began healing his dad. Where was Pop?

Aimi made a small movement that drew his attention. The gods were still squabbling. Wyatt, he was able to realize now, had been fucked with. Most likely by the gods. He wondered, for a moment, if he should have Aimi Pull him. No. Soon, but not yet. Wyatt had done beautifully, but Raiden was starting to suspect the reason he couldn't sense his Pop. Probably the same reason he couldn't sense Psycho-Sasuke or Stud-Sasuke, and this knowledge constricted his chest, squeezed his heart in a merciless grip, but also did the job of clearing his mind in a hurry. He would die before bringing Wyatt into a situation that would kill him. He couldn't be a kid anymore. Not for another second. The gravity of the situation forced his eyes wide, thinned his mouth, and he grabbed Aimi's hand where she sat beside him. He squeezed it hard, focusing her, as he spoke through numb lips.

"Listen up, sis. It's bad out there. And we're fucked. You feel me?"

Aimi sniffed. Nodded. "I'm sor-"

"Shut up a minute, let me think." He was all business, his compassion bled away by terror and doubt, and a large, shapeless grief. His thoughts seemed to ring with the metallic clang of well-oiled machinery, picking up speed as his understanding of the situation grew. "We've been half-assing it."

Aimi stilled her sniffles at hearing Raiden's mutter. She peered at him through her white hair. "I fought hard."

"Exactly. You and I both fought hard, but aside form taking down the gate, we haven't brought it. Not the way we were supposed to. It's cost us." He cocked his head. The gods were no longer arguing. Seemed they'd come to some kind of decision. "We are screwed, Aimi. _Screwed, _but I'm not just talking about us. I mean this world. Everything. Izanami will rule this world and every other world she can get her hands on if she gets us, and we haven't been handling our business."

Aimi felt her shakes subside. She gazed with perfect trust at her brother's face. "What do you want me to do?"

"Can you Pull Wyatt?"

A pause. "No," she said with surprise. "He's not…anywhere."

The thought of his Pop surfaced, but Raiden ruthlessly tamped it down, along with the mad grief that came with it. "What do you mean? He just spoke to me."

Aimi looked around, trying to explain. "It's like this place, I guess. We're inside someone's timeline, but essentially we're outside of existence. Outside of creation. It's why you can't sense me when I'm in a timeline. Wherever Wyatt is, it's outside of creation and existence. And if a thing is outside of creation, I can't really do anything with it."

Despite how quickly time was slipping from them, Raiden took a few moments to digest this carefully. "Bullshit."

"No, really, I can't-"

"Bull. Shit."

Aimi looked down at her lap, hurt.

"Do you know what your problem is? You're insecure. You always have been. When you died and came back, your insecurity was gone. You were scary, but you were a better fighter. I need you to be like that again, Aimi. You can do anything. You get that? _Anything. _Izanagi has the power to _create _things from nothing, so something outside creation shouldn't pose a problem. The only thing holding you back is yourself. Don't you know how powerful you are, Ai-"

'_Power,' Izuna said, 'Is-'_

" –mean, I'm no slouch, but I'm _nothing _next to you. Aimi!"

Aimi snapped her head up, her memory of Izuna's conversation fading. "What?"

"We need to take the gloves off. Kick it up a notch. End this shit once and for all."

"Okay," she brushed a lock of hair from her face and took a deep breath. "I know."

"Stop letting fear weaken you."

"I know. I won't. I mean I _will _stop letting it weaken me. I wish I was like I was before too, but I can't find it in me. It's gone."

Raiden pulled her close by her hair. "Just…promise me you won't quit, no matter how bad it gets, or what happens, or…or if I get snuffed. Promise me you'll give it all you have, 'kay?"

"I promise. But I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"If it comes down to saving me, or killing Izanami, you better sacrifice me. That bitch ain't winning on my watch."

"Raiden, no!"

He slapped her hard. "Stop whining, and smell the fuckfest we're in! She has to be stopped _no matter what!_"

She was shaking her head wildly from side to side, growling, fangs lengthening. Raiden watched all this with a cold eye. He found himself entertaining the idea of letting himself be caught. If it meant Aimi would go ballistic…

No. Or, if he did, it would be the very last card he played. He still believed they could win this thing.

He looked deeply into her dark eyes, and saw his Pop in her features. He ran a grimy hand over her hair, imagining it's true color. This action calmed her somewhat, and she came to him, threw her pudgy arms around his neck. Poor, terrified little sis. He sympathized with her, truly he did. Fear threatened to have him cowering too, but it simply wasn't an option. That squeezed-off feeling bloomed in his chest again, and his vision blurred, but that was as far as he let it go. His hand ran down her face, over her mouth, down her neck, to her arm, where it eventually picked up her hand again. He opened himself to her, linked with her, and Aimi was there, ready.

Okay.

It was do or die. Last act.

_Pop, wherever you are, if you're watching, I'm going to try and make you proud._

* * *

"Stop," Mikaboshi commanded. His golden eyes lowered to where the man was laid out in the circle formed by the gods. The other gods lowered their hands from the portal they were collectively opening above their heads.

Raiden and Aimi stood hand in hand. The man they'd exited vanished. The children were very small next to the towering gods.

Mikaboshi studied them. They were in altered states. Strengthened states. Theirs was a unique blend of power, a mutation not seen before. He could understand Izanami coveting it. Just now, it swirled and snapped around them in purple and black torrents. "Will you come quietly?" he asked them curiously.

Raiden raised one fist. Turned it so that his palm faced him. Allowed one digit to poke up from his fist.

Mikaboshi took that as a no. Still… "You can't defeat us."

As if to prove this point, god-Raiden leapt from his position at the children's backs. Mikaboshi did nothing to stop him, nor did he warn the children.

Aimi turned her head fractionally, not quite looking behind her at the incoming threat, but acknowledging it nonetheless. God-Raiden was enveloped in a sudden burst of her lavender chakra. His screams were enough to end worlds. He thrashed as if on fire, but did not die. He staggered away, a threat no more. At least for now.

The gods who'd turned their heads to follow god-Raiden's thrashing about, now gazed at the children once more. "Do you really intend to fight us?" Mikaboshi asked.

No answer.

"Well, then." Mikaboshi smiled. "Far be it from me to disappoint you."

* * *

Demon fell to hands and knees as he shrank into his normal form. At once he felt a cooling sensation as someone laid hands on him and gently turned him to his back. He let it happen, eyes closed, as he stubbornly refused to think. He found it mildly interesting to discover that he couldn't hear. He dimly recalled god-Raiden setting off thunder from his palms. That his hands had been around Demon's head at the time, right over his ears in fact, could account for his present deafness.

Some minutes went by, and then he felt strength and health returning to his body, along with muted sound. He heard a large number of murmuring voices. The ground shook faintly beneath the feet of thousands of shinobi. He sensed them milling about, around him and the other Jinchuuriki. There were screams. Sobs. He recognized Fem-Naruto's voice: "Baby! Oh god, not my man!" And he heard Fem-Naruto's children setting up their thin cries. Someone shouted "Contain him!" and Demon assumed Fem-Naruto was going Kyuubi yet again.

The air smelled strongly of burned flesh…and the air was charged from excessive use of lightning.

He was afraid of certain things, like losing his family, but he was no coward. Having circled the knowledge long enough, Demon at last turned in his mind and faced it:

Sasuke was dead.

Dead. There would be no bringing him back this time. His mind darted at this information and retreated several times, the way a curious fish might poke at a leg if you went swimming in the lake. Eventually the fish grew bold enough to bite, and eventually Demon was strong enough to dwell on this concept.

_I should follow him._

And he would, most likely. This thought enabled him to go on breathing without losing his mind. He was hurting, but not too badly. Kyuubi issued a soft whine in his mind, but said nothing. The Fox remembered the last time the Uchiha had died. Demon lay there, calmly disconnecting himself from reality, from tethers to the life he lived. People he'd known. Places he'd been. Things he'd done. It wasn't in his nature to give up, and he wouldn't, not without seeing to one last thing, but promises needed to be kept. _I'll be seeing you soon, Gorgeous. _

But first, he had business to attend to.

Opening his eyes and sitting up was a wrench; moving forward with life in any way while Sasuke lay dead felt wrong. Fundamentally wrong. They had a pact. But they also had children, and with what little remained to him of Kyuubi's chakra, he could sense the gods far away, fighting Raiden and Aimi.

Tessai's hands fell away as he got to his feet. Demon found an ally in the sobbing blond who sat at Stud-Sasuke's mutilated body. "Fem-Naruto."

For a wonder, the other man heard and lifted his eyes.

"Care for a little vengeance?"

Fem-Naruto looked down again, at Stud-Sasuke's face. He bent, kissed him, and gently set him on the ground. Yo-chan ran to Fem-Naruto and climbed his chest, while the girls each took one of his hands. Fem-Naruto walked amongst the milling Shinobi until he found Sakura, and next to her, Lee.

Demon watched as Lee was handed care of his godchildren. He stood silent as the girls shrieked in protest, Lee began crying and trying to stop Fem-Naruto from turning away. Yo-chan merely rested his head on Lee's shoulder, thumb in his mouth. Fem-Naruto then came over to Demon, leaving his children behind, and stood firmly.

-oOo-

They were watched. No one stopped them from leaving, parting ranks to let them pass, until Captain Arata stood in their way. "You have the command," he said quietly to Demon. "Will you abandon us?"

Demon caught sight of Itachi shouldering his way through the men and women surrounding him. "My children need help," Demon said.

Arata was shrewd. "You didn't fare so well against those beings the first time. Logic suggests you will do no better this time. You might do worse, in your weakened condition. Rokudaime-sama left you in charge here. I don't need to tell you how the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

No, he didn't. Demon let his eyes rest on a few faces. Kurenai, who now knew her husband and son were dead, stood with her hands on young Sakumo's shoulders, her face aged and nearly unrecognizable. Shino, whose shades had remained intact during all the fighting, but were now removed in his grief, as per the customs of his clan. His gray-green eyes ran freely. Hinata beside him, mourning the loss of her daughter, her cousin Neji, and Neji's son. Itachi. Itachi, who'd loved Sasuke quite as much as he himself had, and who now stood stoop-shouldered under the weight of grief he carried. Not only Sasuke gone, but several of his children. Demon saw their faces and new shame. Who was he to place his grief above theirs? He, who'd lost one man, while others had lost entire families?

_But Sasuke was everything. I can't go on without him._

'_**You mean you won't,'**_ Kyuubi rumbled in his mind. _**'Ever has this been your weakness, your one flaw. This attachment to the Uchiha. Your children, Boy. They are worth living for. And whatever place these people hold in your mortal heart. You are their leader. Lead. The Uchiha is dead. You are not. A hard stone to bear, yet bear it you will.'**_

Demon bowed his head, hiding his scalding tears of helplessness. He could rage against them, leave anyway in a fit of selfishness, but none of it would change what he knew to be the truth: they were right, Arata and Kyuubi. And he couldn't take these people with him to defend Raiden and Aimi; it would be a needless slaughter, gods against humans. He could almost hear his father's voice admonishing him to remember this moment well. This was what being Hokage meant. Sacrifice, not glamor and prestige. _I'm going to have to break that promise, Sasuke. God help me, I'm so fucking sorry. _

When he raised his head, his face was composed. Maybe he didn't have the raiment of Hokage, but the mantle of duty and loyalty he wore in its place, lined with grief, suited him better. It named him leader as much as Kakashi's words had done. He saw Gaara in the crowd around him, and the green eyes were pools of sympathy that shared his pain. It didn't help, but it was something.

Demon cleared his throat. "This isn't over. My son and daughter are fighting the gods, leagues and leagues away. If they are defeated, it would be safe for us to assume that Izanami will make an appearance. I feel certain of this. I can't help them. Neither can anyone else here. They will win or lose on their own. Our job is to secure this area…and find Akatsuki. I sense them nearby. Arata, select ten units and hunt each murdering individual of that organization down. You will coordinate with Uchiha Sumiko, who is a senser type and can travel the same way Madara can. Find them. Bring them here."

Arata bowed very deeply, held it, then straightened and began calling names in a sharp voice. Those who were called came and stood before him.

Demon looked directly at the Shinigami. He addressed Byakuya, someone who struck him as being no-nonsense to the nth degree. "You all are gods, correct? Death gods?"

Byakuya held the steady blue gaze. "Yes, in a manner of speaking."

Demon nodded. "I'm sending you to aid my children. Find them, and render what assistance you can against those gods attacking them. Tessai stays. Jinta and Ururu, too. The rest of you…go."

"I'll obey your command, Naruto-Taicho," Byakuya intoned with an inclination of his head. Employing Shunpo, he and the rest of the Shinigami disappeared, following the faint feel of Raiden and Aimi's reiatsu. All except Urahara, who was staring at something behind Demon.

Demon didn't need to look to know what it was. He walked over to Urahara and put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll take care of her," he promised quietly.

"See that you do," Urahara nodded. Then he took off.

Demon turned and met everyone's eyes once more. Arata was just leaving with his ten units and Sumiko. "Gather-" he had to swallow, take a breath. He tried again. "Gather the dead. Tessai, erect a barrier around them once they're situated. Sakura, you're in charge of re-assembling a first-aid station. Gather what medic-nin remain to us. Kiba, please find the triplets for me. They were last seen some miles from here. Temari, Gaara, Shikamaru…Shikmaru, my heart bleeds for yours and Temari's loss, but I need you three to set up a safe zone for the women and children. Inoichi-san-"

And on the orders went. After watching him silently a moment, Itachi came and stood at his side, lending what aid he could.

-oOo-

Demon broke off after awhile, looking around. "Has anyone seen Wyatt? Wyatt Halliwell? He's usually around Raiden, but I can't sense him."

Lee came forward, handing Fem-Naruto his children in the process. "When we were in the other dimension, we saw the gods take him off somewhere."

Gaara's daughter Yanagi came forward as well, bearing a long sword that Demon recognized. "This is his blade," she said, holding it up. "I found it over there." She gestured vaguely to one side.

Demon took it, and held it. He turned it slowly, so that it caught the light of existing fires. So much had happened in so short a time, but dawn was still hours away. If Wyatt wasn't with Raiden and Aimi, his children's chances were a lot slimmer than he'd previously thought. _Wyatt…please be alive._ As long as the kid was alive, Demon firmly believed that he would do everything in his power to fight at Raiden's side.

* * *

He would be right to think so.

Wyatt, after some magical scrutiny of his surroundings, had come to the same conclusion as Aimi. The only difference was that he knew his location to be a bit more precise than just 'nowhere.' He was in the Primordial Void, from whence gods and similar beings sprang; there would be no Pulling him.

His bond thrummed and twanged minutely with whatever Raiden was going through. He got a sense of fear, rage, and towering determination from his boyhood love. No hopelessness. His man (_yes, you are my man, Raiden, now and forever_) would go down with hope in his heart, hope in the face of certain destruction. The microscopic resonance of Aimi fighting with him came through as well, but Wyatt knew it was only a matter of time.

He sat down in the dirt, and crossed his legs. What he was about to do would not have been possible if he had not undergone intensive training with Excalibur. He and the sword were now so inextricably linked that Excalibur was, for all intents and purposes, an extension of Wyatt. Unlike his bond with Raiden, though, this meant Wyatt could call the weapon through time, space, and creation.

Hopefully.

Eyes closed, he shut away everything but what the sword meant to him. Its power permeated his body and he focused on this. He bore down on the strain of orbing the object over such a far distance, pushed and pushed, and _fought _against the mounting pressure in his head. Hands clenched, jaw tight, and his nose now starting to leak red, Wyatt went up in a burst of orb lights that did not de-construct him as usual.

His nose dripped in his lap. His vision was blurry, fading in and out. He reasoned that were he to try doing something like that again, it would probably kill him, or come close. He looked down. "Good thing it worked," he muttered thickly.

Excalibur gleamed in his hand.

"All right." He found that talking to himself helped steady him. "Show time."

Using Excalibur, he augmented his bond with Raiden by infusing it with magic. He could not have explained this process if he tried. Like most everything else he did with his abilities, it was instinctual. Suffice it to say that for what he intended, the bond would now carry him to Raiden, once he pulled on it. This was something that would probably only work once. That was okay. Once was enough. Once he was through altering the bond, he got down to performing a spell he'd devised while on the training world.

He'd never used it, not even to practice. It was way too powerful to be used more than once. He wasn't even sure it _could_ be used more than once. The spell itself was a combination of the Dominus Trinus spell, the spell to call a witch's powers, and the spell to call upon the ancestors. He'd further tweaked the result to suit himself. He withdrew a bundle of yarrow root from Excalibur's sheath, something he'd been carrying around for a few months now, for just this purpose. Yarrow root would connect him to his loved ones. Setting the pad of his thumb to his teeth, he hesitated.

He could well imagine what his mother would say if she even _saw_ this spell. Its existence was a prime example of why the Elders hadn't wanted him to be born. _Too much power, _they'd said. Well, the same could be said for Raiden and Aimi, Wyatt thought. Like it or not they existed, he existed, and he was going to use whatever means were available to him to protect his friend. His love.

He bit the pad of his thumb hard and let his blood coat the yarrow root. Then he held it in the fist used to hold the hilt of his sword. He relaxed his mind completely, opening himself up as he closed his eyes a final time.

Usually, if the Power of Three was used, the saying of a spell once was enough to get the job done. Sometimes, though, his mom and aunts repeated a spell three times for added power and effect. For what he was about to do, Wyatt thought he would be safer saying the spell not just three times, but three to the third power. Gripping Excalibur tightly, he began.

* * *

Demon, recovered from the surprise of having Excalibur vanish from his hand, stood watching the busy progress of the shinobi reorganizing themselves. He saw the triplets being fussed over by Itachi and Yachiru, who'd also stayed behind. A light hand on his shoulder proved to be Tessai. "They are ready," the tall man said quietly. He backed away with a bow, and Naruto nodded.

In a field apart from what had been Konoha, lay the many thousands of dead. One body was pointed out to him by Tessai, and Naruto had to steady himself with a breath. He walked toward it alone, heart heavy, feet dragging, but head high. He reached it, and looked down at the simple cloth someone had found to cover the remains with. After a moment wherein he struggled with his composure, he knelt. He put his forehead to the ground, offering silent apology…and also hiding his grief from anyone who might be watching.

* * *

In the Underworld, Sasuke _was _watching. And then he couldn't, he had to lower his own head. So help him, he could feel it, feel his bond with Naruto even through death, by the force of Naruto's grief. He felt Kakashi cup a bracing hand on the back his neck.

"I forgive you, Naruto," Sasuke said quietly. "I forgive you."

* * *

Naruto felt a sudden invisible hand on his head, and a sense of something akin to peace settled on his mangled heart. Enough so that he was able to sniff, lift himself, and stand. _Sasuke, my love. _He gave a final bow.

It was as he was doing this that the land around them heaved upward massively. He turned, looking for the cause, expecting to see a return of The Gate. He exited the protective barrier around the dead quickly. "What's going on?" he asked loudly; a sudden gale had sprung up with hurricane force, quickly followed by a torrential rain. "What's happening?"

No one knew. But just then, immense chakra signatures were felt by everyone, not just those who were powerful enough to sense them. As one, everyone looked west.

Demon stood with his mouth open, unable to believe that his children were putting up such a colossal fight. He couldn't imagine what they were up against…well, actually he could, having gone up against it himself. It just made him sick to think that his two babies were being tested like this.

But then he felt pride. _Give 'em hell, Raiden, Aimi._

* * *

If they hadn't been joined, they wouldn't have lasted.

What it all came down to, all the training, the siege on Konoha, the aliens, Akatsuki, the gate, the demons, the deaths…what it all boiled down to was these few desperate minutes, maybe less than an hour, where power was unleashed to such an extent that whole continents shifted. Oceans heaved, mountains fell, the sky was churned to madness. On the other side of the world they might be, thousands of leagues away from the Five Great Nations and any other civilized land, but the battle was still felt on a global scale. Snow, rain, sleet, and hail fell around the planet as such elements like wind and heat were used by gods and two frightfully powerful children. Tornados of wind, water, fire, and lightning ran rampant across land, sea, and sky alike. Volcanoes erupted everywhere, triggered by massive earthquakes. The earthquakes gave birth to tsunamis of such height that entire landmasses were wiped out. Cold washed the land, freezing everything solid. Heat followed, setting everything on fire. Lighting storms of thousands of bolts knit earth and sky together in a thousand different places.

The storms of wind, rain, thunder and lightning were courtesy of Raiden, Fujin, and Kamikaze(2). The earthquakes were thanks to Nai-no-kami(3). Raiden countered these with his own versions.

The fight had escalated to this global mess, but at the heart of it things were calm by comparison. A large hole had been gouged from the earth by the raw powers being released. This irregularity would have been visible from space, so huge was it. It was roughly the size of the Five Great Nations together, and had been partially filled with an ocean's water. This had been frozen, then heated until it evaporated in a great billow of scalding steam, and now, as that steam cleared, a brief cease-fire took place. Both sides assessed the damage.

Apparently, Izanami was wrong: gods _could _die outside her realm. Three of them had gone to god-Raiden's aid when Aimi had engulfed him in chakra, and had promptly perished; they had been lesser gods than god-Raiden, and so not quite as strong. Many of them had rushed the children then, fear and rage making them somewhat reckless, only to be swallowed by that purplish black combination of chakra the children wielded, and annihilated. The gods, previously a hundred or more, were now down to eight. These eight were the strongest. It was the battle between them and the children that was ripping the world apart. They now stood ranged around the boy and girl in a wide circle. Watching. Waiting for an opening.

-oOo-

Raiden stood back to back with Aimi. He could not think, didn't dare think. He was relying heavily on his reflexes and whatever grace he had to see him through this. Thinking compromised his instincts, and instincts were all he had at the moment. That, and quick reflexes. He looked nowhere, keeping them all within his peripheral vision. The floodgates of his power were thrown wide. He stood still, his body experiencing a level of exhaustion that carried him through to numbness, and panted. His fangs dripped slowly with blood, and the vertical pupils of his eyes were dilated to dark ovals.

Aimi let her brother's unwavering bravery and belief that they would prevail guide her mind. Power was exchanged between them freely as they used each other instinctively. They were wholly united, thinking as one, moving as one, reacting as one. Nothing touched them, not yet, but she could sense that their exhaustion would soon become an issue.

Raiden. She kept her trust in Raiden, and made sure she did not hold back in the slightest.

* * *

Still a few thousand miles away, but closing fast, the Shinigami zipped through the ravaged countryside.

* * *

Mikaboshi, the most powerful god present, decided to switch tactics. The children were formidable. More than that, he was unsure of the outcome of this battle. Had anyone asked him what the result would be if scores of gods went up against two mortals, he would have laughed. The idea alone was ludicrous. But his companions were dead. Reduced to dust motes in the air, now nothing more than memories. Any arrogance or complacency he'd had was long gone, replaced by watchfulness and a care to the possibility that even he might perish here.

Assaulting the children with raw power was clearly the wrong strategy. They countered with similar attacks. Nodding carefully at Ekibiogami and Hoso-no-kami(4), Mikaboshi thought it was time to try a subtler approach.

Raiden and Aimi were alert to any attacks coming their way. An impenetrable wall of their chakra surrounded them. They'd seen Mikaboshi nod at two gods on opposite sides of the circle. Raiden kept his eyes on one, while Aimi watched the other.

Without warning, Raiden and Aimi felt an attack hit them not from without their protective circle, but from within. Raiden felt his skin break out in bleeding pustules, his temperature rise to boiling levels, and fatigue swamp him. He was robbed of strength even as he began bleeding heavily from ears, nose, mouth, and rectum. He could feel his body's healing ability trying to combat this sudden illness, even as he felt whatever force that caused it intensify immeasurably. He fell face-forward, writhing and choking.

Behind him, Aimi likewise fell. He could hear her vomiting violently.

Mikaboshi took no chances, and did not underestimate his opponents. He crept forward, head tilted, long black hair tossing in the faint wind that still swept around them. He could see that Hoso-no-kami and Ekibiogami weren't letting up their attack, were constantly renewing it and strengthening it as the kids fought even now, prostrate as they were. When Mikaboshi was near them, he shrank himself to the size of a mortal man, and hunkered down on the balls of his feet. His golden eyes were pitiless pools of scrutiny as he spoke.

"How long can your exceptional bodies hold out?" he asked softly. Raiden's neck was swollen, and his face was turning bluish black. "Right now you are experiencing the combined effects of advanced stages of smallpox, bubonic plague, Spanish flu, and typhus. Both of you." He paused as Raiden began vomiting up clumps of bloody mucus and great gobs of his stomach lining, with incredible force. Mikaboshi reached to drag Raiden up by the hair, and was surprised when the boy lifted a weak hand and shot a Death Sphere at him.

Raiden would have cursed if he was able to. He could no longer see; ulcers had formed on his corneas due to the smallpox, but he was able to sense his surroundings very well. His link with Aimi was gone, or the Death Sphere would have done more than singe Mikaboshi's skin. He groped on the ground for Aimi's hand, trying to re-establish the link.

Mikaboshi's lips thinned. "By rights you should be dead several times over. I applaud your will to survive and the strength of your bodies…but this ends now. Everyone," he said to his silent companions. "Attack. And don't hold back, despite their weakened condition."

Raiden found Aimi's hand. Her skin felt as if it was blistering. He could smell pus and blood oozing from her, but she held his hand tightly. After a few tries, the link was established, though faintly. "Aimi," he whispered. His esophagus was long since gone, ruptured from vomiting so hard, which he did again even now. He felt it wash warmly down his throat, and smelled the heavy coppery scent of his own blood. Unbelievable, white-hot pain threatened to cloud his mind…was already doing so.

One of Mikaboshi's powers was metamorphosis. He transformed now into his favorite form, that of a fire-breathing serpent of vast proportions. He, along with the other seven, closed in on the suffering children without mercy.

-oOo-

When Kenpachi and the other Shinigami arrived at last, it was in time to see a portal to the Underworld spiraling shut high up in the sky, and hear Aimi's shriek fading on the air.

* * *

(1) Fujin: god of wind

(2) Kamikaze: god of wind, storms, and vicious cold weather.

(3) Nai-no-kami: god of earthquakes.

(4) Hoso-no-kami: god of smallpox


	63. Chapter 63

A/N: As I always say, things get worse before they get better. I am eternally grateful to those who stick with me through this. The end is near. It's as hard for me to write as it is for some of you to read.

* * *

Chapter 63

Upon arriving in Sunagakure, Hiroko found the village in chaos. She'd been spotted by palace security, and summarily bustled to a safe room, where Baki had promptly begun questioning her. She was asked in no uncertain terms just where she had been, where Yanagi and the Kazekage were, and where her bodyguard was. Knowing that the war had arrived, Hiroko wisely opted to disclose the truth. Baki and a few select Jounin, higher ups in Gaara's circle of village council and advisers, listened gravely as Hiroko conducted an impromptu meeting. She told everything, including the truth about Raiden, Aimi, Izanami, and the cause of this war.

"I know you are all in charge," Hiroko had concluded by saying. "I know I'm pregnant, and operating at less than full capacity, but I've been honing my Genjutsu and training my endurance despite my chakra issues, since the Kabuto incident. At most, the difference in my abilities between the time before I was pregnant and now is five, possibly ten percent. I know my cousins and their powers, and am familiar with what took place on the training world. I propose we lead a delegation to Konoha now to assist. Forgive my impertinence." She bowed awkwardly over her stomach.

Baki rubbed his chin in thought. Then he nodded. "She's right. The fight is in Konoha. Our Kazekage is there. We should be behind him."

An elderly councilwoman concurred. "You will lead this delegation, Baki."

Baki accepted this. "I will bring Hiroko-dono in an advisory capacity…besides which, pregnant or not, she is still one of the best weapons we have." And a Hiroko operating at ninety or ninety-five percent was plenty. Not much different from a Hiroko at full strength.

It was decided. The delegation, with Baki and Hiroko at its head, assembled swiftly and left an hour later. They traveled at top speed, covering an amount of ground that would ordinarily take days to travel.

-oOo-

The Gate rising far off in Konoha had been visible even to them, though they were still crossing the vast desert outside of Suna. Instead of halting, the shinobi, numbering five hundred, had pushed themselves to greater speed. Hiroko, laboring with her added weight, was able to keep up with an effort.

But then the Gate had exploded, and the shockwave had reached them though they were still a goodly distance away. It blew over them with rough winds for a few moments, to leave them disheveled and staring at each other. Shortly afterward, as they were pressing onward, one of the delegation jogged up to Baki, returning from his position some miles ahead as scout. He was a senser, as most scouts were. He bowed hastily as Baki ordered the rest of the delegation to halt. "Report," Baki demanded.

"_Hai, _Baki-dono. I and my companion came across something we think would be of interest to you. We don't think we were detected, having masked ourselves, but we must move quickly."

"Lead the way," Baki commanded.

When they were within three miles of the location, the scout suggested that only a few press onward. "They might sense us."

Baki nodded. "Only myself and Hiroko-dono, then."

The three of them masked themselves, and Hiroko performed the added insurance of cloaking them with Genjutsu and inverting it several times. They met up with the second scout along the way, who Hiroko also cloaked. The four of them crept forward in this manner until they were able to peer over a hill that lay not far inside the borders of the Land of Rivers. They were looking at what appeared to have once been a large cave, but was now wreck and ruin. Grass and weeds grew over the large boulders and crumbled rock. A group of men and one woman were sitting around, talking quietly.

There were no cloaks, but several of the members were recognizable. "_Akatsuki,_" Baki mouthed. The scouts nodded. Before the men could say anything more or stop her, Hiroko stood up boldly, unmasking herself, and made her way down to the group of S-class criminals.

* * *

"We cannot rest long," Madara cautioned. "Whoever that Uchiha is, she is skilled. I didn't think another existed who could travel as my brother and I could. Not besides Raiden and his sister. Already this girl has chased us over the globe." He wiped sweat from his brow and flicked it aside. He'd needed to teleport them again and again, almost constantly, and though he would never admit it, doing so with a group took a toll on even his formidable powers.

"One wonders if it was wise to come to a former hideout known to belong to Akatsuki," Orochimaru demurred.

"As an Uchiha, and in possession of this skill, she won't rest," Konan observed quietly. "She might be motivated by revenge on her siblings, or the man who fought at her side, but even so, I've watched her. I watched all of Itachi's girl children while they fought the demons. She has a cool head, that one. We should leave immediately."

Madara heard this, and turned to Nagato. "Our chakra is sufficiently masked?"

"It is," Nagato confirmed with a small frown. "But it was masked before and she found us. I believe she is a senser-" he cut himself off at seeing a lone woman approach their place.

Madara looked where Nagato was staring, and stood from his boulder to face the intruder. He held off from attacking; this was not the Uchiha who chased them, or any of the ANBU units who'd been with her. A breeze blew the intruder's long bangs aside, revealing her eyes. At seeing them, Madara amended his first impression. _Whoever she is, she's Uchiha as well. How many children did Itachi sire?_ "Kill her," he said.

No one moved. When he tried to turn his head to ascertain why, he found himself immobilized. It seemed to him that he noticed his surroundings for the first time. He considered this an oversight of catastrophic proportions; he recognized Tsukuyomi. Inwardly horrified at this, he watched the girl approach.

She was lovely, if overweight. Her hair lay elegantly over one shoulder to trail down past her knees in a thick, undulating tail. Her red eyes did not sport Mangekyo…which was strange. "Mangekyo is needed for this jutsu," Madara stated.

Hiroko stopped in front of him, and regarded him with hooded eyes. "Astute of you. Don't feel bad for not noticing your capture sooner. This is not true Tsukuyomi, only my version of it. Note the lack of wooden crosses or inverted colors. I don't need these things to hold you in my power. Now," Hiroko breathed. "I heard mention of Uchiha siblings being dead. To whom, exactly, where you referring?"

Madara had been steadily trying to break free. He acknowledged himself as the most skilled individual with Sharingan, no exceptions. If he could not break free, then his companions hadn't a hope in hell of doing so.

This girl surpassed him by a country mile. Which was probably an understatement.

He spoke hastily, hoping to avert the disaster he suspected was coming. How this girl existed was beyond him. "We did not partake in that battle. It was the demons, Izanami's creatures-"

"Cease," Hiroko said coldly. Madara's lips sealed shut against his will. Shortly afterward, he felt the girl riffling through images in his mind, seeking information. He did not know the names of the people he'd watched cut down, but apparently she did. He both saw and felt her grief when the death of one particular man was known, a stocky blond. And then she saw another man in his memories, the one who'd summoned Enma, and Madara felt the technique waver dangerously, weakening as the woman herself sank slowly to her knees. Madara took this opportunity to resist the Genjutsu with all his substantial ability in the art.

Hiroto, her kind and loving brother. Her Husband. Konohamaru, whom she'd loved her entire life, and whose child even now kicked within her. Gone. Her sister Akiko, Juro, Shouta…sweet Shouta.

She felt Madara and the others struggling against her technique. Lifting her head slowly, her hair obscuring one eye, she met Madara's gaze.

He looked back at her, and his fear was plain. "It was the demons," he reiterated through the weakened jutsu. "We stood apart, I swear-"

Hiroko cinched the jutsu tight. Akatsuki's minds, caught in her mental fist of rage, were completely obliterated.

It was fitting that the world seemed to shudder and come apart at the seams then. Storms raged around her, but they did not equal the storm of grief within her. Lowering her face to her hands, she sobbed openly, her pain soundless in the shrieking wind and rain.

* * *

"_Piper, Phoebe, Paige,_

_Prudence, Penelope,_

_Patricia, Melinda,_

_Astrid, Helena,_

_Laura and Grace…"_

* * *

Sasuke and the souls of the shinobi with him were sealed in their odd Underworld chamber by Izanami, with some substance that defied description. It was membranous, yet as clear as glass. It did not break when struck. It formed a partition between where they stood and where Izanami stood looking down at where Raiden and Aimi lay in a heap. The gods who'd brought them stood back in deference to Izanami, who was mortal-sized for the nonce. Sasuke beat futilely on the clear partition, screaming loudly enough to have the chamber ringing. "Aimi! Raiden! Get up, damn you, _get up! _She'll kill you!"

-oOo-

Raiden couldn't hear anything but his own laboring heart and Aimi's whimpers. He thought he'd heard something else when he'd been thrown down, a distant echo, but he was also in the process of snorting out blood, mucus, and probably a bit of brain matter from his nose; he couldn't be sure of anything.

Neither he nor Aimi had been able to fight off the gods when their bodies were busily trying to repair the damage they were suffering. He heard Aimi cry out for him, and he rolled in her direction, still blind. He collided with her solid body, and curled an arm around her protectively. His senses were on the fritz, but he thought the gods were still around.

Izanami contained her joy only with difficulty. At last. At long, long last. Looking up from where Raiden and Aimi writhed in agony, she pinned Ekibiogami and Hoso-no-kami with her lifeless eyes. "Release your hold on them. I want them lucid."

The gods in question bowed their heads in acquiescence.

* * *

Kenpachi held his sword ready, though the portal was now shut. Nothing remained of it but a nighttime sky with clouds rapidly clearing away to reveal stars. He rounded on the Shinigami with him. "Urahara-"

"I can't," the blond man said. "Reaching the Underworld for this dimension is beyond even me. I would need my equipment and long days, weeks, quite possibly months, to devise a way. It took me ten years to find a way to this world. It's not inconceivable that a similar length of time-"

"All _right, _damnit." Kenpachi swiped sweat from under his eye patch with a finger, then sheathed his sword. "What _can _you do?"

Urahara stared upward, eyes serious. "Without the portal itself…nothing, I'm afraid."

Byakuya, who'd been listening, remained calm in the face of this misfortune. "Are you certain?"

"I am," Urahara replied.

"Can you get us back to Seireitei?"

"Doubtful. The only thing I can suggest is contacting the Captain Commander to apprise him of the situation."

"Which is really no help at all," Kenpachi muttered. He turned his back on them, cursing bitterly.

Ikkaku said nothing to these developments. He'd seen Akiko cut down, had reached her as she fell to the ground, and had been holding her when the light in her dark eyes had gone out.

Yumichika saw him standing slightly apart now, and came to him in sympathy, but Ikkaku turned his head away in dismissal. He didn't want to be comforted or have his loss murmured over with soothing words. All he wanted was to pay his respects to Akiko's body, then find some isolated cave to meditate in. For the next century or so.

* * *

Sumiko shimmered into existence with Arata and the ANBU units, and held up her fist to stop anyone moving forward. She moved ahead a few steps after ascertaining that the ones she sought were incapacitated in some way. She saw a group of four people not far from where Akatsuki seemed to be sleeping haphazardly here and there. As she drew nearer, she recognized two of the people. "Hiroko? Baki-sensei?" Sumiko broke into a run. She fell to her knees beside her sister, who did not to react to her presence. "What happened?" she asked anxiously.

Baki answered. "Hiroko-dono performed a Genjutsu that has left Akatsuki in a vegetative state. I was just about to dispatch Hotaka here to guide the delegation accompanying us to this location." He gestured to one of the scouts, who left immediately. Baki then pulled Sumiko aside a bit, and lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "Hiroko-dono has learned of the casualties. What can you tell me of the battle? Is the Kazekage…?"

Sumiko, reminded of her own loss, swallowed. "It's bad, Sensei. The Kazekage is alive and unharmed, as far as I know. So many else dead, though… My cousins drew the gods away. I assume that madness with the weather and everything was the result of Raiden and Aimi fighting them," she concluded. "It slowed my pursuit down a bit. I can't sense Raiden or Aimi now, though. What's left of the shinobi alliance is re-grouping. I'm tasked with bringing Akatsuki back to base."

Baki grunted. "We will come with you. Do you think your young cousins have won?"

Sumiko frowned, looking toward where she'd last sensed them. "I don't know. I hope so."

* * *

"_Halliwell witches,_

_hear now the words_

_of this witch._

_The secrets I hid_

_In the night…"_

* * *

Raiden and Aimi were left alone. The gods who'd brought them moved away at Izanami's behest. She, and she alone, was present to witness the way their bodies healed slowly, then with gradually increasing speed. She was vigilant, in case they tried anything untoward; here, in this place, it was unlikely that they could harm her, but she'd underestimated these two to her detriment too many times already. She watched them very closely.

-oOo-

Aimi found that she could breath properly again, but that what she was inhaling seemed to do the opposite of sustaining her. She winced in pain as her body set about aggressively correcting the damage it had endured. When she could manage it, she rolled over and found her brother looking at her with wide eyes. They stared at each other a moment, letting their bodies return to normal.

Eventually, Raiden blinked slowly. He felt a sweet lulling sensation, the absence of any pain or discomfort whatsoever. At first he thought it was simply the relief of having the gods lift their sicknesses from him. Then he realized that Aimi seemed to be growing drowsy herself. Abruptly, he remembered that his ass was caught, that he was in the Underworld, and that Izanami was most likely someplace close by. He sat up jerkily with a yell of fright, staring around wildly. Beside him, Aimi roused herself as well, and promptly leaned her head on his arm.

Izanami bowed in sarcasm. "Greetings. You've led me a merry chase, young Raiden. And you, Aimi."

He couldn't see anyone, no souls, nothing. He'd hoped his Pop… It was predominantly dark, with faint lighting brightening a few places. He got a sense of cavernous spaces, and smelled the stench of death and despair. He returned his gaze to Izanami, unable, for the moment, to find the energy to stand up.

"When last you were here," Izanami continued, "It was in spirit form, with the aid of magicks. Now, you are here in the flesh. Do you feel sleepy?"

Raiden stifled a yawn. "What are you doing to us?" He tried to make his voice sound menacing, but it came out soundly tiredly curious.

"Why, nothing at all. Your life force is phenomenal, though, I must say. Those few humans who've been brought here in their physical bodies perished immediately. You, I see, are able to withstand this atmosphere."

"Meaning?" Raiden did yawn this time.

Aimi, who'd been listening, understood. "She means this dead place is killing us." She didn't have the energy to stand either, but she lifted her hand and shot a revolving Rasenshuriken at Izanami with her brother's chakra; she'd re-established their link when they'd sat up.

Raiden squawked at hearing that he was slowly dying. Izanami withstood the jutsu as if enjoying a refreshing breeze. When it passed, she offered them a smile. "I'm considerably more powerful than the ones who brought you. I'm afraid your earthly powers won't work here for this very reason. Not to mention that you're on my territory now. I rule here with an iron fist."

As if to emphasize this statement, Raiden and Aimi's transformed states receded. Their bodies were rapidly losing the strength to maintain them. Raiden stiffened his muscles to keep from giving in to the urge to lie down. "Fight it," he hissed to Aimi. He saw her nod from the corner of his eyes. He didn't take his gaze from Izanami as he raised his voice. "You got us. Congratu-fucking-lations. Now what?"

"Now? It's as I told your sister when she came to see me some time ago. I will suck you both dry, at which point I will finally have the power I need to-"

"Lame." Raiden looked away as if bored. "Another cliché monologue. Fucking _lame._" In truth, he thought he'd heard something, the same weird something he thought he'd heard before. He kept up the bored act while frantically trying to come up with a solution, a loophole, anything to get him and his sis out of this mess.

Izanami's lips thinned. "Well then. Allow me to conclude this whole affair, since it's so tedious to you." She lifted her head, hands straight out beside her, and the Underworld seemed to disappear in a maelstrom of displaced wind, rock, and black energy. Raiden, Aimi, and Izanami were at the center of this earsplitting display.

"Raiden," Aimi whined. She clutched his arm tightly.

He didn't answer her, having turned to look at Izanami again. Before he _could_ say anything, the very life was being sucked out of them both, vacuumed upward in thick bars of brilliant white, to vanish into the black whirlwind around them. Raiden and Aimi shrieked, in worse pain now than when they'd been gripped with the plagues. They fell backward, stiff with agony.

-oOo-

Cordoned off from them, the deceased shinobi watched helplessly. Sasuke beat his fists against the partition, beat and screamed, and raged to no effect. No one tried to stop him, though the other Uchiha did come up and stand with him in a show of silent support.

And off to one side of the group, unnoticed by anyone, another watched what was happening and felt his heart breaking.

* * *

Back at base, Sumiko arrived with the ten units she'd left with, plus the delegation from Suna. She keeled over almost immediately, the strain of having teleported so many times, the last time with such a large group, proving too much for her to sustain. Baki caught her as Itachi, spotting them, ran over with Gaara. Sumiko was lifted from Baki's arms by her father, and sped over to the medic station. Gaara received the report from Baki while Demon, who'd been notified of the arrival, came over and stood staring down at where Akatsuki were all hogtied and lifeless.

"So what _is_ their condition, precisely?" Demon asked when Baki finished his report.

"I cannot say for sure, since Hiroko-dono hasn't spoken, but it is believed that their mental faculties have been stripped completely. They may as well be in comas," Baki said quietly. He'd been informed of Demon's loss, and wanted to offer his sympathies, but didn't quite dare broach the subject. The blond man looked to be holding onto his composure by a thread; his eyes were glassy.

Studying them, nudging Madara's face none to gently with his foot, Demon could think of no better way to neutralize them, seeing as they couldn't be killed. "Where is Hiroko now?"

Gaara had her. Surprisingly, he was able to lift her hefty weight, and was seen carrying her to where Itachi stood watching Sakura tend to Sumiko. Itachi saw Gaara struggling over with this second daughter and rushed to assist him. Itachi's cry of concern was heard faintly at this distance.

Just then, Kyuubi made his presence known. _**'Boy. I cannot sense the kitling or his den mate.'**_

_Neither can I, _Demon realized. He'd stopped sensing them some time ago. He wondered if the Shinigami had gotten to them in time, or…

No. His mind refused to entertain this possibility, unable to handle any more stress. He had to believe they were okay, and would continue to believe so until he saw their bodies. Saying a brief prayer for their safety, he turned when someone else came to him and presented him with yet another problem.

* * *

"_The oldest of gods_

_I invoke here._

_The great work of_

_Magic is sought…"_

* * *

Raiden lay gasping softly. The pain had lasted a surprisingly short time. Soon, too soon, all pain had gone, to be replaced with a stupefying malaise that deadened both mind and body. Aware as he was of what was happening to him, Raiden thought this was doubly demoralizing. Everything he associated with himself –his power, his strength, his mystical attributes- was being stolen from him. It was like when the _Shikome_ had had him, only infinitely worse. Words could not express how singularly _insulted_ he felt at this violation of his being.

He'd never thought it would happen. Not really. Not when the visions had hit, or when he'd brought Wyatt back, or when he'd been training for six hellish months. Not even when the _Shikome had_ had him in her grasp, though he'd been given a bad scare then. But then he and Aimi had learned joining, so he'd felt confident again. He'd known there'd be one hell of a fight, yes. Deaths, yes, and he's known that things would get plenty hairy. But he had believed that ultimately they would prevail. Everyone else had believed it. He'd still believed it up until this current fuckery. He was powerful. So was Aimi. _Why_ was this happening to them, after everything? Didn't they deserve to win for once?

_There's always something more powerful, _his granny Kushina had said.

But his dad always said, _Nothing's over till you're dead. Nothing._

_Dad, I wish you were here. Actually, no I don't. _

Exercising a monumental effort of will, Raiden grabbed Aimi's hand and tried to resist the overpowering force of Izanami, the whirlwind, and the consumption of his powers. He tried hard, he really did, groping for his sense of self and hanging on for dear life. Aimi was doing the same, pulling against the suction of her own powers with what strength she had left. Raiden could sense this, but it did no good for either of them. The more their power was leeched, the less they were able to combat the effects of the Underworld, and so the quicker they were dying.

"No," Raiden slurred as his hand lost the strength to even hold Aimi's anymore. "_No!_"

"There's no point in fighting, Raiden."

Izanami's voice was less abrasive than it had been. Smoother. Richer. Looking at her, he saw that his powers were changing her…"Oh, God," Raiden moaned.

Izanami smiled. "It is almost over, child. I've waited longer than you can imagine to exact justice. Abandoned here by my husband and the other gods. Left to rot and rule this dead place. Justice will be mine, and those who abandoned me will pay a heavy price. Them and all they hold dear."

Aimi and Raiden's faces were turning white, their lips blue, as life was sucked out of them without respite.

Sasuke, from his place with the shinobi, slid to his knees, silent at last. His children would be joining him soon. If it were possible for him to cry, he would have. But the dead did not cry. They only grieved.

"I couldn't take just anyone's powers," Izanami went on. "It had to be someone exceptional. Who would have thought that refuse such as those Bijuu, and a similarly lowlife mutant could produce the likes of you two? And to think that I only discovered you by utter chance…"

Raiden hovered at the edge of life, the edge of consciousness. Thus stilled, his mind heard more clearly the whispers of his inner being, things Izanami could not touch, and most likely knew nothing about. He heard. He heard clearly, in the long spaces between the stubborn beats of his courageous young heart. He heard-

* * *

"_**In this night and**_

_**in this hour…"**_

* * *

-and it seemed to him that now he was listening, the words were louder. Meaningless as they were to him, the words nonetheless conveyed a dire meaning to him and he thought that if he could only grasp this meaning, he would be all right. He would be saved, and he would live, and he would turn this thing around yet…but his mind felt so sluggish now, and he could not even recall his name. Forgetfulness was sweeping his once-active mind. The nearby droning of some female voice did nothing now but fill him with mild disquiet, were once it had sparked a virulent rage. Perhaps if the voice would just shut the fuck up already he could remember. Something that he'd forgotten that he needed to remember, and once remembered, the meaning would follow…

-oOo-

The whirlwind died down slowly, until only isolated winds passed over the three individuals. Izanami lifted her arms to examine them. Flesh. Whole flesh, unblemished, milky and flawless. She raised her hands slowly to her face and felt her full cheeks. She gazed upward, past earth and sky, to the heavens where her enemies resided, and fancied she could sense them quaking in fright.

One of the children stirred, and she looked down…yes down, for she was restored to the greatness she'd enjoyed when she'd been new and married, and residing with immortals.

Raiden was lifting his head with a laborious effort. Beside him, Aimi turned on her side, though the strength to do so must have been non-existent. Izanami shook her head in wonder. "The will to survive that you two possess, while impressive, will not stand up to me."

It was time, once and for all, to end this.

* * *

Raiden saw her as if in a dream. And though she was breathtaking in the fullness of her power, this didn't matter. Nor did the energy she called forth, crackling and awful in its intensity, in her hands. What mattered was what he could hear. It was all he could hear-

* * *

"_**I call upon the**_

_**ancient power…"**_

* * *

-and the meaning teased at the edge of understanding, making his failing heart ache.

* * *

Calling upon the full power of her godhood, Izanami held back nothing. The blast she would unleash would destroyed even souls. The Underworld would essentially be no more, but that was all right. She would leave this realm forever, and so had no more use for it. She let the power, her power, build to its maximum effect, her great silvery eyes fixed firmly on the tiny mortal children.

* * *

"_**Powers of the witches rise…"**_

* * *

In San Francisco, three women in three different locations suddenly clutched their chests and fell to the floor, as their powers were leeched suddenly and strongly.

-oOo-

Coop lifted Phoebe's head carefully onto his lap, yelling for Paige.

-oOo-

Paige lay unconscious on her kitchen floor, her son Henry Jr. fumbling the phone to dial 911.

-oOo-

At Halliwell manor, Leo ran to Piper as she fell, screaming her name. Piper's eyelids fluttered, and understanding of her firstborn's actions and whereabouts reached her dimly. "Oh, Wyatt," she whispered before passing out. "Baby, no…"

* * *

The power took shape in Izanami's hands, and now the Underworld and the Land of the Living alike shook ominously. Demon felt the ground shudder hard beneath his feet, thinking it was an earthquake. He received a sense of alertness from Kyuubi, a sense of the demon's hackles raised, fangs bared, ears laid back. '_What is it?'_

'_**Something. I know not. Something approaches the kitling with great power.'**_

'_What of Aimi?'_

'_**Whatever it is, it is focused on the kitling.'**_

Demon, uneasy, went to the triplets where they sat munching rationed biscuits. They looked like they were almost returned to normal, for which he was grateful. He singled out Ryota. "Can you locate Raiden and Aimi with magic?"

* * *

"_**Course unseen across the skies…"**_

* * *

Her strike as complete as she could make it, Izanami aimed the massive circle of destructive energy at the two helpless mortals. Aimi was senseless and still. Raiden, still hearing some meaningless message with increased volume, hung on with brute force, and followed her movements with his drowsy eyes. Even if he knew nothing else, understood nothing else, he recognized his impending demise in her hands. "Bitch…" he hissed soundlessly.

* * *

"_**Come to me who call you near…"**_

* * *

Ryota put down his spell book after chanting the incantation. His mouth was open, eyes staring. "Well?" Demon demanded. He had a hand on Ryota's shoulder, and shook him lightly. Itachi frowned down at his son. Ryota suddenly burst into tears, and Demon felt something in him break at last.

* * *

Izanami fired…

* * *

Raiden saw his death swell in his vision in that released energy ball, then closed his eyes.

* * *

The Elders glanced at themselves in wide-eyed disbelief at feeling the Earth drained of magic.

* * *

"_**COME TO ME AND SETTLE HERE!"**_

* * *

With this deafening shout in his mind, Raiden remembered at long last. He forced his eyes open, and felt a tiny smile tug his frozen lips. "Wyatt."

* * *

Sasuke saw the great white bar of death Izanami shot at his kids, and saw, in the split-second before it hit them, an answering bar of shimmering blue lance downward at an angle to block it. The resulting thunderous clash and flash of blinding light set the entire Underworld to quaking mightily, and then the backlash of all that power hit him and the other souls, and he saw no more.

-oOo-

Raiden did see, though. He saw Wyatt, crouching on one knee, Excalibur held up and giving off power of such intensity that he couldn't look at it. Wyatt was breathing hard…and then Raiden saw the shield around Wyatt, himself, and Aimi, saw the way Izanami's energy crackled around it, and he thought, _Gay boy's got it going on, fuck yes!_

* * *

Wyatt had chanted just as fast as he was able to, but still he'd thought he wouldn't make it in time. He'd had to tug on his bond before the twenty-seven repetitions were complete. The trip to Raiden, while made at the speed of thought, had taken longer than he'd anticipated, and he could tell that it was going to be close. Very close indeed. He almost _hadn't_ made it.

But he had. He was here, and his man was safe.

Quite a few unexpected revelations had made themselves known to Wyatt while performing his spell. One: his shield, magical thing that it was, was something that existed only while he needed it; in other words, during his 'defenseless' stage, or during his boyhood. Had he actually gone ahead and had sex with Raiden, the act would have nullified his ability to produce a shield. As it was, he thought the shield would probably cease to exist once he finished puberty.

Two: instead of the spell leeching the Power of Three and his ancestors' power for a short time, as he'd planned, it took _all _of their power, the power of the entire Halliwell line, past and present…and through them, all the magic on Earth. Seeing as he was going up against a great and powerful goddess, and combating a strike that would have killed Raiden and was currently cracking the world apart, he was rather grateful for this little bonus. Still, there'd be hell to pay if he ever went back home; his shield would go only when no more magic was left on his Earth.

And sustaining that amount of magic, even with Excalibur, was proving to be too much for him. Gripping his sword in both hands, he forced himself to both feet, widened his stance, and directed every ounce of the power he commanded at the goddess, using his body as a conduit. Even so, he felt fried from within. Excalibur hummed shrilly in his sweaty palms, striving not to fail its owner.

-oOo-

Izanami could not contain her shock and anger. At first she hadn't known what blocked her fatal attack. It had rebounded toward her, which would have hurt her greatly, but she'd evaded it in the nick of time. She'd recovered to realize she was facing the boy of light, and her anger had exploded as it had never done.

Now she fired everything she had at him, at his shield, and vowed she would kill every last living thing, if she perished in the attempt. To be foiled _again_, by _humans… _Raiden had the luck of the gods, but she would stand for it no more. No more! He and those with him _would _die!

* * *

The shinobi screamed, as the earth seemed to shiver apart. Great bolts of light and fire erupted from the ground, killing many where they stood. All around the planet this happened, damaging it further. Unseen by the humans who inhabited it, pieces of it began breaking away, to float in space.

* * *

In the Underworld, Izanami lowered her hands to survey the result of her efforts.

The shield still held. Those inside it were unreachable, untouchable...safe.

Giving in to a petty tantrum did not befit one of her station, she told herself. She was the Goddess of Death. Curbing her bitter disappointment, she consoled herself with the knowledge that there were others she could reach. She turned, with what was left of her dignity wrapped around her, and saw that an opening to the Land of the Living had been forged via the unleashing of her power. She let her bridge, the one Aimi's soul had walked when she'd died, stretch forth from her, taking shape beneath her footfalls. Behind her, her demon army marched behind her. They were tiny in her wake. This solemn procession traversed the silvery bridge that connected unreality with what was real, death with life, and there was no stopping it.

* * *

Of the great shinobi alliance, only a few survived that latest upheaval. The Jinchuuriki, their lives enhanced with demon strength, Rasta-Sasuke, who'd protected himself with Fucker, and those who had come with the Shinigami. Those few, and three young, terrified, red-haired boys, one of whom clutched his spell book to his thin chest. Ryota's brothers each had their arms thrown around him, augmenting his magic; the strength of the magical shield around them was what had saved them.

Also intact was the kido barrier around the dead. This, the aforementioned group, and the whitish bubble around the triplets, were all that was present to bear witness to Izanami rising from a yawning chasm in the Earth, just as the sun's first rays were peeking over the horizon. Though she rose miles away, she was clearly visible to those few still alive. She turned her great head slowly, and seemed to see them too.

-oOo-

Demon blinked at her. Hair the darkest black, swirling around her. Eyes and lips a bright silvery shimmer in the dawn. Just to look upon her hurt him, but look he did. She had murdered everything he held dear, this bitch goddess. He looked, and Kyuubi looked with him. The Fox's demeanor was one of frightened subservience.

* * *

Below, Sasuke and the rest were joined by the newcomers. They looked at each other wordlessly, aware that through their containment, they'd been spared whatever power Izanami had unleashed. The Underworld seemed silent; all the other countless souls that had resided therein were no more. Nothing remained, except the sea of demons that marched by the fallen shinobi in rank upon rank. At the center of this reddish sea sat a pale blue dome.

Itachi came up to Sasuke and the two met each other's eyes a moment. They embraced, as parted couples were now doing elsewhere in the group.

-oOo-

Inside the dome, Raiden found his mind clearing slowly. He thought that last shot Izanami had put out would have finished them for sure, but he was still breathing. He didn't feel strength returning, but he was no longer actively dying either. He managed, after a few tries, to twist his head and look around.

Aimi was stirring weakly. Wyatt lay face down, unmoving. Excalibur lay in his loose grip, still glowing powerfully.

Raiden, motivated by the sight of him, found the strength to crawl to him and gently turned him over. Even then, Wyatt didn't lose his grip on his sword, which was fortunate; Raiden intuited that boy and sword needed to remain joined if the shield was to continue. It was understood, also, that the shield kept out the atmosphere of the Underworld, which was why he was no longer dying.

"Wyatt?" No answer. Not even a twitch of eyelids. Whatever Wyatt had done to keep his shield up in the face of that last strike had knocked him out. Too weak to sit up anymore, Raiden stretched out beside him and pulled him close. "I got you, Angel. I'm right here."

* * *

"I think we should stick together," Bee ventured after a moment of staring.

In answer, Chibi-Gaara and the Narutos drew together in a group. At that moment, the Shinigami flashed into view, running up to the Jinchuuriki. Demon didn't need to ask if they'd made it to his kids in time. He could damn well see that they hadn't. Yachiru attached herself to Kenpachi's side. Together, they all surveyed the goddess.

-oOo-

Izanami's advance was heard as an all-encompassing boom that reverberated throughout what remained of the landscape. She was regal, awe-inspiring. Caught in her regard, the group of survivors were momentarily mesmerized.

Her silver gaze swept over them. Her demons surrounded them, but did not attack. Here, at least, she would be assured of victory. She sensed isolated pockets of humanity elsewhere in the ravaged land, but these few before her had set out to stop her, and had nearly succeeded. Now that she had the power she'd craved, she could deal with them. She saw Madara and his group laid out, and snorted lightly at their incompetence. No matter.

-oOo-

Kit, product of the 21st century, was not captivated for long. The tank had been destroyed, but the Humvee Queenie had been driving was inexplicably intact. He ran and hopped into it now, and revved the engine.

Izanami's silver eyes focused on him.

With a roar, Kit pressed the accelerator to the floor, while simultaneously flicking several switches in the cab.

The other Jinchuuriki were bought out of their mild stupor, watching the vehicle's headlong rush. Kit ran over demons that weren't quick enough to move out of his way. Those that did move, did nothing to stop Kit.

All four ground-to-air missiles were launched and flew at Izanami's face.

"He's got balls, I'll give him that," Rasta-Sasuke commented. He edged closer to Blondie.

Kit was indeed heroic. Izanami, however, did not feel the missiles that detonated with faint explosions against her face. In response, she lifted one hand majestically into the air. Those watching were at a loss as to what this meant. They found themselves crouching low in defensive postures.

Yachiru pointed upward. "Look!"

There, in the sky above Izanami's head, the eight Bijuu running loose in the world materialized as they were summoned. Kit was lifted out of the moving Humvee via some means invisible to the onlookers, where his tiny body joined those of the huge chakra monsters. Even as they watched, all nine bodies burst apart in a bright splash of chakra, to reform into a single condensed ball of same.

"Kit," Demon muttered as the distant scream was cut short.

Farther away, the vague form of the moon trembled in the lightening sky, and seemed to draw nearer to the Earth. It drew closer and closer, pulled by Izanami, until its porous shape swelled ominously on the horizon. Its proximity to the Earth blocked out the sun so that a second night fell. Izanami glowed in this darkness.

A moment of portentous stillness.

Izanami clenched her raised hand into a fist, and the moon crumbled apart in eerie silence, the pieces falling to Earth as meteors and asteroids that pocked the planet. Some of the smaller ones fell among the watching group, but they escaped harm. Shielding their eyes at the renewed rays of the sun, they saw the old, skeletal, misshapen body of some creature floating down to Earth's surface. Small at first, the shape grew clearer as it neared Izanami and the ball of condensed chakra. There were ten tails…

"Oh, _no_ she _didn't_," Chibi-Gaara squeaked.

There, before their disbelieving eyes, the Juubi was joined with his long-lost chakra and brought to life.

* * *

"My God," Kakashi breathed. The others with him murmured in awe and dread.

* * *

Juubi landed beside Izanami, waist high on her towering height, with a thud that toppled the survivors from their stiff positions of shock. They quickly picked themselves up again, to reform in a tight knot. Izanami stroked her new pet between its ears, and the ten thick tails quivered in pleasure. An unearthly rumble began, and it was soon discovered to be the Juubi purring.

-oOo-

"Okay, fuck this," Rasta-Sasuke wheezed. "Christ, look at that thing. How much more are we supposed to take? A goddess, the end of the world, and now _this? _What the fuck _is _that thing, her fucking poodle?"

The Juubi let loose a piercing cry that had everyone covering their ears in pain. 'Bee answered when the sound had died down, and was unsurprised to see blood on his palms. Hachibi healed him as he explained that the original Ten-Tailed beast had been sealed away-

"_All right,_" Rasta-Sasuke cut him off. "Major badass, that's all you had to say."

Demon had been watching that one huge eye and its nine tomoes. "Listen to me, all of you." He turned to face them.

Jinchuuriki and Shinigami faced Demon solemnly, temporarily forgetting their hellish surroundings.

"This is it," Demon said. "We're the last bastions of defense this world has against what's behind me. We go hard, we go fast. I don't know what good it will do us, but I will go down fighting." He held out his hand, palm downward.

All of them, one by one, somberly put their hands over his, until they were all joined.

"Victory or death," Demon intoned.

"Victory or death," they chanted back at him.

-oOo-

Izanami, finished greeting the Juubi, turned her attention to all that was left of the resistance. She addressed her demons. "Finish them."

A fair estimation of their number would have been several hundred million, probably more. Demon, still leader, adjusted his strategy. "Rasta-Sasuke, you're up."

Rasta-Sasuke stepped forward, and took a moment to access Mangekyo, and then, because he needed all eight gates open in a hurry, the memory of his brother.

"Down!" Demon screamed; Rasta-Sasuke's shield sprang up around them without warning. Urahara and Tessai quickly had a counter dome created beneath this, one that protected them from the inimitable heat of a full-blown Fucker.

* * *

The demons ran at Rasta-Sasuke's barrier and died in their thousands, fizzing out of existence like so much steam. They were relentless in their own destruction, believing that sheer numbers would do the trick of winning them passage through the jutsu. As many as they were, this took quite a while. Izanami watched dispassionately, but as the inexhaustible numbers of her demonic army at last, unbelievably, began to dwindle, she pursed her lips in annoyance.

Blondie eyed the way Rasta-Sasuke trembled with strain. "He can't hold it much longer."

"He can hold it another hour at least," Demon growled ruthlessly. "Look at the demons, they're almost done for."

"You'll kill him!" Blondie warned.

"I'll use whatever resources I have to win," Demon shot back. "Sage mode!"

Blondie, eyes worriedly moving back and forth between his lover and the diminishing supply of demons, obediently accessed Sage mode. So did the other Narutos. 'Bee and Chibi-Gaara called up their chakra.

The last demon of the Underworld vanished against the shield, and Rasta-Sasuke dropped to his knees. His shield winked out.

"Now!" Demon commanded.

Urahara lowered his kido barrier.

The Jinchuuriki and Shinigami, pooling their power, let loose a blast of chakra and reiatsu that melded together to form something new, that was of lethal potency. It was aimed directly at Izanami, who did nothing to evade.

"Darling," she murmured.

The Juubi lumbered itself in front of her, opened its mouth wide, and unleashed a Bijuu-dama that dwarfed the incoming concoction of chakra and reiatsu, dwarfed it and swallowed it, and went on to land on the group of survivors with unimaginable force.

* * *

A tiny white bubble flew up and bounced away from the explosion that followed, unseen by Izanami.

* * *

When the air cleared there was nothing left alive.

"Well done," Izanami smiled. She beckoned to her pet, and it plodded heavily at her side. "Let us see what else we can destroy."

* * *

In the Underworld, Raiden lay beside an unconscious Wyatt. Aimi had crawled over some time ago, and lay with her head pillowed on Raiden's hip. Neither she nor her brother saw anything that was going on up above. That privilege was reserved for those whom Izanami had isolated specifically for this purpose. Those thousands of shinobi souls looked on now as Sasuke and Demon were reunited.

"Don't you leave me again," Demon hissed to the white shoulder beneath his chin. "I can't take it."

"And where would I go, Dobe?" Sasuke chuckled bitterly. "We're both dead."

"If there's someplace after this, we're going together."

"Agreed."

"Neh, Sasuke…are Raiden and Aimi here too?"

"No. They're the only ones alive. Look." And Sasuke released him to point.

Demon stared hungrily towards his children, resting his forehead wearily on the invisible barrier between him and them. "Ah, shit…" But they were alive. He gave thanks for that. "They look out of it."

"Wyatt saved them."

"Maybe…maybe they can still turn this whole thing around. They're the only ones left…" Demon frowned, hurting for his children.

Gaara came over to them. "Izanami sucked them free of their powers. I don't think they can do what you're thinking."

And now Itachi came over to Sasuke, a ghost of his former pride evident on his face. "And they're not the only ones alive."

Thousands of pairs of eyes turned upward, following where Itachi pointed.

* * *

The white bubble came to rest a couple of miles from what was formerly known as Konoha. The three boys inside flopped into a tangled heap of limbs.

"Ohhhh man, oh man, oh man," Kei blubbered hysterically. He glanced around wildly. "Daaaaaaad?" he shrieked.

Masaru rolled over with difficulty, pulling his leg from under Ryota's head. "Dad's gone. They're all gone, you saw what happened."

Ryota sat up silently.

"But, but, but _Dad,_" Kei continued to blubber.

Masaru coolly withdrew his last kunai and examined it. His hair had come loose sometime during the night and swung about his stoic face.

Ryota opened his spell book, searching.

"We, we, we-" Kei stuttered madly.

Masaru hauled off and punched him. Kei slumped against the side of the bubble, out cold. "We're the only Uchiha left," Masaru finished for him. "I know." He turned to look at Ryota, who, it must be said, was never one to dally when business was at hand. "What have you got?"

"Maybe nothing," Ryota muttered, squinting and running his grimy finger along a line of Latin. "Maybe something."

_Please let it be something_, Masaru prayed.

* * *

Izanami made her rounds of the devastated Earth in a regrettably short amount of time. She would have liked to have had more fun, but the few humans who remained were sadly weak and far too mortal. She let her pet play, killing them off, eating them, or crushing them until at last only she remained. She neither saw, nor sensed anything else that lived, save for plant life. Even the fish in the oceans were dead, floating on those now-tranquil waters like so much refuse.

She was pleased. Death and destruction had always pleased her.

As she was turning to go, a tiny sphere no bigger than a speck compared to her, burst into being amid a small shower of indefinable light. She frowned as it floated close to her face. Inside, she could make out three small boys, but she could not sense them, even looking at them as she was. "What trickery is this?"

* * *

Ryota's hands shook badly, but he held the spell book firmly. "Wake him up, hurry!"

Masaru slapped repeatedly at Kei's face until he was brought round in tears, hollering for his father.

"Dad's dead!" his brothers screamed in unison. "Do you want to be dead too?"

Kei silenced himself with an effort. He did feel dead inside. Completely hopeless. He looked aside and saw Izanami's giant face peering at them, and felt nothing. What on earth were they still fighting for?

"Link arms with me," Ryota told them. Masaru and Kei sat to either side of him and threaded their arms through his. This allowed him to hold the book open, while maintaining physical contact. "You guys need to say this spell with me."

"What is it?" Kei sniffed. He was scanning it, and the phrases had caught his attention.

Ryota hesitated. "I'm not sure. It was something I found in Mom's notes, scribbled in a corner of a piece of paper. There was a line pointing to it that said 'last resort, highly destructive.' It might kill Izanami, but then again, it might just blow us up instead. The power needed…" he chewed his lip in agitation.

Masaru and Kei exchanged a glance. "Blow us up?" Kei asked suspiciously. "Wait, that's a risk?"

"Okay, let's do it." Ryota nodded decisively. "We'll hope for the best." He began reading before they could respond, and the brothers had no choice but to hurry and read with him.

* * *

Izanami tilted her head at the bubble of what she now saw was magic. Then she smiled. Her fun wasn't at an end, after all-

Her smile turned to a scream of purest rage and consternation as the bubble vanished in a sudden and dazzling burst of inhuman power. She had no time to do anything but remove herself hastily from this plane of existence, and even then she wasn't quite fast enough; her arm and part of one hip was caught in the blast, incinerated.

-oOo-

The triplets fell from the sky, tumbling lazily through the early morning air. Ryota, hanging on to consciousness by the skin of his teeth, muttered a few words that slowed their fall, but not by much. The impact came with bone-shattering force…which was thankfully cushioned by one of the Juubi's tails.

-oOo-

The watching shinobi in the Underworld stared with bated breath. Someone in the back of the group gave a strangled cheer, but it was cut short; Izanami came back, restored, and she did not look happy.

* * *

She spent some time taking in the scene. Her pet lay dead, she saw. And there, nestled on one of its mighty tails, lay the ones responsible.

Her scream of fury was terrible. The triplets were brought back to consciousness, eyes and ears bleeding from the sound, to behold the wrath of an immortal. They huddled together in fright, too burned out to do anything but cry now. They were going to die and they all new it.

Still, Ryota was loath to give up. With his brothers around him, he conjured a weak blue flame and directed it at Izanami.

The goddess scoffed. "Seems you've exhausted yourselves."

The three petrified boys stared up at the awesome sight of Izanami marching closer to them. "I hope I see Dad," Kei whispered.

"I hope it's quick," Ryota chimed in.

"I feel cold," Masaru frowned.

Actually, they each felt a cold, tingling shiver pass through them that had nothing to do with the weather. Something teased Ryota's memory, but Izanami was speaking.

"I failed to kill Raiden and Aimi, but I will not fail here. After all, there is no one left alive who has the power to stop me." She raised her hands in preparation.

"As someone once said to me, back when I was evil… I'd like to test that theory."

Izanami searched for the owner of this new voice, frowning at its familiarity. Looking downward, past the killers of her pet, she found a woman illuminated by the sun's light, a woman with long white hair, and white flowing garments.

"You might not remember me," the woman said. "Willow Rosenberg."


	64. Chapter 64

A/N: First: Happy Holidays.

It has been seventeen months since I updated this. The hiatus was needed. I'd lost my love for this fic, true, but I'd also discovered a wealth of anxiety over finishing it. As far as fan fiction is concerned, this trilogy is my _magnum_ _opus_. I get a little tense when finishing _any_ fic; tying things off in a neat conclusion is always a bit tricky for me, despite knowing in advance how the endings go. This fic, understandably, isn't just any ending. Besides the magnitude of the work, the actual ending itself for this fic was –is- difficult. Quite a bit needs to be fit together seamlessly in order for the whole thing to come off as polished. And the details were piling up, to be honest, making that task even more atrocious.

Still, I'd written my notes. Pages and pages of them. The job _could_ be done, of that I was sure, even if the fic didn't appeal to me anymore. I just needed some time away.

However, a lot's happened while I was gone from this. Other stories were written. I like to believe I've improved my craft while writing those others. One thing in particular struck me during my hiatus, and it's this: This entire trilogy is one huge, unbelievably cliché monstrosity of fan fiction. Awful. Just awful. I had to re-read parts of it to get back into the groove of things, and they made me shudder. The writing is terrible, the events, the story…it galls me to be guilty of such crap. I can't even think about this trilogy without groaning.

*Sigh* Anyways.

To those who've been patient, I commend you. And I thank you. Those of you who've supported me non-stop through this, I send a warm and heart-felt cyber hug. It's appreciated very much.

And now…onward. Next chap will be insane for me. Not sure if it's the last. It could be, but for sure, if it is, there'd have to be some kind of epilogue.

* * *

Chapter 64

Urahara saw how futile the counter attack against Juubi's strike would be in the nick of time. At the last possible second, he took hold of all the Shinigami's reiatsu and performed a desperate, tricky alteration. He cast a part of this alteration in Demon's direction as an afterthought, just as the blast hit.

For a moment afterward he thought he'd failed. He couldn't feel anything, hear anything, or sense anyone around him.

-oOo-

Sight returned first. Feeling was a close second, as a splitting headache accompanied the faint movement of his eyes when he looked around. He was face down, he saw, and successfully in that dimension Raiden had sent them to before. At length, he sensed his companions, and heard their groans.

"_Fuck_," Kenpachi hissed somewhere behind him. "Are we dead?"

There was an odd sound that Urahara eventually identified as belonging to Yumichika. "No," the fifth seat responded weakly. "But it looks like everyone else is." There was a scuffling sound, more groaning.

They each sat up. Took stock. While they were doing so, Tessai glanced at his employer and dipped his head in a shaky bow. "That was quick and flashy Kido casting, Urahara-dono."

Urahara inclined his head in turn, but then all of their attention was diverted to what was taking place outside their dimension.

They saw Izamani sailing off with her pet, pleased at her victory. The dimension they occupied did not have the same laws of physics governing its spatial aspects, or they would not have been able to see the goddess traveling the globe and picking off stray pockets of humanity. They _did_ see all this, though, and without having to move from where they sat.

Hitsugaya, silent up to now, lifted a grimy finger and pointed. "Looks like not everyone is dead."

They all looked where he was pointing, to find Akatsuki's bodies, surely destroyed in the Juubi's blast, being reconstructed before their very eyes. And apparently without whatever spell Hiroko had cast over them. They sat up one by one, appeared to converse with each other in low voices, then disappeared in a swirl of parting atmosphere.

While they were still staring at this, Izanami got their attention again. Consequently, they clearly saw when a small white sphere burst into being in front of her face, and who were inside the sphere. Kenpachi shook his head. Byakuya and Urahara frowned. Jinta cheered long and loud.

Whatever Ryota did next, it was an exceptionally powerful Kido, Urahara surmised. Even removed as they were, they were forced to shield their eyes. When next they looked, the Juubi was dead, and the triplets nearly unconscious. Izanami, at first thought vaporized, proved to be alive and well, and more furious than ever. The triplets wouldn't stand a chance, not after that expenditure of energy.

"She needs to be stopped," Byakuya murmured. He cut his eyes at Urahara. "I saw what else you did when you commandeered our reiatsu. Can you get to them?"

"Demon and the others?" Urahara asked. Byakuya declined to comment. "I can get to the Underworld, thanks to the link I established, yes, but not to everyone. Only Demon."

"I wasn't referring to the dead, but the living," Byakuya clarified. "Raiden and Aimi are the only ones who have a reasonable chance of defeating Izanami." _And are the only ones who can send us back to Seireitei._

"Oh, I don't know about that," Kenpachi grinned. "I say we gang up on the bitch and handle her ourselves. Unleash Hell, Shinigami style. Besides, those kids weren't strong enough to handle the other gods, and Izanami is a hundred times more powerful than they were, I'm thinking. Who's to say Raiden and Aimi are even in a condition to fight? Now _me_, on the other hand…" He was practically slavering in anticipation as he struggled to his feet.

Urahara had to agree with Kenpachi. "Izanami's presence here _would_ seem to indicate complete victory elsewhere. If Raiden and Aimi were even remotely a threat, I don't think she'd be here."

Ikkaku finally decided to contribute with a snort. "What was the point of you casting that tether to Demon, then?"

And here Urahara smiled. "Because. While Demon and those with him are dead, they aren't _completely_ dead. At least…from what I can sense through the tether, they're in some kind of holding pattern, some kind of temporary existence between life and true death. I think I can get to him. Perhaps he can-"

Yumichika hushed him quickly, looking at where Izanami was about to deal the finishing blow to the triplets. "Something's happening."

More than that. Someone had appeared.

* * *

Willow stood still, noticeably serene in the face of such power. Her white hair was the only thing on her to move, where it tossed fitfully in the occasional gusts of wind still blowing about.

Izanami hardly needed the woman's name to remember her; Willow was recognizable by her essence. The same quality that had allowed her to enter the Underworld before was now coursing through her mortal being in markedly increased amounts.

Magic. Something almost non-existent here, but which seemed to be in abundance on other worlds and in other realities.

Izanami said nothing at first, choosing, instead, to take in everything about this most unwelcome development. Every atom of Willow's person was scrutinized to the finest degree, but she could find no weakness to exploit, no chink where her mortality could be accessed. If was almost as if the woman herself was made of magic. That discovery tightened Izanami's lips.

How well she remembered this particular mortal and the sheer effrontery of her to request a soul from her realm. The woman had then returned with not one, but two people to assist her, one of whom had been Raiden himself.

Izanami suddenly saw a possible way to avoid what she saw as a looming conflict: It could conceivably be argued that this woman was the reason she'd even learned of Raiden, which had led to all the events that followed, which had _then_ resulted in the currently powerful status she, Izanami, enjoyed. She could… reward the woman by offering a union. Yes, and that, in turn, could be profitable. Nothing untoward need happen here at all. Besides, there was one little fact she'd been persistently ignoring, but which could not be avoided:

Willow was more powerful than the Boy of Light.

A statement had been made, a desire to see if Izanami could be stopped. This statement was ignored, _had _to be ignored. At such a time as this, it was best to eschew violence in favor of diplomacy, Izanami decided.

Her decision made, she prepared to extend the hand of peace by smiling beatifically. "Welcome…Willow."

-oOo-

Aware now that fighting wasn't imminent, at least for the moment, Willow dropped her eyes to her sons. They were bloody, battered, and exhausted, but they gazed up at her with wide, shining eyes. Just looking at them, and at the evidence of what they'd been through, put tears in her eyes. Keeping one eye on Izanami, she knelt down, hesitated, then uncertainly held her arms out.

Masaru flew to her first, rocking her backward before she could steady herself. "Hey, honey-" she gasped in surprise.

"_You_ _came_," he ground out roughly. "You came for us. You _do _love us. _Mom!_" And here Masaru, stoic throughout everything he'd been through, at last broke down and cried.

It was almost too much for her. Willow held him tightly, aware that this son had hated her, and that he was forgiving her for abandoning them. "I never stopped loving you, sweetie. Never." She stroked his hair, his shivering back, any part of him she could reach.

-oOo-

At learning that these were Willow's children, the smile Izanami had painstakingly held in place faltered. Bad enough, Willow's power. That she had apparently moved against the woman's children could not bode well, not at all. She considered a retreat. _No! No matter how powerful, she is still mortal. I am a goddess. The most powerful goddess. _Better if she attacked Willow now, while her guard was down.

-oOo-

"Don't go, Mom, okay?" Masaru hiccuped into her neck. He tried to hide his tears in her skin. "Don't go. Dad's gone."

Willow pursed her lips at feeling a spike in Izanami's power, still stroking his sturdy back. _I have to end this reunion soon. _But she'd missed her babies. They needed her now, she could tell, and it was so hard to let go. She saw her other two boys watching their brother in open-mouthed shock, and held out an arm to them, beckoning them quickly. They bounced over to her and she held all three of them, silent for the time being. _I'm whole again. No…Yanagi…_ She closed her eyes against that pain, swallowing hard.

Ryota did not honor the silence. He picked his head up after hurriedly planting kisses on her collarbone, and fixed her with bright blue eyes. "You sneaky witch, you! You put a binding spell on us that time we came to your world, didn't you?"

"Guilty," she smiled sadly.

_The ties that bind you will be your greatest strength, _Ryota remembered. It felt like years ago when Jiraiya-sensei had said that. Recalling it, he thought maybe he understood it, and smiled radiantly. "You saved us."

Kei looked on in confusion. Masaru only held his mother, head turned from his brothers, as he stared up at Izanami.

"You asked me to come with you then," Willow explained. "I couldn't, but I did perform a little spell, binding you to me. You mentioned then that a lot of trouble was coming your way. The spell allowed me to sense when your lives were in danger. Real danger, imminent death…" Willow had to swallow again, as grief overcame her. She hadn't been able to get to Yanagi in time. She could only appear if she had some warning of the danger; the spell to traverse dimensions took time. Yanagi's life had been snuffed so suddenly, that Willow had only been halfway through the spell when it happened. Anguish had clutched her heart, scattering her concentration. She'd needed to start the spell all over again several times before she'd finally been able to see it through. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save your sister," she whispered brokenly. "I tried to get here in time."

That only served to remind them that their father and everyone else was dead too. Kei cried openly into her shoulder. Masaru clung to her grimly, and Ryota hitched in a sick little breath of renewed fright. They were so _alone_ in the world now, Ryota thought. Mom _had_ to take them with her, she just had to. Where else did they have to go?

Willow released them with a sigh and a last squeeze. It was with some wonder that the boys discovered themselves healed of all injuries.

Masaru wiped his face with his hands, and stared at his mother. He couldn't say that he forgave her for _everything_, but he was willing to try. His resentment was mostly gone in the face of her presence at this final hour. Besides, she was all they had left. "What's going to happen now?" he asked quietly. "Will you bring Dad and the others back?"

"I wish I could, sweetie." Willow got to her feet, her clothes miraculously untouched by sitting in the dirt. "But bringing the dead back to life isn't something I can do here, not even with my increased magicks."

The boys looked at each other. Kei asked, "Are we going back with you, then?"

But Ryota was watching the way their mother was turning to face Izanami, taking in her clothes as if for the first time. "She's here to take out that bitch." He grinned broadly. "That's why you're all old-looking, right Mom?"

"Language," Willow chided. "And I like to call this my goddess mode."

Willow turned her head then, sensing something. She said an incantation that had her boys winking out of sight and out of harm's way. _Time to get this show on the road._

The triplets reappeared in the midst of the gaping Shinigami.

-oOo-

Izanami had listened to everything in silence, wisely opting, at the last minute, not to attack Willow with her children present. That would have been disastrous. Seeing her face now, as she finally sent her children away, she had to conclude that Willow did not seem amenable to a peaceful resolution to the hostilities she appeared to be feeling. Izanami did not truly believe she would _lose_, powerful as she was, but what followed was sure to be unpleasant. _Diplomacy_, she reminded herself. "I have no quarrel with you," she offered. "I advise that you take your children and leave. I will allow this," she said graciously.

"Would you be willing to give back the souls you've taken as well?" Willow asked.

At that, Izanami frowned. "Never."

Willow shrugged, as if to say, _Well, there you have it._ She took a measured step forward.

* * *

There had been a wild display of screaming and cheering from the souls of the shinobi when Willow made her appearance. This changed to perfect silence while she'd been speaking to the triplets. Now they all watched with bated breath to see the outcome of such a fight.

Gaara, who stood with Itachi, turned now to the dark-haired man. "I didn't know it was possible to experience an erection while dead."

Enjoying the same phenomenon, Itachi's eyes remained on Willow. "Neither did I."

"Do you think she'll win?"

"Willow? I certainly hope so. It would almost make up for everything, were Izanami finally beaten."

Yanagi stood in front of her father, gazing upward at her mother along with everyone else. Gaara gave her shoulders a little squeeze now as he said, "At least the triplets will be safe with her. She _must_ take them back."

"They'll be safe _if_ Willow wins. If not…" Itachi frowned. "I wish I knew where she sent them. I can't see them anywhere."

"Perhaps she sent them back to her world already?"

Itachi shook his head, watching the scene above.

* * *

Willow had no intention of initiating the fight. Not if she could help it. Grief over the deaths of Yanagi and Gaara were strong motivators to blindly lash out against Izanami, but she hesitated. She could see for herself what was left of this world; the kind of power needed to destroy an entire planet was not something she wanted to rush up against. She was powerful, yes, and she'd gone up against a god before when she hadn't even been close to as powerful as she was now. But Glory was nothing compared to Izanami, she was thinking. Izanami…she was the real deal. _I might be screwed here…_

-oOo-_  
_

Beyond deducing that Willow's magic was of an elemental nature, and thus different from Wyatt's hereditary magic, Izanami could think of no immediate strategy that would allow her to overpower the woman. She refused to think of them as equal, and yet…the power throbbing in Willow was pure in its intensity, unfiltered through any medium common to mortals. Raw, undiluted, it reminded Izanami of the fact that the last time she'd been a living goddess, she had died. That she _could_ die. And with that thought, she flew at Willow, intent on ending the matter once and for all.

Willow barely got an energy shield up in time, which did little good. Izanami crashed right through it, and suddenly she was being driven into the earth, with Izanami clawing and tearing at her. A hand hooked into her side, into her ribs and _ripped_ free. Willow screamed.

* * *

The Shinigami were able to see this too, though the battle was several hundred feet in the ground. They each held their breath, thinking Izanami had won.

Kei gasped at seeing his mother mauled, and turned his face away. Masaru looked down, unable to think of losing his mother too.

Ryota squinted his eyes to see past the sudden eruption of his mother's blood. He alone had been able to sense the amount of magic in her, and so had an inkling as to what it would take to finish her, and just barely an inkling at that; he could barely wrap his mind around the power his mother had, much less calculate it to any degree. Still, he didn't think a paltry wound like that would decide things. The scream made him wince, but sure enough…

* * *

Izanami was blown back as Willow's body exploded. Light blasted out of the hole their collision had made, making Izanami wince where she'd fallen. Willow soared out of it, completely healed and glowing with power. She hovered in the sky a moment, glaring down at the goddess, before she swooped in for the attack. Growling, Izanami leapt up and met her halfway.

Either the goddess shrank, or Willow grew, but they were seen to be of equal size as their blows and magical strikes shuddered through earth and sky. The wounds were terrible, but goddess and witch alike were able to heal themselves as the battle raged. In the Underworld and alternate dimension alike breaths were held, and hearts were clutched. The screams from the dueling women were terrifying, but not quite as bad as the destruction their confrontation caused the already damaged world.

They grappled. Izanami was clearly frenzied in her blood lust, but whenever they latched on to each other, Willow attempted to analyze her opponent. Contact with Izanami's godly person invariably had her own magicks humming strongly in response. Whether this was due to the threat Izanami posed, or because some part of her craved that power, Willow didn't know. She only knew that physically, even altered so they were matched in size, she was no match for her. The unpleasant way her power reacted to Izanami made her keep her distance as much as possible.

For some time it seemed Izanami had the upper hand, and Willow only barely managed to hold her own. The sun climbed slowly in the sky throughout the thunderous impact of magic clashing with divine powers, however, and it seemed that at last Willow was hitting her stride, and throwing back the attacks with greater speed and accuracy. It was clear that she struggled. That she'd never gone up against anyone this formidable. But it was also noted how quickly she adapted, and how she was never caught unawares by the same attack twice. To those watching, life-long fighters themselves, it made them tense and grunt where they stood, longing to shout encouragement, warnings, or advice. If they'd had the power they would gladly have traded places with Willow, whose gentle nature and peaceful spirit were evident despite the fury with which she fought. They could tell by a hesitation on her part here, or a wince of uncertainty there, that fighting so physically was not her forte.

The advantage thought to be had by Izanami proved to be nothing more than her arrogance. Willow was mortal, therefore an overwhelming display of brute strength would be enough to finish her. This was what the watching shinobi and Shinigami saw in Izanami's reckless attacks. She, too, had never gone up against anyone as powerful as Willow, but where this made the witch cautious, it only made Izanami, with her long millennia as an untouchable deity, grow wild and erratic with rage. Her advantage began slipping.

Willow pressed her attack, hair swirling as she engineered a steep dive toward Izanami, and hands crackling with power.

Shockwaves of cataclysmic proportions churned clouds and sky, leveled landscapes. Whole mountains were flung, shattered, and the pieces used as missiles. Willow solidified the oceans to a consistency capable of swallowing Izanami, only to have Izanami break free and cause a twister of earth, water, rock, and wind to envelope the witch and scatter her powers. On and on they fought, tearing the world, tearing each other.

Despite how the upper hand swung from witch to goddess and back, one thing was very clear: Izanami was _not _winning.

* * *

At length Raiden found the energy to sit up. This caused Aimi to move from where she'd been pillowing her head on his hip, but he carefully maneuvered Wyatt so that his head was cushioned in his lap. He smoothed the wavy hair from Wyatt's brow, leaned down and planted a soft kiss on his forehead, and made sure Excalibur was still in Wyatt's grasp. Only then did he look up, trying to see his surroundings.

Aimi lounged on her stomach, her head propped heavily on her hands. "How long do you think the shield will last?" she asked quietly.

Raiden was in the process of wondering that same thing. He squinted up at it, then shook his head. "No idea. But…"

"But what?"

Raiden tried to put his thoughts into words. "I sort of picked up some impressions from him when he landed. Something…something about his shield draining his family or…something like that. I don't know. I was half dead and out of my mind. Maybe I imagined it."

Aimi somberly gazed at Wyatt's face. Abruptly she burst into full-blown tears, burying her face in her arms as she tried, quite unsuccessfully, to muffle her sobs. Raiden gaped at her. "I'm sorry!" she wailed. "I'm sorry, I did it again, I m-messed up and now we're _stuck_ here! Wyatt tried to save us and now he's d-d-d-"

"Don't you say it," Raiden said harshly. "Don't you dare say it. He is _not_ dead."

"He's as good as!" Aimi all but shrieked, sitting up suddenly. "And now that Izanami's up there with all her power she'll probably destroy the whole world, and I don't know if…I don't know if Daddy and Papa and the rest will be able to stop her! What if they can't? What if-" Her hands flew up to cover her mouth as she squeaked, "Oh God…what if we really are stuck here? _Forever_?"

It occurred to Raiden that for whatever reason, Aimi had no idea that Pop was already dead. Or that before Izanami took out the world, she'd most definitely finish off the rest of the army, which was to say it was a safe bet that their dad was dead too. Just the thought froze him solid inside, but he didn't tell her these things. Instead, he shrugged and looked back at Wyatt's face. "_Please_. Forever, my ass. We'd starve to death long before then, or Izanami will come back and finish us off." He glanced up. "Or this shield will run out."

Aimi sniffed loudly, swiping an arm at the mucus running down her face. "What are we going to d-do?"

"Think the time for doing is past," he said quietly. "We fucked up. Royally. Failed everyone. Fuck. FUCK!" he yelled.

"We'll think of something," Aimi said as she scooted closer to him. "You will, at least. You always come up with a plan."

Raiden shook his head. _Not this time, _he wanted to say. Looking around once more, it hit him all over again that they were caught and powerless. That anyone who could save them was gone. Dead or close to it, like Wyatt. It made him feel small. Having always been the most powerful thing in his circle of friends and family, maybe even in the world, he felt oddly humbled just then by the realization that when all was said and done, he and his sister hadn't turned out to be much at all._ Holy fucking God, we are so fucking _fucked_._

* * *

Izanami hurled hurricanes, firestorms, lightning bolts, and pure energy at Willow, and always it was blocked, dodged, or turned against her. Sometimes the battle was airborne. Sometimes the dueling women plunged to the bowels of the Earth, but no matter what Izanami threw out, Willow managed to counter. By the time she realized the counter strikes weren't coming as swiftly as they were before, night had fallen on the devastated world.

-oOo-

Willow threw an invisibility shield around herself and took refuge in one of the deep holes she and Izanami had created.

She was losing. Badly. Her power wasn't limitless, and she'd never been called upon to use it this extensively. At most, she could push things another 25 or 30 minutes, but she only had one or two major healings left in her. The second she lost the strength to heal herself, she'd be history. But then her power was almost gone, anyway, so what did it really matter?

Wherever she was, it was warm. The earthy walls gave off the heat from this world's core so that it baked around her and chased off the chill of fatigue she'd been feeling. Now she just felt intensely tired and dejected.

* * *

"Mom," Ryota whispered, as if she could hear him. "Don't give up now."

The Shinigami exchanged a glance as Izanami could be seen screaming and searching for Willow.

* * *

_I've come full circle, _Willow thought as she watched an earthworm wriggle out of the dirt near her hand. _Started out as a loser, and now I'm ending as one. _She'd failed Buffy once, and had never been forgiven for it. Failed Gaara by leaving him. Failed Yanagi by not saving her, and now she'd gone and failed her sons.

There really was only one way to defeat Izanami, and she supposed she'd known it all along.

She took an extra moment to go over alternatives. There were none. Thinking of her boys, though, she thought she might just break down then and there. One of them had asked if she was taking them back with her. She'd refused to answer then, not wanting to get their hopes up, but the idea had taken root in her. She wanted that, she realized. It had been right to leave them with their father, but now that her children had no one else, she wanted them with her more than anything. Unlike Yanagi, she'd spent time with her boys. She remembered feeding them, changing them, and sleeping with them snuggled between her, Gaara, and Itachi. Having them back would be like finally getting her _life_ back on track.

But she couldn't do that. She didn't have enough strength now to perform the spell that would take them all back to her world, and she would not leave her boys to face the threat of Izanami without first doing everything in her power to finish her.

Willow slowly got to her feet and brushed the tears from her cheeks.

-oOo-

Izanami finally gave up and glared malevolently at her ruined surroundings. Far off in the distance, she could see some kind of magical barrier erected, and realized she was back at what was once Konoha.

She was winning. Winning, and the mortal scab she'd been fighting had turned and run, utterly disgracing herself. If the witch thought for one moment that Izanami would show mercy now, she was sadly mistaken, the goddess mused. She would locate Willow, and take great pleasure in consuming her piece by piece. In bathing in her blood. Then, oh then she would put Willow's soul in a special place in the Underworld, where her screams of agony would echo for the rest of time.

But first she had to find her.

She couldn't sense her, but that meant nothing. Probably the wretch's magic at work. Izanami wondered, weak as Willow seemed to be now, just how much longer the magic would last. If-

"Looking for someone?"

Izanami spun around in a cloud of midnight hair and flashing silver eyes. "You."

"Me," Willow said simply.

Izanami's eyes narrowed as she tried to decide if this was some sort of trick. The woman was going to leave herself wide open like this? _Well, she is drained of her power, it seems. Perhaps she's accepted her demise. _

Willow did shoot a few bars of energy at her, but these were so pitiful and easily deflected, that they could scarcely be called attacks. Immediately after firing them, Willow's hair went from white to red. She fell gracefully to the ground, apparently completely drained.

At that, Izanami smiled.

She could hardly contain her glee. The pleasure of sauntering over to the fallen woman was such that she laughed aloud. "Victory," she purred as she lifted a godly foot to crush Willow with, "is sweet indeed. Wouldn't you say?" Without waiting for an answer, she brought her foot down with enough force to flatten a mountain.

* * *

"_Mom_!" The triplets screamed.

* * *

Gaara silently covered Yanagi's streaming eyes with one hand, while Itachi squeezed his shoulder. Moans of dismay could be heard rippling through the rest of the shinobi; their last hope had just been snuffed out.

* * *

Izanami's smile slowly turned to a frown of confusion as she exerted pressure through her foot. Something was blocking her, but when she tried to withdraw her foot, the same something held it with considerable strength. Looking down, she saw a head of black hair emerging from beneath her foot at the same time that a pair of completely black eyes regarded her with cold contempt. By the time she realized that this veiny creature and Willow were one and the same, she'd begun to register something else that should have been impossible:

Her powers were being drained.

"I probably should have told you," Willow said in a vastly deeper voice, "that the same person who wanted to test my theory of invincibility only attempted to do so because of this annoying little habit I have. I keep sucking up sources of power. Like yours. _Man_, and I thought sucking Giles dry gave me a rush!"

Izanami was suddenly thrown ass over teakettle several miles, by a black blast of crackling lightning. Before she'd even stopped rolling, Willow landed on her and proceeded to actually beat her senseless. Her blows were delivered with a nimbus of pure, dense power crackling around each small fist. _My power, _Izanami thought in pain and confusion. _How is this happening? What is she doin-_

Willow leaned down into the large, slack face. "Like I asked Giles…who's your supplier?"

Instead of giving her a chance to answer, Willow cracked a diabolical grin and proceeded to have fun.

* * *

Urahara frowned at the way earth and sky seemed to obey Willow's command. Lightning stabbed down into Izanami again and again, strange purple lightning surrounded by flames and black reiatsu he belatedly recognized as Raiden's. Or similar to Raiden's. What disturbed him was the sheer savage enjoyment Willow derived from what she was doing. If she had the power to kill Izanami, why didn't she simply do it and get it over with?

A hand touched his shoulder. It was Byakuya. "We need to get to those children," he said. His eyes never left Willow. "Get to them, or Demon, or whoever you can, but we cannot simply remain as spectators. No matter who wins, we're not safe here. And neither are they." He tipped his head at where the triplets stood awestruck.

The captain for the 6th division was right, Urahara thought. Izanami would eventually sniff them out if she won, and there was no telling what this dark Willow would do if she turned out to be the victor.

"Keep in mind, I've never done anything like this," he warned Byakuya and the other Shinigami. "I cast the tether more by instinct that from any real ability to act on it."

"You said you could get to Demon," Hitsugaya snapped. "Can you or can't you?"

"I think so. But it will take me a while to devise a spell capable of utilizing the tether, and once I do, it will require all of us here to maintain it. Not to mention, we'll have to perform some variation of a Reishihenhanki on this end if Demon is to be restored to his body."

Yumichika glanced at where the bodies of the Jinchuuriki and Rasta-Sasuke were just visible beneath a mound of displaced earth.

"So?" Kenpachi barked to Urahara. "What are you waiting for?"

Urahara sat down and got to work.

* * *

Willow straddled a limp Izanami, who was now shrunk down to mortal size. "This…cannot…be," the goddess wheezed.

In answer to this statement, Willow plunged her hands deep into Izanami's body, leeching and drawing on her power as deeply as she could. The veins in her face thickened, spreading up to her scalp and down her neck, until, unable to contain the amount of power she was taking in, they burst. Now it wasn't only her eyes that were black, but her skin as well, and her hair turned a hard, brittle grey. She wouldn't be able to contain this much power for more than a few seconds, if that, but that was fine, she thought. A few seconds was all she needed.

Izanami's own smooth skin began to shrivel now and darken to brown. She let loose an unearthly shriek that was heard in Heaven and Hell alike.

A sickle smile of blood lust carved a thin white path across Willow's face. During that last second, when she'd taken all she could and while Izanami screamed beneath her, she was gone. Willow Rosenberg was no more, replaced by that dark, hungry part of her that had always felt inadequate, and had consequently always thirsted for power and recognition.

Her hands still elbow deep in the thrashing goddess, Willow let loose all the power she'd siphoned from her, pumping it out in one quick, solid blast that blinded her to everything else. The roar echoed up to the sky and around the globe, sending out a shockwave of energy that traveled galaxies, not just miles. It was only drowned out by Izanami's final shriek.

* * *

In their dimension, the Shinigami yelled in alarm at seeing the huge pillar of dark, swirling power shoot into the sky. The shockwave passed over them like a stiff wind, redolent of ozone.

* * *

In the Underworld, the shockwave was felt more acutely; the place was infused with Izanami's essence. Devoid of it now, the inhabitants felt a subtle shift in their surroundings. As if whatever unseen power that held it in the mystical realm of death had been cut loose.

The souls frowned a moment at feeling this. Then there was complete and utter silence broken only by Yanagi's sniffling. They all gazed upward, waiting to see the outcome of that final strike, and afraid to hope.

-oOo-

The shockwave did blow through the depopulated world. It swept over everything, blowing loose boulders, dirt, trees, and dead bodies high into the air. What was left of the oceans rippled strongly.

Of Willow and Izanami there was no sign. Where they'd lain was now a large crater too deep to see the bottom of.

-oOo-

After a few seconds of numb stillness, the shinobi were beside themselves, yelling and cheering and shouting in fierce joy. A few were more subdued, aware that Izanami's death did not free them. And Itachi, Gaara, and Yanagi stood with their heads bowed.

* * *

Tessai had all three triplets enveloped in a huge hug, trying to sooth them as they cried bitter, heartrending tears.

Urahara, under Byakuya's watchful eye, had not looked up during the rest of the battle or at Izanami's demise. He now carefully placed his hands on the ground in front of him and began to chant.

* * *

Raiden and Aimi stared upward. The shriek scared them, having been the first sound they'd heard down here outside their own voices.

"What was that?" Aimi squeaked.

"Dunno. Sounded like…Izanami."

Their eyes flew to each other. Raiden's were very wide. Aimi had a hand over her mouth, eyes just as wide. "You think?" she whispered.

"I-"

Just then the entire Underworld underwent a mild, rumbling shudder as something roared toward them. "Oh God, what is that?" Aimi quavered. She honestly felt like if she had to endure one more thing, she'd just die.

Raiden turned his head slowly this way and that, searching for the source of the sound. It was getting louder. "Something's coming," he hissed. He started to ease Wyatt's head off his lap, prepared to go down fighting despite his lack of powers, but at that moment, Wyatt's shield shattered into thousands of tiny orb lights as something lanced down on them with all the force of an avalanche.

-oOo-

This had the affect of bringing the shinobi's attention back to the children. Demon and Sasuke screamed. "Raiden! Aimi!"

Both Raiden and Aimi were hidden from view, though. A cyclone of lavender and black churned around them hard enough for even the shinobi to feel it, isolated as they were. "Is that-?" Sasuke breathed.

As abruptly as it arrived, the storm of chakra died away. The last of it drained into the two children, who were laid out beside Wyatt, apparently unconscious.

"Oh God, please," Demon breathed. "No more. No more, please…_please_…my _kids_…"

-oOo-

A few moments of silence. Then…

Raiden's body jerked as he sucked in a convulsive breath. His eyes flew open, and his body underwent a complete transformation right there at the deadly atmosphere it found itself in. He sat up quickly, staring around wildly.

Aimi sat up more slowly, also transformed. She blinked, and had a sphere surrounding them at once, one that kept out the Underworld's atmosphere as effectively as Wyatt's had done. She got to her feet, staring at her hands.

Raiden was staring too, turning his hands over, shooting off little bursts of fire, earth, and water, and forming a Rasengan. "Holy shit," he laughed. "Jesus, we're back!" He looked down quickly, but Wyatt was still out like a light. That had him frowning.

Aimi was staring upward. "Must mean Izanami's dead."

Raiden cocked his head at her. "Huh. Guess so…who do you think did it? Ryota?"

"I don't know. Does this mean the war's over?" she asked uncertainly.

A toothy smile of shock and pleasure spread slowly across Raiden's face as he digested that. "You know? I think it is! Fuck _yes_, we won!"

-oOo-

Sasuke wilted with relief at seeing his children returned to power. It was only a matter of time now before they figured out a way to help everyone else. The war might be won, but things weren't over yet.

* * *

Akatsuki were holed up in a narrow cave in some unknown mountain, one of the few to escape too much damage. They'd heard and seen the fight between Izanami and some white-haired woman, had listened to Izanami's dying scream, and had breathed a collective, heartfelt sigh of relief.

Almost immediately afterward, though, a stiff wind had blown over them. Each of them felt a sense of heaviness settle in them for a moment, and then the wind was gone. In its wake was the knowledge, shared amongst them, that they were once again in possession of their souls. Sans Bijuu. There'd been a few minutes of staring at each other in disbelief. A smile or two. A soft curse from Hidan. Then they'd been quiet.

Madara was the first to venture cautiously outside the cave. He looked around. The sun was about to set, but other than that the sky seemed remarkably clear. There was a heavy smell of ozone in the air, and the ground still shuddered faintly beneath their feet. Beyond that…all seemed unnaturally motionless and quiet. The rest of Akatsuki crept up to stand around him.

"The world has been purified," Madara said calmly. "Can you feel it? Not a soul left alive, nor so much as an animal or fish. Pure. Washed clean."

"We're the only people on this rock?" Hidan breathed. "Period?" For some reason every male eye went directly to Konan then. All except Madara's.

"Yes," Madara answered. "And now it is ours to shape as we see fit."

"But there are no _people_," Hidan complained. "There's no one to _shape_, no one to kill-"

"And no one to oppose us," Madara said. "Raiden and Aimi are dead, which makes us the most powerful beings alive-"

"The _only_ beings alive," Hidan muttered.

"And who knows," Madara continued comfortably. "Perhaps there are one or two souls to be found somewhere. We will look. In time. For now, let me enjoy this peace."

* * *

"I think we should try and get out of here," Raiden said at length.

Aimi nodded, then proceeded to stare at her brother expectantly.

"Since I'm not the one with Izanagi," Raiden intoned slowly with a roll of his eyes, "It's going to have to be you."

Aimi's white eyebrows drew together over her puzzled yellow eyes. "Can't we just fold?"

"Go ahead and try." Raiden waited patiently while she grunted through at least three attempts, then said, "Izanami controls the Underworld, even though she's probably dead. I could no more fold _to_ this place than we can fold ourselves out of it. Same goes for Booming. Has to be Izanagi. Reality manipulation type thing, I'm thinking."

"Oh." Now that she'd had the problem presented to her, it seemed obvious.

Using her awareness of higher dimensions, she was able to come to a rudimentary estimation of where, in the grand design of things, the Underworld was located. Studying the ephemeral 'map' of realities and dimensions that only she could see, Aimi came to the conclusion that the Underworld was similar to wherever Wyatt had been when she and Raiden had been attacked by those gods. Nowhere, in other words. Outside time, space, and reality. No wonder she couldn't fold herself out. "This is going to be tricky," she murmured, studying the map and her powers intently. Without another word, she held out her hand, seeking their link.

Raiden grasped it, bending down to lay a hand on Wyatt as well. "You can get all three of us out of here, right?"

Aimi chewed her lower lip with her fangs. "No. It'll probably drain us both just to get _me_ out. But once I _am_ out, I think it'll be easier for me to get _you_ out. Hopefully."

"How? You won't even be able to sense me, and once we're separated, this place will sever our link."

Now that she wasn't stressed, and had nothing to worry about but a simple link with her brother, Aimi smiled. Her dimples were prominent and her teeth seemed very white in their dim surroundings. Raiden felt his heart contract at seeing this. He'd missed her smile. It seemed like a long time since she'd been really happy and it hit him again that they'd actually won. _But Pop and Dad…_

He blinked, focusing on one thing at a time.

"I think I can manage the link," she said. And Raiden felt their connection warp and shift painfully. Under Aimi's manipulation, their link underwent some kind of buzzing upgrade…something that had him gasping and dizzy and sinking weakly to his knees. Aimi made an adjustment, and Raiden's head cleared a bit. "Better?" she asked.

"Just hurry," he said between his teeth. "And make sure you bring me _and_ Wyatt. If you leave him I'll rip your fucking head off."

Aimi nodded, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

He watched her, feeling the effort hum through her and into himself via the link. And then she was pulling strongly on his chakra, sucking him dry, killing him. He thought maybe he was screaming, but honestly his entire body went up in a flare of agony so bright that he couldn't even think, much less hear. When he _was_ able to open his eyes, she was gone…and the link was still in place. Faint, but there, and blessedly painless.

"Whew." Wiping sweat from his brow, he reached to tug Wyatt and Excalibur more securely into his grip, only to have the sword repel his hand with a flash of stinging light. Frowning now, Raiden moved it telekinetically and settled down to wait, arms securely around Wyatt.

Finally, the nightmare was over. They were going home. Izanami was toast, Akatsuki was…wherever. Hopefully with their souls. He would track them, pop up at their location, and send them to kingdom come in less than two minutes. _Home. Don't worry, _he thought as he squeezed Wyatt tighter. _We'll get you patched up too. My life-saving Angel._

He could more or less 'see' what Aimi was seeing through their link. He was there with her as she stood in what was once Konoha, turning in a slow circle of complete shock at the destruction. Eventually, she began walking towards some kind of barrier she spotted in the distance.

There were changes coming through the link, disruptions in Aimi's happy feelings as she looked down and saw-

"Oh God." Raiden suddenly remembered that their parents were probably dead, and that Aimi was alone up there and…"Oh…shit…" he looked up frantically, as if this would make her able to hear him. "_AIMI!_"


	65. Aimi

A/N: Editing this chapter took several days, during which it was discovered that a few parts needed to be re-written for clarity's sake. That took another few days. I'm sorry for the delay, though it wasn't as bad as the previous one.

I'll respond to reviews as soon as I can.

There's art of all the trainees up on the Facebook page, as well as Aimi from this chap.

Happy holidays, once again.

* * *

Aimi

Aimi punched through the Underworld's resistant atmosphere, into the reality of her own, and had to restrain a buoyant _whoop_ of delight.

She would never have believed it possible to feel anything so light and frivolous as simple happiness after the literal hell she'd been through over the past few months –not to mention the past several hours. And yet she was. It was wonderful to know that it was over, and they'd survived. Nothing else bad would happen; all she had to do was bring her brother and Wyatt home and they could be reunited with Papa and Daddy, she thought giddily. So, yes. She was happy.

Altering the link enough to leave the Underworld had been a cinch. Everything seemed fine and easy when she wasn't scared out of her mind or tired enough to pass out. Still happy, she took the time once she'd surfaced to assess Raiden before bringing him. The strength needed to actually leave the Underworld had necessitated her pulling heavily on both the link and him. He _seemed_ fine, once she'd studied him a few moments. And the link was intact.

Feeling another surge of happiness at this further success, she blinked, dispelling her image of him, and noticed her surroundings for the first time. Her head turned expectantly this way and that, eyes peeled for her daddy's blond hair or her papa's white smile. Surely they would be close by? Celebrating victory with everyone else, and happy to see her?

Her own ready smile faded. Temporarily forgetting Raiden, it was a long, suspended moment before Aimi understood just what she was seeing. Memory of how the world had looked before she and Raiden fought the gods returned to her then, and her budding frown smoothed out…only to come back deeper than before at discovering no one around. "Hello? Papa? Daddy?" she called out. There was no answer. The sound of her voice made her feel very lonely.

Everything was so _still_. Unnaturally so. And different. She could feel it on her skin. It was in the air she breathed, in the way it reeked of ozone. The world felt…empty. Dead. Life, something she'd taken for granted in all its infinite varieties, seemed utterly absent from her surroundings. This still, silent, dead and waiting quality frightened her badly. "Papa?" she called again, voice quavering. "Daddy?" She tried sensing them, and came up empty. Then she tried sensing anyone she knew… anyone at all.

Nothing.

No one.

She'd secretly expected to feel people _somewhere_, but to _no_ one? At all? Fear came in earnest then, like an ocean tide that gradually covered her happiness. _There must be someone somewhere. My daddies are with them, wherever they are. _In the hush of night, her rapid breathing seemed very loud, as did her escalating heartbeat. "H-hello? Please?"

Only the ruined landscape, and the star-studded, moonless sky above.

At length she noticed a bright shape in the distance. From where she stood, she could recognize it as one of the Shinigami barriers. Somewhat encouraged, she began walking in that direction, albeit uncertainly. Where _was_ everyone? How could everyone just disappear?

There was a foot half buried in the dirt.

Right. Of _course_. People had been dead by the thousands even before she and Raiden had been sucked into the Underworld. _But that didn't mean that _everyone_ was dead, _Aimi thought with a frantic little flutter of her heart. _There are people still alive…there have to be. _

An icy hand of dread clutched at her insides, making breathing difficult. The tide of fear was higher now. Somewhere in her mind, or through their link, she sensed Raiden calling her, trying to get her attention, but she ignored him. It was suddenly imperative that she find her parents. Forcing herself to look ahead at the barrier, she went on. Whatever she'd expected to see upon surfacing, it wasn't this. Not this total absence of life.

Trembling as she was, the kido barrier was now the sole focus of her attention. Having it as a goal helped steady her. She kept her eyes on it, senses wide open, but she couldn't make herself walk any faster than her hesitant progress. She just couldn't. Because although she was guaranteed to find the answer to where everyone was when she reached the barrier, she was horribly afraid of what that answer would be. Terribly afraid she already knew. Her eyes got rounder and wider as that hand in her chest squeezed tighter and tighter. Her heart hammered painfully against her ribs, while her hands and face were ice cold.

Though she kept her eyes straight ahead, and though she worked hard at not looking, the odd body part or corpse caught her attention. Here and there were some she even recognized. Bits and pieces of memory floated in her mind in disorganized pictures: that woman had sewn her first dress for her. That Jounin had been on a mission with her papa a few years back. Little things like that. She registered small bodies, realized that women and children whom Raiden had evacuated were apparently among the dead, and sent her mind questing after the dimension he'd sent them to. There, she sensed the triplets and the Shinigami, but by then she was laboring under an impending weight of understanding that she struggled mightily to hold at bay.

On she went.

Still laboring under a disjointed, fragmented, and broken mindset as her brain and heart warred against each other. She felt as if little pieces of herself were breaking away with each new body she saw, only to reattach themselves in some wrong way. Her mind insisted that if everyone was dead then her daddy, her papa… but her heart stubbornly refused to accept this. She maintained her feverish grip on hope with all the tenacity of that rising tide of fear. It was no longer a tide at this point, but a huge, towering wave that inched closer and closer to completely obliterating her thought processes. The closer she got to that barrier, and thus the truth, the closer that wave came.

* * *

Sasuke watched her grim march and groped for Demon's hand. "What do you think she'll do when she finds out?" he asked quietly. They were all quiet, very aware that something –some momentous thing- was playing out before their eyes.

Demon shook his head. "I don't know." His glance went to Raiden, who had his face turned upward. The kid's expression was one of extreme tension. "But I don't think it will be good. You know her best…what do you think?"

It seemed the souls with them all pressed forward to hear his response, but Sasuke was a long time answering. Finally, he shook his head as a small shudder went through him. "I don't think we're getting out of here."

* * *

Caught between Aimi's brain and her heart were a few patchy memories of training.

"_Despite your ruthless and violent tendencies, you are the least warlike of the students. You have uncertainties and insecurities that crop up in stressful situations and it is __past __time you got over them," _her granny Mikoto has admonished her_. _

That made her stop for a minute. _I'm always so afraid. _It was a humbling thing to realize about oneself, especially alone in the middle of a blasted landscape, but she made herself say it out loud. "I'm not a brave person." She stood there, in her torn buckskins, and looked down at herself. There were cuts and bruises on her. Injuries she hadn't thought to heal upon the return of her chakra. Nor did she do so now. To heal herself would be to admit that there could be something else to fight. The thought made her eyes water. She preferred to hope that her parents were up ahead; they could take care of her. _Please, please let this be over. I just want my daddies._

Hands fisted over her midsection to keep them from shaking, she pressed on.

But then she remembered her granny Kushina speaking to her and Raiden both. _"Master yourselves," _she'd told them sternly_. "Heal yourselves when necessary and continue. You are the target here. Akatsuki will come after you. Everyone else here is just a shield. Ultimately it will come down to you two, so don't complain. Feel guilt, as you should, and grow stronger."_

Oh, how guilty she felt now, seeing the desolation around her and knowing it was on her behalf!

And another memory, also from her granny Kushina.

_"My method is severe yet simple. I do not train the body. I train your mind. Mind over matter: what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve. The prowess of a ninja lies in discipline. Discipline comes from will, and will is enforced by the mind. A strong mind means a strong ninja. A ninja who tells himself he can't do something will fail. Always." _Her granny Kushina had said that to all of them, near the beginning of training.

_But I can't face this, _she thought. At the same time, another part of her insisted that there was nothing to face. Her parents and whoever else had survived would be up ahead somewhere. Every atom in her body strained toward this belief, willing it to be so, even as the tears finally spilled over her white lashes.

Another body. Hyuuga, by eyes. Remembering her grandmother's words, she thought, _We failed anyway_. _Papa, where _are_ you?_

-oOo-_  
_

Some distance yet from the barrier, she saw a group of bodies. Different from the other dead people.

Familiar.

She could feel Raiden clamoring frantically for her attention, before she deliberately muted her ability to sense him. The link was still there, vibrating with his agitation, but just then she made everything in her go still. There was nothing but her towering fear now, the jagged pieces of her dawning realization, and the ambiguity of hope and dread she tried to keep at bay. Tried and failed.

Something drew her to one body in particular. Some…thing, some invisible bond that she'd always associated with warm liquid, the blistering presence of Kyuubi, and the sound of a strong, steady heartbeat all around her. Safety. Security. Love.

The body was almost completely covered by a mound of dirt. Burned to some extent. She could tell the difference between chakra burn and fire burn, but really that didn't matter. The hair on that head was blond. She could see other blond corpses strewn in the immediate vicinity, also partially buried, but she knew which one this was. None of the others wore a ponytail. Just this one. Just her daddy.

Her daddy.

It was strange, how the fear and other emotions bubbled dangerously inside her, but only for a second. Something in her broke, broke beyond repair, and that saved her for the moment, from losing herself completely. In that one blank moment, chakra flooded out of her as she reversed Time for her daddy. Reversed, reversed…and he remained where he was, unmoving.

In the aftermath of this attempt, she was slightly winded. The dirt around her daddy had been displaced, but he and those around him remained the same. Suddenly wildly afraid now, she turned to her link with Raiden and attempted to Pull him. She Pulled with all her strength, grunting and quivering with the effort, but her brother did not appear by her side. It was like trying to pull something immovable, some gargantuan weight that was too great for even her inhuman strength. Apparently, the Underworld was someplace you could break out of, if you had the strength, but which no one could _break_ you out of.

A confusion of information passed from her brother to her, through the link: he'd pulled their papa. _Yes, but he'd been using Willow's magic too, _she thought. _I don't have magic. Oh Raiden!_

Eviscerating fear swarmed over her mind, then. Her brother was lost to her, and she couldn't fix her daddy. Fear, but no real understanding. Not yet. With this rush of adrenaline, her already heightened senses seemed to sharpen further. She became aware of the wind, how it tossed her white hair against her face, how it smelled, how faint grains of dirt blew over her father's corpse.

And then even the fear she'd been feeling was gone, to be replaced with a blankness that was almost welcoming. Almost…

…because her head slowly turned, directed by some force outside herself, as she felt/sensed something else. She had no memory of folding, but apparently she did.

The kido barrier posed no trouble for her, but when she entered it, the contact with her chakra had it dissipating with a _whoosh_ and a faint breeze of displaced wind. She stood looking at the rows and rows of dead, trying to ignore the subtle and _insidious_ pull to one body in particular… before resolutely placing one foot in front of the other.

She walked absently, guided by that pull, until she reached a blackened shape. Ranked with the others, it was unremarkable in any way save for how severely it had been burned. It was dead, emphatically so, and yet…she could feel some faint, barely-there affinity to it, much as she had to the blond corpse. Thus unable to tell herself there was some mistake, she gazed at it. Stared and stared, smelling the faint aroma of charred flesh that still hung around it, and noting the few strands of hair that clung to the scalp. Black hair. Glossy.

A sword lay beside the body, one she'd seen countless times. A sword she would recognize anywhere.

It was her papa. Her parents were dead. Dead, and unretrievable.

The truth came with little fanfare in her. Something in her had known, the moment she'd seen the lack of survivors, that her parents might have passed Onward. A minute ticked by, wherein she was free of every emotion she could have felt at such a time, much as she had been upon discovering her daddy.

There was a hint of bewilderment to her mind just then. An inability to understand what had happened and how. She had no real experience with death other than as something that could be fixed. It could be reversed. Always. That she could not do so now, the fact that she was well and truly alone, and could not even bring her brother, was too large and unfathomable a concept to entertain.

But then quite abruptly this confusion ceased to matter. The fragmented mindset she'd been toiling under shattered apart. It was blasted to nothingness by a rush of grief, pain, and rage so intense that it carried her mind away with it, and she was no more.

And yet, there was silence. _She_ was silent, and the silence of the dead was undisturbed.

She did not let out her grief. Her rage was too great for her to succumb to anything just then, not even the unbelievable weight of her pain. She only stared at her beloved papa with dry, yellow eyes. Took in the expression of anguish on his blackened features, and let it feed her rage, her pain, and her voiceless grief. He had suffered. She had failed, and he had _suffered_.

Denied an outlet, her grief turned inward. Ravenous and ravening, it was, feeding off anything and everything that was Uzumaki Aimi with heedless disregard for consequences. There was no thought to possibly finding a solution to her dilemma. There _was_ no solution, no need to breathe and try to think. It fed with abandon on all her softness, her girlish ways, her happiness at simple things. The sweet disposition, her readiness to laugh. Her love for her parents and her brother especially, as this hurt the most. And it did not stop there. It took hope. Mercy. Duty. Honor. Morals. Everything.

And still her grief was hungry. It could not be sated.

Amidst thousands of dead bodies, the lone survivor of a terrible calamity lifted its soulless eyes skyward.

* * *

Raiden hugged Wyatt closer to his body, as he stared toward his sister. The realization that they were stuck down here had come as a terrible shock. He wanted to scream at Aimi to calm down, that they were _not_ stuck. She just needed to stop thinking of Dad long enough to concentrate. She could do it, he was sure, if only she'd get out of her own fucking way long enough, but then she'd seen Pop…

It was no use. His sister had the strongest mind he'd ever seen, and yet she was so fucking _weak_ mentally.

He could see what was happening. Worse, he could feel her. It seemed he'd never had so complete a picture of her as he did now. Never had he been able to see the very essence of who she was, or of her true nature. It was the quiet part of her, the darkness. The thing you'd never suspect about her unless you knew her, really knew her. It was the part of her that Kyuubi feared. He'd sensed this part of her right after she'd died, but even then…even then, it hadn't been like this. Not like this. He'd still been able to sense some remnant of Aimi then.

"Aimi…oh God, Aimi," he breathed. It was like that wasn't even his sister. That other part of her had completely taken over. And shown now for what it really was, Raiden realized that as terrifying as he'd found it to be when Aimi had been healed, he hadn't seen it all. A glimpse. Only a glimpse. _This_, this thing wearing his sister's body, this truth of what she was capable of…it scared him as nothing in his life to this point had. Nevermind the fact that he himself had gone a little beastly when the chips were down. He hadn't been like this, and didn't think he _could_ get this bad.

And there was no one up there to check her. Nothing to stop her. _Nothing but me, _he thought. _God, to think that I actually entertained the thought of getting myself caught so that she'd go ballistic and do exactly this… _No, not this. Never this. Kill off Izanami and all the gods maybe, but never this.

Moving carefully, Raiden softly kissed Wyatt's mouth and set him on the ground. Just as carefully, he got to his feet. He wanted to focus his entire mind on Aimi, and he wanted no distractions when he did.

Though he knew it was pointless, he tried, with their link, to extract himself from the Underworld. If it meant he could get to Aimi's side, he would leave Wyatt. A way to get back and retrieve him could be figured out later, but at all costs, his sister had to be stopped.

Like running into a steel wall, just as he'd guessed. Cursing in defeat, Raiden lowered his head so that his chin rested on his chest. Eyes closed, he tried once more to reach her mentally.

* * *

Sasuke, Demon, and the rest stared first at Aimi, then at Raiden, not quite understanding what they were seeing. After all, Aimi seemed remarkably calm at learning of their deaths.

Maybe too calm… "No," Sasuke whispered.

But Demon displayed a rare bit of cynicism. "Let her," he muttered. "Christ, look at us, all of us. What else is there?"

And Sasuke had no answer.

* * *

Kei was the triplet closest to Aimi in personality. As such, they'd often had long conversations when Ryota and Masaru would be off doing their own thing. He looked on now and knew her pain. Felt a return of the hopelessness he'd felt at discovering his father was dead, back before they'd killed the Juubi. Having truly lost everything now, down to his last hope of a life after this hell was done, he commiserated with her completely. Both _his_ parents were gone, too. And truthfully, he didn't think this hell _would_ ever end. Not until they were all dead. He looked at his cousin, seeing only her and nothing supernatural, and thought, _Yes. Let it end for all of us._

Behind him, Byakuya watched the girl with narrowed eyes. To Urahara, who was concentrating on his task, he said, "Hurry."

-oOo-

Kenpachi it must be said, had never truly come up against anything that dimmed his lust for a fight. He was made for war, for the red haze of battle. Izanami herself had not been able to instill fear in him. It was an emotion he was completely unfamiliar with. The most he ever felt was puzzlement, or, if the opponent was particularly powerful, a species of respect.

He recalled the time he'd gone with Aimi to see her power. How she'd destroyed an entire planet with her reiatsu. How he'd unleashed the full, unchecked brunt of his own reiatsu first. She'd been at ease in its presence, and he remembered thinking how the sensation of unleashing himself had been almost erotic; he did it so rarely and craved it so often. And then how they'd bonded while she released hers, obliterating the planet in the process. He'd been full of awe, but no fear. He'd wanted her, coveted her.

There'd been a conversation between them later, admissions on her part that let him understand her more completely than he had before seeing her power.

_"Talk to me," he'd said. "Of yourself. What do you think about when you're alone?" _

_"You."_

_He'd grunted. "Before I came here, what did you think about?"_

_A thoughtful silence. "My brother. His problems, Akatsuki com-"_

_He waved a hand dismissively. "No, I'm not interested in that shit. Nothing about your family or people you know. The real you. Deep inside. What are your desires?"_

_"I don't understand."_

_He could see that she didn't. "Secrets. Do you have any? Tell me something about you that no one knows."_

_Her eyes had wandered away from his face, looking aside as she thought. He noticed a small smile form on her lips and he'd thought, _Ah, there. Whatever she's about to tell me, it'll be something delicious. _He couldn't explain it, but there was something sinister in that smile and he approved wholeheartedly._

_"I like violence," she said slowly, almost shyly. "I like when I'm in a fight and I-" She'd looked at him quickly, not sure if she should continue._

_"You can tell me. Your secrets are safe with me," he urged. He'd been nearly panting to hear the rest. "More importantly, you should learn to accept yourself."_

_She nodded and relaxed her shoulders. "Well, I was going to say that I like it when I get to hurt people. Not nice people, but bad people. People who hurt others. I like… their blood. Their screams."_

_He studied her. "Your parents don't seem like the type to let you get into many fights. And that wild brother of yours seems protective of you."_

_"Well… no, Daddy and Papa wouldn't let me get into too many fights. But they don't know about them. Sometimes, at night, I fold to other places where there are bad people and…" She shrugged, leaving the rest unsaid._

_He'd understood. "I bet every once in awhile something inside you needs it, neh? You need those fights, don't you girl."_

_And Aimi had smiled in relief at being understood. "Yes. I do. But my Daddy would be horrified, and my Papa would probably just be mad. Kyuubi understands, but he doesn't like me much."_

_"Kyuubi?"_

_"The demon in my daddy. When I was small, inside my daddy still, I thought Kyuubi was my parent. He was right there, inside with me, and his thoughts and memories were so much fun. His… The things he did. He loves destruction and violence. When I was in his thoughts, it was like I was right there with him, doing those things. I felt how much he liked doing those things, and I liked it too. He's strong, like me. But Kyuubi hates me, I think, because I'm part Uchiha. I did some things to him before I was born, playing with my Sharingan. After, when I was born, I couldn't really talk to him anymore… but I know he would understand why I do what I do."_

So had he. He remembered thinking she was more the demon's child, and the child of the side of Sasuke that was a monster, than she was Naruto and Sasuke's daughter. That she was violence and destruction herself, wrapped up in a happy little girl. He'd wondered if anyone in her family really understood her, only to conclude that they probably didn't. She was well-loved, well-cared for… but her silent nature likely stemmed from feeling somewhat apart from them.

And she was a child. Since then, on the training world, he'd come to realize just how much of a child she still was. How selfish she was, and how reluctant to shoulder responsibility. Most puzzling for him had been the realization that in spite of her primal need for violence, she was not combat-oriented. He remembered needing days upon days, weeks, to understand that about her and how it could even be possible. To understand how someone who'd been nurtured on blood and screams from the womb could cringe so baldly at the training and the permission to do exactly what she did in secret so often.

The knowledge had come to him only after much strenuous thought: that Aimi did not like to struggle and be hurt herself. That no matter if the hidden core of her craved blood, the rest of her was the dominant part of her personality. She was essentially a soft, pampered, and gentle creature. Happy. Carefree. Obedient and affectionate 99 percent of the time. Human. The direct opposite of that dark inner part of her, and this human part was the part of her that ruled.

Child that she was, she didn't know how to tap into that other side of herself, he'd surmised. She let the happy yet lazy part of her rule, and likely only let her beast out when some need in her for blood grew too great to ignore. _Or when the humanity in her was forcibly stripped away by some trauma_, he thought as he watched her now.

She was like some odd fruit, he decided. Soft, sweet meat on the outside, with a dark, hard stone on the inside. And now, with the meat cut away by her pain, her rage, the stone cracked to give birth to the being within, much as a real seed would.

He was not afraid. Seeing what she was about to do, he still could not claim that he felt fear. But Zaraki Kenpachi admitted to himself that what he _was_ feeling was as close as he was ever likely to come. "Oi," he lent his voice to Byakuya's, speaking to Urahara. "Whatever you're going to do, do it."

"I'm working on it," Urahara panted.

"Work faster." He considered having the man put them back in Aimi's dimension so he could speak to her, but there was no guarantee she would listen. Not in her present state. And getting to Demon seemed a helluva lot more important of a sudden.

* * *

_Aimi lurked in some dark corner of her mind that was hopefully inaccessible. Someplace where her tears were also trapped, and where there was absolutely no responsibility. She was free, in her dark corner, free to be alone and broken. _

* * *

It couldn't feel hurt. Only rage. Grief. It wanted blood. Revenge. An accounting made of all the ways it had been wronged.

It could see everything. What was left of its world fueled it to some extent. How damaged it was, how misshapen and abused by the many powers that had rampaged through it. It could see the other dimensions too, the ones that pressed on its world. Looking past these, it could see other worlds, with realities and dimensions pressed to _them_, and beyond those still others. All of it, all life and creation, connected. Good.

Removing itself outside its world had been done in order for it to visualize all of the planet, but in its true skin as it was, and heightened as its senses were, it could have done what it was about to do from where it stood. This was just easier. It floated in space, in a bubble of its chakra, and gazed at what was left of the world in thought.

Humanity blessedly gone, the beast _was_ still capable of thought, if on a very primitive scale. Its thoughts tended to be simple, unencumbered by the complexities of emotion. It had but one need, the need to destroy. Beyond that, it had no _use_ for thought, but the human host within seemed incapable of shutting its mind off completely. It could feel her, cowardly and whimpering as always. Still, only a token protest –a faint murmur- was offered at accessing the Gates. It had been drilled into them, itself and the host, time and again that use of the Gates was forbidden. Painfully drilled into them. It had been decided that even in the heat of battle the Gates would remain closed. Never to be opened, not even as a last resort or under the threat of dire circumstances.

Unassisted, its chakra could destroy a planet. But with the Gates…

Worlds, realities, and dimensions glistened before them, stretching to infinity almost.

It smiled. The hunger for blood, ever present, was a sweet song in its mind as the first gate, then the second was opened. The process of opening all took time, during which the host was thankfully free of thoughts. Quiet. Quiescent.

Defeated.

Free. It was free at last to do as it wished. It had power-

-"_Power," Izuna said, "Is a tricky thing."-_

A memory from the host. This was ignored.

Third Gate, open. An accounting _would_ be made.

* * *

Whatever brief spate of fatalism had gripped Demon, faded the longer he gazed up at his daughter. Despondency wasn't like him, nor was defeat. As such, it was him who gasped, then yelled Aimi's name.

"What," Sasuke said.

"The prophecy," Demon said shakily. "You remember, you have to."

"I do." Sasuke frowned in puzzlement. Naruto seemed to be working himself up over nothing. "For fuck's sake, you're trembling. I don't want her to destroy the world either, but-"

" 'They have started a war that will end in darkness. Darkness for all.' The end of the prophecy, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked around. "Well, we are all dead." But he looked out at where Raiden seemed to be concentrating on something.

"_No_. Sasuke, you know her better than anyone, _look_ at what she's doing. Opening the Gates! She knows she's not to do that for _anything_, that she'd be too powerful for anything to survive; she's not just destroying the world, she's about to destroy _everything_."

Even dead as he was, a frisson of alarm worked through Sasuke. Those with them edged even closer, still listening. "What do you mean, everything?"

"Everything she can see," Naruto said. "Everything. Darkness for all."

Sasuke blinked. "What are you saying, that it was Aimi all along who would destroy everything, and not Izanami? That's insane. If that was what the prophecy meant, if this-" he gestured up at Aimi- "was going to happen anyway, what in hell did we train for?"

Naruto shook his head.

Itachi pointed upward, distracting them. "Look. Something is happening."

* * *

As yet its chakra was contained, though four Gates were now open. The brilliant stars of space glittered against the backdrop of the equally resplendent sight of alternate dimensions and other worlds. So much beauty, yet even this otherworldly display was reduced by the appearance of three beings who put everything else around them to shame.

They appeared silently, suddenly, but with all the deliberation of an event pre-ordained. It recognized Power, but this did not hinder it or frighten it in any way. It merely looked at them, where they ranged across from it. Their bodies stretched from one end of the galactic horizon to the other, as far as its eyes could see. And then the beings lessened themselves to a size more like the gods it had fought with the host's brother. They floated before it, regarding it from their lofty heights.

One, the middle one, came forward a bit, folding his luminous hands into the long sleeves of some raiment he wore, something that looked very like the stars and galaxies swirling around them. It was dark, setting off his incandescent skin. His eyes and lips were golden, and his hair, done up in some old-fashioned style, was a lustrous, iridescent silver. This being spoke:

"I am Izanagi-no-Okami." Izanagi smiled, and even it could feel the power of that smile, how worlds and lives were born from it to float away into the constellations. "Your power is not meant for mortals, young one."

Another god.

Feeling no inclination to respond, it looked left and right, taking in the sight of the other two. It assumed they were gods as well. The one on the right, female, was golden light everywhere. Her hair was spun gold, floating around her yellow-white face. Her clothes, also, were golden light, shining almost bright enough to blind it, yet it sensed that this female was consciously dimming herself for the purposes of this meeting. The one on the left was male. Hair so white. Skin nearly translucent in its clarity, glittering in his own way, with hair an unrelieved black.

Izanagi caught it looking. "My children, Amaterasu and Tsukiyoumi." Izanagi paused a moment, golden eyes looking into its very soul, it seemed. "You must cease, young one."

Again, some memory of the host echoed dimly, but a sliver of curiosity overrode this. "Why are you here?"

"To stop a prophecy from being fulfilled."

"What prophecy?"

"You."

It understood nothing of that, besides the fact that these three meant to thwart it somehow. It could feel their power, the all-encompassing oppression of it, and yet they merely stood there. Fascinating. "Stop me…how?" The fifth Gate trembled open.

Izanagi seemed to be following the progress of the Gates as well. "Think you that you can match us?" The smile again, and this time it could sense intent behind the curving of those lips. The desire to confuse it, to snarl its thoughts.

Resistance was easy. "I think that if you were here to stop me, you wouldn't _ask_ me to stop."

The smile froze. "Though prophesied, we cannot let you destroy creation."

So what it was doing now had been prophesied?_ Let_ it destroy creation, they said. As if the prophecy didn't matter. As if it was irrelevant, and not fact. Interesting. Which meant… "You knew, didn't you. You knew Izanami was coming. Someone sent our brother visions to prevent it, but for what? You let us fail. The Bijuu army was useless. We _failed_." It deliberately opened the sixth Gate, almost challenging them to do something.

"We did no such thing. You had a chance, all of you. A chance. The failure is yours, not ours."

"But the prophecy," it said. "Why give our brother visions of a chance, if it was foretold we'd fail? Why threaten to stop _me_ if _this_ was foretold?"

"No fate is certain, not even one prophesied." Izanagi's smile returned full force, pushing past the unpleasant discovery that this mortal was far keener than they'd imagined. "Cease."

A pause. "You let everyone die." And then, operating on a sudden suspicion, it said. "And _you_ can die. Someone killed Izanami, after all." The seventh Gate opened with some difficulty…Lee-sensei had only allowed them to learn up to six, teaching the lessons about seven and eight with theory instead of practice.

There was silence. Then, "We understand the grief on your mortal heart," Amaterasu said. "Let us help you." Her words were almost visible as shining droplets of power that fell from her lips.

It could smell the desperation in them. An intriguing smell. "You can't help me. You're all of you as bad as Izanami."

"Truly?" Izanagi whispered. "Would we truly offer aid if we could not give it?" He lifted his hand, palm outward, and showed it an image.

Souls. Tens of thousands of souls. The shinobi lost in the war, all of them. And there, in the front, their faces worried and fearful, were its parents.

Surprisingly, the host remained quiet at this sight. No surge of joy, no attempt to subvert its control over their mind. Strange. Studying the image of the souls, then the three towering gods, it finally understood why.

"-Sure you've discovered by now that you can't return them to your bosom," Izanagi was saying. "But trust us when we say it is possible. Izanami crafted that part of the Underworld especially for their incarceration, but it is no trouble for us, her kin. We can help. If you cease."

* * *

Urahara, sweating liberally, was only dimly aware of the godly meeting with Aimi. Kenpachi was watching it closely, though, as were the triplets and other Shinigami. Something was off…

"Now," Urahara wheezed. "Quickly."

The Shinigami lost no time in settling around Urahara and placing their hands around the intricate, glowing web of reiatsu on the ground. All except Kenpachi, who was still listening carefully to everything being said to Aimi.

* * *

"My son, Susanoo, is even now taking up rule of the Underworld," Izanagi crooned. "We _can_ help you."

"Do it. Bring them back, then."

"Child," Amaterasu smiled. The smile held such terrible beauty that to witness it shivered the soul. "You do not command us."

"Do it," it repeated. "Prove you can do it, bring back our papa. You can't, can you."

"There is a price," Izanagi said, as if to confirm this.

It surveyed them, its yellow eyes able to see the fantastical sight of miniature galaxies swirling in Izanagi's garment, stars being born and dying. "What price?"

The gods exchanged looks of veiled triumph. "Gives us your power, and all will be made right."

_So that's what they want. What they've wanted all along, apparently._ The revelation of the cause of all its grief was so monstrous that even it could not grasp it fully. "You made all this happen…to get my power? Izanami, our failure, all those deaths…for power? You traded the world, _every living soul, _our _brother_, for my _power_?"

Izanagi took umbrage, but was unrepentant in his godhood. "Not just yours. Through your link, we will also have your brother's. And Izanami coveting your brother was not our doing, nor were her actions-"

"But you _did_ let us fail."

They said nothing.

Learning the full magnitude of what had been done and why was somehow anti-climactic. There was nothing worse than what had already been done. "You killed our parents. I will _never_ give you _anything_."

"Then live without them." Izanagi said simply. "And without your brother, for none of them will ever be released."

* * *

Ryota, watching his cousin and the gods with his brothers, frowned. "Wow."

"What is it?" Masaru asked. It was difficult to pull his eyes away from the divine drama above.

"Remember when Mom was fighting Izanami and she cloaked herself? Izanami looked everywhere for her, but not here. And once Mom sent us here, Izanami didn't even blink. Like we were totally off the grid for her after that point. Guys," Ryota said, looking around at the dusty landscape of their dimension. "Wherever this place is, I don't think the gods can see it. I don't think they can even sense it. People can, but not them."

Kei and Masaru blinked. "So?" they said.

"So they don't know that a rescue mission is underway," Ryota grinned.

* * *

"Why do you resist?" Amaterasu asked in her musical voice. "Don't you wish to see your family? Does your heart not cry out for them? Is not the price we ask small compared to their lives?"

"Why don't you take it? You can't do that either, can you. Izanami was more powerful than you three, wasn't she. That's why you left her down there, just like she said. No wonder she wanted our power-" It would have said more, but this time the host's memory surfaced in full.

-oOo-

_Some time near the end of training, Izuna had taken them, it and the host, aside for a few hours, and lectured them on the intricacies of Izanagi. After, he'd sat with them in the grass, and looked off to the distance._

"_Power," he said, "Is a tricky thing. There is always a price for it. The greater the power, the greater the price. Call it balance, if you will. The way you and your brother balance each other with your shortcomings. The way the use of Izanagi in anyone else costs the user his Bloodline Limit." He'd looked at them then, and given a small smile. "You have power, Aimi. Nearly limitless, and so far it would seem that no price has been demanded of you. You would be wrong to believe that."_

"_Why?" the host asked._

_Izuna waved one hand in a broad gesture at the world they were on. "Isn't all this a price? My presence, Izanami, the coming war? Well, perhaps not, to your mind. Still, your powers are fearsome. And the universe seeks balance in all things. You have already learned that use of the Gates is forbidden, as is the manipulation of Time. Knowing you as I do now, I think I am right in saying that you will heed your own wishes when it comes to your power, and no other's. I cannot fault you, if I am honest. To possess power is to yearn to use it. That is the nature of power. But you must heed me, Aimi, and mark my words: There will come a time when a price _must_ be paid. There is _always_ a reckoning. Remember that."_

"_What do I do?" _

_He'd been a long time answering, looking into the distance again. "Should the time come when a price is demanded…make sure it is worth paying."_

__-oOo-

A price worth paying.

And yet…it did not trust them. If they could annihilate all life only to put enough desperation in it so that it would jump at the chance to see its parents again, then there was no guarantee they would revive the dead once in possession of its powers. They were devious and sly, and not to be trusted.

Looking at them, at Amaterasu's questioning face, and Izanagi's confident smile, and Tsukuyomi's pale composure, it gave a smile of its own. "You want my power? Take it."

So saying, it hurled all its strength into forcing open the eighth and final Gate. In the backlash of its exploding chakra, the gods vanished with unearthly screams of rage. "You will pay!" they roared.

"Bill me."

Lavender chakra rolled outward from it in billowing clouds.

* * *

_Aimi watched dispassionately. Worlds fizzled out of existence in their dozens, but she made no attempt to stop the beast. She just didn't care._

_Alone with her memories. _

_She remembered being inside her daddy. Being so close to Kyuubi, all but enveloped in his power. In his thoughts and gory reminiscences. She'd been aware of things outside her daddy, too. How afraid he'd been of his inability to communicate with her. How sick her presence had made his body. She'd been unable to change any of that, but she'd been aware. She remembered hearing him and her papa speak of her. Fearful, afraid she was a monster, aware of how different from Raiden she was. She'd wanted to tell them that she wasn't bad, but she _had_ been different. Always. Once she'd been born her difference hadn't always come up, or made itself known, but in the back of her mind she'd been aware of it._

_Her papa had had an inkling. He didn't truly understand, not completely, but he had an inkling. She remembered the way he'd distrusted her, and how much that had hurt her little feelings, even back then. She'd longed to tell him that she couldn't help what she was, but that she wasn't evil. She'd been unable to speak, though, and barely able to comprehend the complexity of her own nature. She'd only known that she would never hurt her family. Never. She loved them more than anything._

_Another memory came to her, of the moment her doubting papa had said he'd loved her for the first time. He'd been dead only hours before, and she'd instinctively used her powers for the first time. After, she'd been so upset, so afraid of losing him, that she'd been unable to eat. He'd tried to get her to smile, to eat, to respond in any way, until he'd finally given up. She remembered looking up at him, being safe and warm in his strong arms, and he'd said, "I love you Uzumaki Aimi. I'll never doubt you again."_

_To this day, she had never been happier than she had been in that moment. Not even finally linking with her brother equaled it._

_Raiden. If there was anyone she loved more than her papa, it was him. Linked to him, she was nevertheless unable to retrieve him. Unbeknownst to the beast, she'd tried again, using the added power of the Gates once they were open. So focused on destruction was that part of her that it hadn't sensed the attempt. She'd felt a glimmer of something in the link, but she was still unable to bring him._

_Gone. Her family all gone._

* * *

The Shinigami worked furiously, pooling their reiatsu to forge a mystical tunnel, one that led from where their hands were placed in a circle, to Demon's location. The effort of this was beginning to be felt by them all.

"Zaraki," Hitsugaya gasped.

But the strongest one of their number continued to ignore them, studying Aimi with narrowed eyes.

* * *

In the Underworld, the souls looked at each other sadly.

"Guess we should make ourselves comfortable," Demon tried to joke.

No one laughed. It seemed all hope was well and truly lost.

* * *

But it wasn't.

_The ties that bind you will be your greatest strength. _Raiden held to that thought furiously, now sitting cross-legged in his concentration to make contact. Head bowed, eyes closed, elbows on his knees and hands tightly clasped before his mouth, he folded his wings around himself. He was frightfully aware of what failure would mean. The weight of responsibility was greater than it had ever been, but there was relief too. They had trained their powers for the fight, but it was this, the ties that bind, that would help them win.

That was good, because in the end their powers hadn't accounted for much. They'd been used, manipulated, and controlled from the first, as he'd overheard through the link. His powers hadn't protected him and Aimi from getting caught, or his dads and everyone else from dying. He'd felt the bitter gall of seeing how ultimately useless he was, but this…this he could do. Finally, something he could do.

_I can't fail this too. _

It was hard. Actually harder than anything else he'd done in this endless fight against the cosmos. Following the link through the mindless, bestial snarl of grief and pain that was raging unchecked would have discouraged a bond less powerful than the one he had with his sister, but she was his sis. His own baby sis, and though it was exceedingly difficult and time-consuming, he knew what he was looking for. Her signature gentleness, the elemental goodness that made up Aimi was barely more than a pinprick in the heaving black morass of the beast's consciousness, but he found it and surrounded it with his own mind.

* * *

_Lost in herself, Aimi shivered and gasped at this mental embrace. 'Raiden?'_

'_I'm here, sis.'_

'_Oh, Rai-'_

'_Aimi, you have to stop.'_

_She could feel him returning her wild love in his calmer, older-brother way, but she could also feel the way he was holding back a wealth of anger and disappointment in order to communicate with her. She suddenly remembered that she'd let him down. 'Raiden, I'm sorry I couldn't-'_

'Aimi_. Stop. What. You're doing. _Now_.'_

_She hated when he got sharp and impatient with her. 'I can't,' she whimpered. 'The beast is too powerful. And anyway, it doesn't matter,' she sulked. 'Nothing matters, everyone's dead.'_

'_I'm not. You're not.' Sitting as he was in the Underworld, Raiden nevertheless now had access to her mind. 'And neither are the triplets. Don't do this. Don't make those worlds, and whoever is on them, pay for our mistakes.'_

'_It wasn't us,' she shrieked at him. 'It was those gods, they _used_ us, Raiden!'_

'_I know. But that doesn't mean you can't fix it. Maybe you can't bring back Dad and Pop, or me, but everyone else on our world, Aimi? You can bring them back. Fix our world, and make everything like it was.'_

'_No.'_

'_Aimi-'_

'_I don't want to fix anything. Why should anyone get to have what I can't have? Why do I have to suffer?'_

_Raiden thought. 'You're alive. You and the triplets. Ryota, Kei, Masaru. They lost their dad too. All of you can go on, though, without us. Isn't that something? Being able to give them that?'_

'_No,' Aimi pouted. 'It's not enough.'_

'_Then you're no better than the gods who played us. Sacrificing everyone just because you're a selfish bitch.'_

_Unmoved, Aimi mentally folded her arms. 'I don't care if I'm alive, or if I'm selfish. I WANT MY FAMILY!'_

-oOo-_  
_

So far removed from her, and yet sharing her very mind, Raiden knew a moment of despair. There was no getting through to her.

-oOo-

_Aimi felt Raiden's disappointment and anger start to seep through their link. 'I'm glad our parents are dead,' her brother said quietly. 'So they don't have to see what kind of daughter they have. I'm ashamed of you. More ashamed than when you left us for Choukichi.'_

_But Aimi recalled the image the gods had shown her. Her parents _could_ see her. The knowledge made her uneasy. 'I can't do anything,' she whispered. 'It's too strong.'_

_Quelling his leap of hope at this chink in her armor, Raiden spoke carefully. 'You can control it, Aimi. Dad controlled his demon. Pop controlled his seal. You can do it too. Besides. You and I both know that for us, me and you, it's not a demon or a seal. It's you. Just you.'_

'_It's not,' she insisted. 'It's real.' _

_Raiden considered her words, looking at the bestial part of her. She was right, and yet she wasn't. Her darker nature was very different from her normal personality. Delving through her thoughts, he sensed that at some point in her life, probably not long after she'd been born, she'd isolated that part of her, those urges, from the rest of her. Something about their parents fearing her, or not accepting her. He was sure their Uncle Gaara would have some kind of psychological term for it, but what it boiled down to was this separate part almost being an entity in its own right. Whether or not it really was, he didn't know or care._

'_Everyone has a dark side, not just you,' he said. 'Yours is just more powerful, just like you're more powerful. Everyone controls themselves. You're hurting right now, and scared, and angry, but you _can_ control yourself.'_

'_No, I can't.'_

'_Aimi…even if you could lie about this, I can see the truth. And I believe in you. No one has more control over their powers than you do.'_

_An effective argument. She could feel shame and guilt eating through her desire to destroy, and sighed. _

_She was sad. So unutterably sad. It was so much easier to relinquish control and responsibility, she thought. So much less pain in hiding. Was there no such thing as a happy ending?_

'_Do you hate me?' she asked in a small voice._

'_Never. __I'll never hate you, not my little sis. I love you, dark parts and all. Always will.'_ That mental hug was back, easing her hurt a little with its strong presence. She could almost smell Raiden, he felt so close to her then, and her pain reached unthinkable levels.  


-oOo-_  
_

The lavender chakra checked its headlong rampage as Aimi slowly returned to herself. She felt as if the beastly part of her was still there, but it was nearly indistinguishable from all the grief inside her. Everything in her just hurt.

She'd unconsciously saved her world for last, she saw. Looking at it now, she felt her heart break all over again. _'Raiden-'_

'_I know. You can do it.'_

'_I've never done it for such a large area, or for so many people.'_

'_We're linked. Use my strength, if you have to.'_

Aimi examined the link, checking on the barrier around Raiden as she did. Gauging the amount of power she would have to use, she felt the grief in her settle somewhat. '_I don't think I can use you for this.'_

'_Why not?'_

He was right, she could control her powers with exceptional precision. Doing so now, she deliberately masked her mind from him, thus negating his hinted-at capability of seeing the truth. '_I can't explain why,' _she said in evasion. But then, thinking that there really was nothing that he could do from where he was, she said, _'This might…take all my power.'_ Better to leave it at that, than to disclose the full truth.

She could sense him thinking. _'Even if it does, make it right. For once, let us get something right.' _Then a rush of pure, undiluted love sizzled along their link, and Aimi bathed in it, momentarily healed of all hurt by the faith her brother had in her.

'_I may never see you again.' _Not even once it was over. She might see everyone else, but not her brother. That was almost more than she could bear. _'Never.'_

'_I know.' _

Hugging her brother's strong presence close to her heart, Aimi closed her eyes, and redirected her chakra.

* * *

She could not have done it without Raiden's love calming her, that much was immediately obvious.

It might not have taxed her to open the Gates, but the sheer magnitude of turning back time for an entire planet –complete with its inhabitants, both human and non-human- would never have been possible without them.

She could feel him, almost hear his screams of agony and feel his pain at belatedly realizing what it would cost her. She was able to mute their link again, the way she had upon surfacing from the Underworld, so that she no longer heard him, but she refused to sever it. She didn't know how long her barrier around him would survive once she was gone, but she would give him as much time as she was able to.

Time was so _heavy_. Fluid it might be, but that didn't mean it took well to moving in any direction but the one it always moved in. It was resistant, as always. To reverse so much of it as she was doing… Somewhere in her consciousness she was aware of her physical body nearly buckling with the strain, but surprisingly that bestial part of her came to her defense. It bolstered her, doing away with the majority of her fright and uncertainty, and giving her the steely resolve she needed in order to get the job done.

It was a slow process. Ridiculously so. The white light her manipulation of Time manifested itself as slowly spread outward from her to envelope the broken sphere of her world. Just the act of stopping Time for the planet took an unbelievable amount of strength. Rolling it back on so large a scale had her trembling, even with eight Gates wide open, and all her power flooding out of every pore of her body.

One thing her link with Raiden did enable: she could actually sense the individual millions of lives that belonged on her world, as well as the events that had taken place in the time frame she was trying to reverse. She was able to separate Willow from Izanami, and the Juubi from the triplets, leaving those two untouched and dead.

And Akatsuki. She sensed them, and left them alone, not wanting to alter their re-ensouled state by accident somehow. For the rest, she let her power go unchecked.

* * *

Kenpachi watched. The sight tightened his skin until it felt ready to crack apart, but he watched, seeing the strain in her, as Aimi's world underwent a reverse transformation.

Earth, water, wind, and sky flew about in a maelstrom that obscured nearly everything as the land repaired itself in the order it was destroyed. Leveled mountains reconstituted themselves from dust, building back up to high peaks in the space of seconds; water coalesced from everywhere, to gather in the ocean beds where they belonged; canyons formed by massive earthquakes sealed themselves shut with great cracking sounds and rumbling; uprooted trees replanted themselves, along with grass, flowers, bushes, and other plant life. Most disconcerting was seeing the pieces of the moon, sans Juubi, fly back together until a whole and cratered orb hung in the sky once more.

Around the world, the dead were also coming to life. Their bodies knitted together, their eyes opened, and the terror of their final moments played backward in an odd way; the Bijuu were absent, as were Izanami, the Juubi, and the demons. They seemed to run from nothing, be cut down by air. And then they were safely at whatever tasks they'd been doing before disaster struck.

Animals woke similarly, to go through the same brief, disjointed, reverse flight from danger, before settling down to their normal existence as if nothing had happened.

And Konoha. Konoha rebuilt itself piece by piece, section by section through the reversal of fire, lightning, earth, and water.

The kido barrier around the dead didn't reform, but the dead remained, removed from the village a ways.

And then everything stopped. Kenpachi sensed a moment of suspension, as if Time had been released, but had not begun moving forward yet. People and animals were frozen.

Aimi was nowhere in sight when he looked up.

-oOo-

The triplets yelled in fright at the feel of his chakra exploding all over the place. They gawked, clutching each other, as Kenpachi lifted a hand and blasted a hole right through the dimension and into their world. Almost at once the hole began repairing itself. Ryota grabbed his brothers and hastened to slip through.

Byakuya, having kept one eye on Aimi and the gods, and thus her massive kido spell afterward, tsk-ed in annoyance. "Someone needs to go after him." Though, truthfully, not one of them could spare the strength to do so.

Urahara's voice was barely audible. "We're nearly there. Everyone…Zanpaktuo."

Using their blades to augment their power, the Shinigami persevered.

* * *

The countryside was fair and colorful, in the grip of Autumn. Kenpachi cared not one flying fuck. He turned in a circle, eyes searching in vain. Konoha's walls were beginning to gleam in the light of the rising sun –yet it _wasn't_ rising. It hung there, its top rim just barely visible on the horizon, which meant Time still wasn't moving forward. The village itself was empty. No one inside or out. He knew Aimi was unable to help the fallen army, but he checked anyway, making several passes of the buildings, the streets, and the empty shops.

Not one bleeding soul. Thousands, millions, of other people around the planet, but none anywhere nearby.

Outside the village gates, Kenpachi stopped and glared around. "GIRL!"

The triplets, huddled just outside the village gates, scanned the land around them for Aimi too. Ryota pulled out his trusty spell book. "Alrighty, then. Locator spell…"

* * *

This god was different. Vastly larger, for one. For another, his skin, what she could see of it, was unsettling to look at. Oceans and storms seemed to swirl just beneath its surface. The odd sight of flashing lightning and towering waves was hardly enough to detract from his mesmerizing stare, though. His eyes were white. Pupil-less. Everything else, from his long hair, to his wide, muscular body, to the loose, trouser-like garment he wore on his lower half, was pitch black. The lightning in his body gave off slight illumination whenever it flashed, and the white caps of waves crashing against each other was sometimes visible, but other than that he was blackness personified.

And he didn't feel sneaky and conniving like the other three gods, nor all-out evil like Izanami. If she had to put a word to what she sensed from him, it would be neutrality. All things considered, that was comforting.

She'd been ready for death. Almost longing for it, when he'd appeared. And seeing him, an idea had come to her.

Surrounded completely by his dark aura, she had to crane her head to look up into those unnerving eyes. She would have been scared under different circumstances. Now she just felt peace. "Can you do it?"

His voice couldn't be described as loud, but it shook the galaxies nonetheless. "I CAN."

"Will you?"

"I MAY…"

His blank eyes regarded her, and she understood. "You want my power," she sighed.

"YOUR POWER IS SPENT. AND I HAVE POWERS OF MY OWN."

"What do you want, then?"

"WHAT ALL GODS OF DEATH WANT. LIFE."

"Reversing time is killing me, anyway."

"SUCH AS YOU DO NOT DIE SO EASILY."

"Then I'll survive?"

"IF YOU WISH."

Aimi blinked up at him. _A price worth paying. _Raiden had been right. The loss of her powers was worth being able to make some small part of Izanami's evil right again. And two lives were worth the price of one. Looking at her world, at all the people in it, and feeling her brother's presence still with her, she felt conviction. The absence of cowardice that she had lived with her entire life. She was still hurting, still broken in mind, body, and spirit but now the end was finally in sight. "I don't," she said firmly. "I don't wish it."

Susanoo seemed to hesitate. "LIFE IS NOT TO BE DISCARDED LIGHTLY."

"I know. But I love him. And he loves Wyatt. If I can give them this chance to live, then I have to. I want to."

Susanoo pondered this, looking at the way her world repaired itself as he did. When it was done, he lessened himself to a size she could deal with, and gravely held out one hand. "AS LONG AS YOU GIVE YOURSELF FREELY, SO BE IT."

Grasping one huge black finger, Aimi let herself be led away.


	66. Chapter 66

A/N: The site keeps eating words from the doc. I try to catch them all and re-insert them, but there may be some missing anyway.

* * *

Chapter 66

Movement resumed on the frozen planet. The sun continued to rise from its stationary position, while elsewhere people who'd also been motionless began to move. Time was back on track, it seemed.

Kenpachi saw this, but his focus was elsewhere. He listened in grave silence to what the red-haired pipsqueak had to say. The unsheathing of his sword made the three boys back away in fear, but it was his voice, lowered to a whisper in his fury, that had them clutching each other. "You're sure?"

Shivering, Ryota nodded. The feel of the man's chakra all but singed the very atmosphere, and it hadn't even been released yet.

* * *

Raiden thought his vocal cords must be ruptured. He screamed and bawled Aimi's name, beating his fists on her barrier the entire time, until the Underworld rang with his cries. Useless, all of it. _He_ was useless. Again.

She'd hidden the truth from him, but he'd seen it the moment she turned her concentration to reversing Time. She had known it would kill her, or believed it would, not just suck her dry. And he could feel the effort. How it drained her. How faint their link got as she continued to ignore him. The strain was enormous; whether she knew it or not, she _did_ use him there at the end, when he was screaming for her to stop. He felt what energy he had sucked right out of him, until he couldn't even stand.

It was like Izanami all over again, only this time he was able to resist. Somewhat. Not much. He saw how his power was siphoned off and funneled into the task of reversing time for so many people. Even as he instinctively fought the usurpation of his strength, he tried not to; she needed it, or she wouldn't be draining him. Yet, from what he could see of her focus, he was almost sure she had no idea that she _was_ using him. She had a job to do and was doing it, regardless to the cost. Where she got power, she didn't care. Or didn't think about it, would probably be a more accurate explanation.

But she was killing him right along with herself.

"Aimi…" His voice was gone. Down on his hands and knees now, he tried to muster the energy to sever the link himself, if he could. One of them had to stay alive, at least. Maybe if it was him, she wouldn't die… But then, suddenly, he was unable to sense her at all. The link, yes, but not her. "_Aimi!_" he sobbed.

* * *

Demon and Sasuke watched their children with bated breath. They all did, bleeding with them. One bent on saving the world, the other cracking apart for some reason unknown to them.

When something made Demon cry out, they all thought the grief of seeing his children suffering had finally gotten to him. He arched where he stood, as if he were in pain. Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder in concern, only to pull it back with a hiss. Demon's entire body glowed, so that everyone else backed away from him in alarm. As if hearing some command, Demon appeared to listen to the air, before laboriously lifting his hands and placing them in front of him, as if touching an invisible wall.

The appearance of a slowly widening circle of blackness where Demon's hands were had them all crying out this time. What new evil was this?

* * *

"Come through," Urahara was saying between his teeth. "Quickly, we can't hold it for long."

The Shinigami waited.

"Why isn't he coming?" Ikkaku yelled. Tried to yell. His voice was nearly gone with the stress of holding the tunnel open from their end.

Urahara was grim. "Says he's not leaving without everyone else."

There was strident indignation over this.

"But-"

"Will he-"

"Tch!"

"_Fuck_ that!"

"Hush!" Urahara was listening again.

* * *

"Sasuke," Demon panted. For a moment he couldn't go on, but he grit his teeth. "Can you…put your hand there?"

Sasuke looked at the glowing edge of the circle. It was two feet across, if that, opening onto utter blackness. The edge glowed white all around, like Demon's body. "What is that? What's happening to you?"

Demon grinned through the pain. "A miracle."

* * *

Muttering an alteration for the tether along with Tessai, Urahara spoke to his comrades. "With another besides Demon joined to the other end, the strain should be less on all of us."

"What do you mean, _should _be?" Yumichika queried.

"It might go the other way," Tessai answered. "Might overload our joint efforts and short out the tunnel completely."

"Wonderful," Hitsugaya muttered. "Remind me to personally end Zaraki if we ever get out of this. His strength would have been useful."

Byakuya managed to cast a quick glance in Kenpachi's direction. "Actually, he's being responsible for once."

"_What_?" the others chorused.

"Focus!" Urahara snapped.

* * *

The hole was wider with Sasuke's assistance. "Quick, everyone," Demon shouted. "Go through!"

There was some confusion. Some scrambling as soldiers tried to defer to squad leaders, who in turn tried to defer to generals or Kage. Sasuke roared at them all to get their milling asses through the tunnel, and that had everyone pushing children ahead first. These ran in whimpering groups through the dark circle, where a glowing path appeared beneath their feet. Once they ran ahead some ways, they were swallowed by the blackness.

Sasuke held back his scream at maintaining contact with the circle. It was like he'd swallowed a katon, the pain was so intense. Naruto looked to be in even worse condition, directly tethered to the Shinigami as he understood it. _We won't last. _Looking at the size of the hole, and at the way children ran through it single file, he cursed. "At this rate it'll take forever for everyone to get through. We need a bigger hole."

Kakashi stepped up to him, along with Itachi. "Allow us," his brother said. He took up a position on Sasuke's right, while Kakashi stood to Demon's left. Soon the other Narutos and Sasukes joined them, until the hole was a yawning rift.

The trickle of souls became a flood.

* * *

Ururu stood in between the kneeling Shinigami, guiding the souls out as they arrived, and directing them out of the way in order to make room for others. Upon exiting, they were no longer souls, somehow joined to their bodies immediately. As such, they often staggered when they exited the tunnel, sometimes falling in their disorientation. Ururu was understanding, but efficient at moving them along.

Jinta stood a short distance apart, guiding the resurrected to an area removed. He had no idea how the whole soul/body reconnection was possible, but looking at Aimi's world and the odd dead shinobi body here and there, he could see them disappearing as the souls exited the underworld. _That has to be powerful kido, _he thought with a gulp. He looked back at the sweating Shinigami. _No wonder they're practically shitting themselves._

* * *

The barrier vanished. Almost unconscious by now, Raiden slit his eyes open long enough to register this. It was Wyatt's choking that roused him fully. He was at his side instantly. "Wyatt?"

But Wyatt was still unconscious. Raiden could feel the other boy's magic through their bond, which suddenly flared up in his body in agonizing waves. The bond was pulling on him, on his life force, as Wyatt began dying in the Underworld's atmosphere. Wyatt might be out of it, but his body was trying to stay alive. Uncharitable as the thought was, and as much as he loved his angel, Raiden was heartily sick of being drained by outside parties just then.

Wyatt began making breathless gasping noises. The bond was a white-hot brand along Raiden's nerve-endings. Holding onto it with what strength remained to him, he began feeling the effects of the Underworld, too. Just like before, when Izanami had had them, his transformation slowly receded.

His sister was gone, he reflected. Had to be, if the barrier was gone. It hurt terribly, but somehow the fact that he'd be joining her soon, her and their dads, gave him some comfort. _She's dead. _His eyes blurred, and he closed them. _And now we'll be dead too, _he thought, groping for Wyatt's shoulder. _Least we saved the world first. I wonder if-_

His eyes opened again at feeling a disturbance in the air around him. A ripple. He'd barely turned his head before a rift appeared in the air. It opened with a grisly, otherworldly shrieking sound that raised his hackles.

Some frigging huge, black _thing_ walked out of thin air, right beside him. He saw this –completely unable to think in his disbelief that shit just _kept_ _happening_- saw the scary eyes, and the weird skin. Head back, jaw agape, Raiden registered more than that. He saw the way this thing's black aura surrounded him and Wyatt. Felt how it cut the Underworld's atmosphere somehow. Shielded them, so that Wyatt sucked in a proper breath where he lay, and seemed to stop choking. The thing stalked toward them, face lowered so that Raiden, puny in comparison, felt skewered by that white glare. The footfalls were strangely silent, yet so massive that the Underworld vibrated with each one.

The thing stopped in front of him.

Somewhere else, someplace far away, Raiden's brain was trying to understand just what he was seeing. What was this thing and what did it want? Clearly it saw Raiden and wanted something from him. What really had his attention despite all this, though, was the massive foot slowly being drawn back to kick him. Bare, it was just as huge and black as the rest of this creature. It began swinging his way. An invisible wave of godly power that was clearly felt gathering like a storm before it. A storm aimed at him and Wyatt.

Raiden finally snapped. It was all just too much. "_Seriously?_ The _fuck_-"

That was as far as he got before the foot made contact. He was unable to call up his chakra, but _something_ happened. Some crazy concoction of his chakra and the blue light of Wyatt's magic leapt out of him at the moment of impact, surrounding him and Wyatt both.

* * *

Aimi was left to wait in some cloudy place that was removed from any world or reality she'd ever seen. She could see that she was back to normal now. Her body was healed, even if her clothes were still torn, and she felt comfortable. Warm and safe. Serene.

When Susanoo came back she stood expectantly from where she'd been sitting. "IT IS DONE," he said.

"It is? He's safe? Alive? Him and Wyatt?"

He was not one to repeat himself. "COME."

Aimi swallowed, but nodded. "Am I going to die now?"

"YES. YOUR SOUL WILL REMAIN WITH ME."

"Oh." There was a slight unease for the unknown, but even now no fear. "Will it hurt?" Maybe a _little_ fear.

"IT WILL BE PAINLESS. YOU WILL KNOW NOTHING BUT PEACE WITH ME, UNLIKE THE SOULS IZANAMI HERDED."

And that was good enough for her. Blinking up at the white eyes, Aimi took a breath to calm her fluttering heart.

He sensed her capitulation. Susanoo came forward, churning the cloudy atmosphere around his legs.

-oOo-

Using one enormous hand, he scooped her off her feet and cradled her in his palm. His white eyes regarded her solemnly as she was lifted upward towards his face. Aimi felt a sensation of wind blowing through her hair at this ascent. When she was level with his face her upward motion stopped. His lips parted, and the air around her rushed forward, towards his mouth. She felt her essence being sucked along with it, whereupon an overwhelming drowsiness gripped her. Her body was suddenly very weak; she fell backward in what felt like slow motion. Dreamily, she felt her heart begin to stutter. Falter. Stumbling over the beats as its ceaseless rhythm was purposefully disrupted. It fought to continue beating in the face of such irresistible power.

The white eyes never left her face. She stared at them as the moment approached.

It _was_ painless, for which she was privately grateful. Like sailing over a slow-moving waterfall and becoming weightless. In the end, knowing Raiden would live, and that she'd done all she could, she was happy. _Maybe I'll see my daddies._

A small smile curved her lips. Her dark blue eyes dimmed, and her lashes fluttered closed.

-oOo-

Susanoo studied the bright, shapeless glow of her soul where it floated above the girl, before carefully closing his other hand around it. It was not like any other soul. As such, it would bear careful guarding, lest it become an object of contention, as the living girl had been.

A pendant appeared around his neck. Placing the soul inside it, he then bent to inspect the empty shell of the girl in his palm. Normally these things were discarded in the mortal world, but he would dispose of it here, where it would remain eternally as it was now.

His business with the living complete, Susanoo turned for a white light that emanated from a place up ahead: his doorway to the Underworld, where his attention was urgently needed.

But someone was there, holding a thin, ragged-edged blade and blocking his path.

Susanoo studied this development. He sensed some lower being, something not quite unlike himself, but definitely not on his level. Not remotely. Puzzling. "WHAT IS THIS."

"_This_," Kenpachi said, hefting his sword, "would be me asking you where the fuck you think you're going." He could just see where Aimi lay in his massive hand, black hair blowing against his black skin. Kenpachi leveled his blade at her. "She's mine."

"THE CHILD HAS CONSIGNED HERSELF TO MY KEEPING. MOVE."

Just that one word, _move_, held a wealth of threat in it. Kenpachi sensed the power, the raw strength, and nearly put his head back on a sigh of nigh-orgasmic bliss. He did no such thing, though, nor did he take his eyes off the god. Not this one. This was one opponent he'd do well to remain serious with. Lord, but he'd never seen or felt the like. That bitch Unohana, even going at full strength, didn't even come _close_.

"Move, he says." Kenpachi looked at the blank eyes. A shiver of awareness passed through him. Recognition of something quite possibly unconquerable. He shifted his shoulders in anticipation. "Make me."

The effrontery of this tiny thing to defy the likes of him had Susanoo carefully setting the girl's remains aside to take a step. The storms and lightning warring inside him clashed in his rising anger. "DO YOU COURT YOUR DEMISE? EVEN COULD YOU TAKE HER, SHE CANNOT BE RELEASED. HER SOUL IS MINE. YOUR DEFIANCE IS FUTILE."

"Stop bullshitting me. I know how these things work, and I _can_ take her from you." _Let's hope that's true._

Susanoo's eyes narrowed in speculation. In assessment. "YOU DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO DO SO."

A challenge. A small, tight smile that was nothing like his usual toothy grin graced Kenpachi's mouth. He stood his ground, blade steady.

Which was good, because Blackie there suddenly flew at him with all the force of the Soukyoku. More, even. A thousand times more. The sheer speed, the _power,_ that erupted at this charge wiped the smile right off his face.

* * *

Demon had to urge the Narutos and Sasukes through. "You came to help us and ended up dying," he grunted. "If there's a chance for you to live, I'm not letting you waste it."

Blondie and Rasta-Sasuke went without further protest. The psycho twins went next, followed by Kage-Naruto and Jailbird-Sasuke. Fem-Naruto hesitated, checking to see that his children were nowhere around, before he followed Stud-Sasuke through the tunnel.

Demon saw 'Bee and Chibi-Gaara dart past as well, and breathed a sigh of relief. Until he saw Queenie trying to pull Kit through. "What are you waiting for, hurry up!" he yelled at them.

Kit tried again to pass into the tunnel. "I can't. Something's blocking me." He stared at Queenie, who stood on the other side, already in the tunnel.

Sasuke was about to say something, but the ongoing flood of souls pressed around them, making speech difficult. Queenie was swept along against his will. They heard his fading scream of Kit's name as he vanished into the dark with the others.

The mystical tunnel wavered as the Narutos and Sasukes left, but others stepped in to take their place. Ibiki stood next to Demon, as did Iruka and Gai. Kit stood with them, resuming his position. Itachi, trying to keep count of his children as they filed past amidst the horde, didn't at first see Akane run back to stand beside her husband. He did see Asami and Akiko trying to stay with her, but Akiko also got shoved along by someone running by, and then Akane shoved Asami through the tunnel after her. Itachi glared at Akane, who glared back through her squint of pain as she moved closer to Ibiki.

The shinobi army continued to flow through unimpeded.

A familiar head of hair caught Itachi's attention not long after this. Gaara, who was one of the ones directing the shinobi through, and making sure no one was left behind. He had Yanagi by the hand. Only a few thousand shinobi remained.

* * *

"We…cannot…hold it," Hitsugaya grated through his teeth.

Urahara was forced to agree. Looking around with difficulty, he saw families being reunited, loved ones embracing, children running to parents. He looked back at his end of the tunnel, where souls where still boiling out. _It will have to be enough. _"Demon…"

* * *

Demon heard. "Everyone, _move it_! The tunnel's closing!"

Ibiki tried to push Akane through. "Leave while you can," he said. "Quickly."

Akane held her ground. "If I go, you go."

"Woman-" but someone bumped him in passing, nearly dislodging his hands, and the hole flickered alarmingly. Any further disruptions, and it would most definitely shut before the rest could get through.

What souls remained sprinted now, dashing through the opening even as it began to shrink, despite the best efforts of the ones trying to hold it open. Yanagi got swept along, her hand pulled out of Gaara's. Gaara stared after her a moment, but turned and hesitated. "Itachi?"

"Go," Itachi said.

Their eyes held.

No further words. No declarations of love, no promises made. Nothing but each man's dedication to duty. They'd had their time, the look said, and it had been good. There was pain, quite a lot, but no regrets.

Gaara felt like the core of him cracked down the center, and once again marveled at his capacity to feel despite being dead. He did not take his eyes off those beloved black ones until he glanced at Kakashi, who gave him an imperceptible nod that no one else saw.

Gaara understood. "Naruto," he said quietly.

Demon opened one eye in response. "The hell are you still doing here?"

"You have duties."

"I…what?" Demon could barely speak, eyes screwed shut in pain again, but someone suddenly shoved him hard. The hole halved itself, forcing the last few dozen shinobi to run even faster. Naruto turned immediately to see who'd pushed him.

It was Sasuke. "Gaara's right. Go with him, you have-"

Itachi shoved Sasuke, making him collide with Demon, where they were then caught by Gaara. Ibiki also shoved Akane. Sasuke turned to yell, but the last shinobi jumped through, even as Akane ran toward the shrinking circle with a scream, and the hole suddenly closed.

The sound of that last shinobi running was all they heard in the dark. Beneath their feet was a ragged patch of the path everyone had used, but beyond where they stood all was three men stood huddled, holding each other in shock, before the tether linked to demon was yanked hard. Attached to him as they were, Sasuke and Gaara were both expelled with Demon into painfully bright daylight and loud voices.

* * *

Demon lay where he fell a moment, before slowly getting to his feet.

The Shinigami knelt around him, hands still on the ground, panting and looking decidedly the worse for wear. Sasuke lay unmoving. Gaara was absently holding Yanagi while staring at them.

It was unpleasant. Jarring, even. For several minutes he was discombobulated and unable to adjust. To make his mind sync up with his living body. Thought was impossible just then; he couldn't even recall his full name. That was strange…he knew who he was, and yet details escaped him. They were there, in his head, but the procedure of retrieving them was temporarily lost.

The light. Feeling the wind. Even the sensation of breathing was hard to process. Demon pulled in a slow breath now and held it, feeling his lungs expand. Lifting a hand to his chest, he felt his heart thudding calmly beneath his palm. He blinked, sighed, hummed, tilted his head, examined his hands, cleared his throat, felt his face, called up his chakra completely, and let it die away…

He was alive. And then memory and thought returned, and with it some measure of coherence. A slight settling of his disorientation. An ability to line things up in his mind and accept the fact that he'd been dead and was now returned to life.

'_Kyuubi_?'

'_**I'm here, Boy.'**_

And apparently whole. _I'm alive._

Demon was suddenly aware of the hush around him. Of everyone staring at him. He looked at no one, oddly ashamed and unable to identify why he felt that way. He stood blinking down as his filthy hands. Sasuke finally came and stood before him, and looked him in the eye. There were tears on his cheeks. So much had happened. Too much, his eyes said. Then he was walking into Naruto's arms.

This seemed to be a cue for the watching army. A cheer rose up, not just at Naruto and Sasuke being reunited, but at everyone's return to life. At Izanami being beaten, and the world they could see whole and new and waiting for them. There was wild stomping, screaming, and many tears, as the roars went on and on.

But then Demon pulled out of Sasuke's arms and, looking to this unofficial leader, the army slowly became quiet. Demon looked around. More memories were returning, catching up to him in the order they'd occurred, apparently. The idea of his children, and how he'd last seen them, was the very last. "Aimi?" She was the one who'd saved the world, the one they owed it all to. "Aimi, precious, where are you?"

They all looked around at this name being called, searching for a white-haired child of dark complexion.

"The last we saw her, she was reversing Time," Sasuke frowned. "Where is she?"

But that brought to mind something else. "She was okay at least," Demon said, still twisting this way and that. "Where's Raiden?"

They looked at each other. The last place Raiden had been seen was in the Underworld.

* * *

Currently, though, Raiden was huddled inside a dense sphere of magic-infused chakra with Wyatt, yelling for all he was worth in fear. This tough bubble punched through the Underworld's reality and into his own, not unlike Booming.

He and Wyatt materialized without the bubble, high up in some cool white space. They were falling, that much Raiden knew, and that he could breathe. Then the whiteness cleared, and he saw that he'd been up in the clouds. Beneath him stretched the vast, undulating surface of an ocean.

He transformed mid-air. Grabbed Wyatt more securely. Hovered.

Better. _I can't take anymore. _

Wings flapping, he spotted something far below, glinting in the sunlight as it fell toward the water. Excalibur. Pulling it so that it sat in the sheath on Wyatt's back took no more effort than blinking. Less than that. And the flower was still present, Raiden saw. That this relic of the training world had survived everything when his own sister, the strongest thing besides himself-

The grief had him falling out of the sky. The energy to fly, or even just to hold himself up, suddenly left him. Wrapped himself around Wyatt, he tumbled and spiraled toward the water until, at the last possible second, he folded and found himself on a patch of warm grass.

-oOo-

The sun was a few lengths above the horizon. The sound of the ocean wasn't too far away. He could even feel sand beneath the sparse grass he lay on. The salty smell, the sound of the waves, and the way the bright light of day all but sparkled around him was perfect. Beautiful.

It was ugly. The ugliest scene he'd ever laid eyes on.

All of it, every bit of it, had been bought with Aimi's life. His _sister_. She was _dead_. He'd never be able to look at the world around him again without remembering what it had cost. She was gone. Really gone. This knowledge hadn't been so bad when he thought he'd be joining her. Then, when he and Wyatt were kicked out of the Underworld, a part of him thought that maybe she had been rescued somehow as well. But there wasn't the faintest sense of her anywhere. He felt as if some key part of him was missing. Like he'd been amputated and left bleeding to death.

He'd never been hurt like this. Not when Wyatt had been mad, or when he'd sensed his Pop was dead, or anything. He wanted to vomit, but couldn't. There was nothing in him to come up.

On his back the way he was, and helpless to do anything else, Raiden covered his eyes with a forearm and just cried.

* * *

It was a somber crowd that walked through the opening Urahara facilitated. The shinobi passed from the alternate dimension and into their world with gladdened hearts, but an awareness that their victory had not been without a price. There were those who felt that the cost had rightly been paid by those responsible in the first place, but the majority of the battle-weary ninja were sympathetic.

And they weren't the only ones. All of the Uchiha mourned Itachi and Akane. The triplets especially took the news of their father hard. It seemed that every time they got their hopes up over a reprieve, the hits just kept coming. Hiroto saw them huddled around each other and dried his eyes long enough to bend and lift all three of them in his massive arms. He was the first to walk through Konoha's gates.

Ikkaku stood beside Akiko, who'd died in his arms, but she was clutched in Asami's grip. The two sisters cried bitterly, while he looked on uncomfortably.

Inuzuka Tsumi had a distraught young woman everyone simply knew as Iruka's wife or The Ramen Lady clasped in her arms.

Kurenai stood apart with her sons, widowed, yet erect even in her grief, in honor of her husband's sacrifice.

Lee was being consoled by Sakura over the loss of Gai.

Queenie stood alone. There was no one to console him. Hiroko saw him, and pulled away from Konohamaru long enough to waddle up to him and put her arms around his neck. Even this prodigious weight didn't bend him; he stood straight, his grief contained in the distant expression of his eyes.

Gaara came up to him again, and this time there were tears in his eyes. "It's all right," he said. "We'll mourn. And then we'll move on."

"I feel like nothing will ever be all right."

Gaara gave a sad smile. "The memories will fade, trust me. Excuse me, but I must see to my people."

Demon nodded.

"I'll join you tonight; it's been decided that a vigil will be held for Raiden and Aimi, the only unconfirmed…casualties. We're all praying they're alive." Gaara left with a lingering squeeze to his shoulder.

-oOo-

Amazingly, Demon was left alone. Konoha shinobi made their weary way toward the village. Arata could be seen directing ANBU. The Shinigami were huddled together and whispering, glancing at the sky from time to time. Even Sasuke was suddenly surrounded by his nieces and nephews, sharing the grief of Itachi's loss. It wasn't until a muffled cry from the opposite direction sounded that he came out of his daze.

It was Rasta-Sasuke. Blondie had one massive hand on his head in an awkward attempt at consolation, but Rasta-Sasuke sank to the balls of his feet, swatting the hand away.

Demon walked up to him. "What is it?"

"We're _stuck_ here, that's what!" Rasta-Sasuke roared as he surged back to his feet. "Your kids bought it and we're _fucked_!"

Glancing at the other Sasukes and Narutos, he saw that they shared Rasta-Sasuke's belief. "My kids _aren't_ _dead_."

Kage-Naruto shouldered through the others to get in his face and glare down at him. Twice as wide and three times as strong he might be, but Demon met his stare with a challenging one of his own. "So where are they?" The taller blond asked aggressively. "If they aren't dead, why aren't they here, sending us home now that we've helped you?"

That was a good question. Just why the hell hadn't he seen about finding that out before now? Standing around grieving when he could simply reach out and call the kid! He blamed the lingering effects of returning to life for this oversight.

'_Raiden?' _If they were out, it was conceivable that Raiden had made it out somehow too. He was probably with Aimi, wherever she was. _'Come on buddy, can you hear me?' _Nothing. Refusing to believe that his son was still in the Underworld, Demon switched tactics. '_Kyuubi.'_

'_**Considering all we've been through, you might try calling me by name, Boy.'**_

'_Is that why you keep calling me boy?' _Demon could not care less. _'Where's Raiden? And Aimi?'_

'_**If I knew, would I have failed to pass that information along?'**_

'…_You can't sense them?'_

'_**Your mind is as sharp as ever, I see.'**_

The panic that swept through him at this was swiftly suppressed as Demon forced himself to remain calm. _'You don't seem worried. Are they alive?'_

A pause. _**'I do not know.'**_

'_Why _isn't_ it bothering you? And why can't you sense them all of a sudden?'_

'_**Because I do no bleat in terror every time I cannot sense the kitling the way you do does not mean I am not bothered…though I am not. If there were danger to the kitling, I feel sure I would know. That is enough.'**_

* * *

Through the morning hours of that autumn day, the shinobi of the various nations and villages gradually separated themselves into groups, taking stock. Konoha's residents went to their homes, opening their doors to whoever needed room; the armies were camped outside the walls, but there were still those who took shelter inside the village itself.

The restored and predominantly empty Uchiha compound was silent that night. The Uchiha were grouped in the main room of Itachi's home, unwilling to go outside and share the vigil being held for Raiden and Aimi. They hugged their grief close. Gaara was with them.

Yanagi sat with her brothers. Kei had an arm around her, as she rested her head on Masaru's meaty shoulder. Ryota sat glumly staring at his spell book. It was him who felt the shiver first, but all four redheads shuddered where they sat. Gaara moved to fetch them a blanket, but a flash a blinding white light appearing in their midst had him releasing his sand instead.

-oOo-

Willow barely had time to visually locate her children before all of them, Yanagi included, were leaping at her with anguished cries. She was buffeted and knocked off balance, before Gaara's hasty approach steadied her. She stood in this awkward embrace, Gaara's hand on her back, and her boys literally trying to climb her body, until all of them sank to the floor for convenience's sake. The children all but smothered her once they had.

Gaara stared at her in wonder. "How?" he breathed.

Trying to see past four heads bent on kissing every part of her face, Willow hugged them as best she could. "I'm not quite sure. I sensed the kids in danger, started to execute this nifty spell I put in place, but then suddenly found myself back in my room, prepping for the spell all over again. As if I'd been pushed back in time. So weird…I figured I'd better come anyway. I mean that's powerful magic, messing with Time." She was briefly distracted as Yanagi threw her arms around her neck.

Ryota leaned back. "Oh, you don't know the _half_ of what happened, Mom, _wait_ till we tell you." Wiping his snotty face with his bare hands, he proceeded to do just that.

The rest of the Uchiha, watching in silence until then, listened as well. At learning she'd died, and how she'd died, Willow shuddered. "Where's Aimi now?" she asked when the tale was done. She would think about Itachi later. It seemed these people needed help.

"We don't know," Gaara said. "Nor do we know where Raiden is. Naruto and Sasuke are outside with the others, beside themselves with worry."

"I can do a locator spell," Willow said.

"I already tried it," Ryota piped up. "It worked before for Aimi, but not anymore. And Raiden…it's weird. Like the magic gets close to where he might be, but skates away as if it can't get a read on him. Spell's never failed me before," he finished forlornly.

"Hm." Willow got to her feet and thought for a moment. "Sounds like rival magic at work, but Raiden's not magical, is he?"

Gaara shook his head. He watched as Willow muttered something, and a narrow ring of light expanded from her. It faded and disappeared.

"Seems my locator spell isn't working for either of them either. Well," Willow said with a bracing smile. "Let's go outside and see what's what. Maybe they've returned and we haven't heard."

"Perhaps." Gaara went to her and folded her into his own hug. He'd loved her deeply when they'd been together. With Itachi gone –a loss he would never recover from- her presence was soothing. "It's good you came, Willow. Especially now."

* * *

Outside the gates, the land was lit with campfires. Demon and Sasuke were surrounded by the other Kage, but other than that the shinobi from the five nations were segregated as before. There was free movement and mingling between the camps. Food being cooked and consumed, friends and acquaintances speaking, some even sleeping. Willow and Gaara went to the Kage group, where Demon and Sasuke glanced up at them with little emotion. They were past the ability to feel surprise at Willow's presence.

Seeing the triplets and Yanagi paw and pet their mother, and the way Gaara sat so close to Willow, Sasuke had to look away. That should be him with his own children, he thought. And Gaara, that snake, seemed to be getting over his brother already.

Demon put an arm around his waist, also keenly aware of the cozy scene happening beside them. He had to force himself to focus on something else. "None of this feels real," he said.

Sasuke nodded. "I can't believe they're gone. I won't. They'll be with us soon. Until then…"

"It's just…everything's back to normal now. Izanami's gone. The world's restored. If they aren't here, then where are they? What are they doing?"

"Wish I knew. You don't think those gods that were talking to Aimi came back? For her powers? Hers and Raiden's?"

Demon couldn't help thinking exactly that. "Aimi didn't give them up the first time, she's hardly likely to a second time. Raiden would never. Period. We just have to wait. And hope. And pray." He hugged him tighter. "They're okay. They have to be."

-oOo-

Byakuya stared at Demon from his place removed from the other groups. He and the other Shinigami sat in their own little circle. "We should tell him."

Urahara, along with everyone else, had his gaze firmly skyward. "Not yet. Nothing has been decided _yet_."

Yoruichi, returned to her godly life, left off staring upward to glance at Byakuya. "He's still trying."

"And he will _fail_," Byakuya snapped, whipping his head around to pin her with a pale glare. "I too was hopeful in the beginning, but there is not one resident of Seireitei who could stand against what he's facing. _No_ _one_. Not even him."

This seemed to be the case. Sadly, yet with some faint hope still, they returned to gazing up at where Kenpachi could vaguely be sensed. No longer in the alternate dimension, they couldn't precisely see him anymore, but the weight of his reiatsu was discernible. And that only because he was releasing it now to an extent none of them had believed him capable of. Personally, none of them had ever seen or heard of a Shinigami stronger than what they were now witnessing.

And yet Kenpachi's reiatsu was as nothing compared to the raw blasts of power he was combating. That he was even still fighting was a mystery. It seemed every counterstrike against him would be the end of him, but he fought on. And as long as he did, the Shinigami held their silence on Aimi.

-oOo-

Near midnight, most of the massive camp was asleep. Those that were awake divided their attention between Demon and Sasuke, who were also awake, or the others who'd suffered losses.

There was a sizable space in the midst of the separate groups. A clear area that had been deliberately left so in the hopes that the children would appear here. When a lone figure did materialize there around the midnight hour, carrying the body of another slung over his shoulders, the first thought that struck everyone's mind was the same: this was no child.

Tall. Tanned. Tawny hair cascading in an abundance of filthy spikes down his back. The firelight flickered over his lean musculature, and his deer hide breeches. This person lowered the body he carried, so that it was gently laid on the ground, before slowly straightening to his feet once more.

Demon and Sasuke were the first to run forward, calling his name. They slowed at seeing the unconscious person wasn't Aimi, then stopped altogether when Raiden lifted his head to look at them.

Sasuke remained still, sensing the truth. Demon forged ahead after his brief moment of shock. Walked right up to Raiden, to stand in front of him. He lifted a hand to reach for his son's shoulder, drew it back, but reached out again to rest his hand on him. He raised the other hand to do the same, looking into those eyes so like his own. "Aimi?"

He knew the kid couldn't have grown since they'd left the training world, but there was something adult about the grief on that face. The tear tracks that cut through the dirt on it. They were still wet, those tracks. This evidence of recent crying did not bespeak immaturity, nor did the way the grief was held in tight control now. It had been loose, Naruto could tell, but not now. Now it was kept in check, as Raiden spoke in a voice that had matured to a new depth.

"Aimi's dead."

The sound of Sasuke slowly dropping to his knees, of his nieces and nephews quickly clustering around him, and of the shinobi who'd woken and drawn closer at Raiden's arrival offering prayers, did nothing to break Naruto's focus on his son's face. He said nothing, letting the knowledge sweep through him in crushing waves.

Raiden didn't repeat himself. There was no need to.

Dimly, Naruto was aware of Gaara coming up to him, trying to embrace him, but he was immovable. If he moved, he would break, so he was rigid. Holding himself together. At last, he heard Gaara turn to Raiden and ask what happened.

Raiden didn't know, he said. "She was turning back Time, and then I couldn't sense her. Some…thing, some force or something swallowed her."

"And you?" Gaara asked delicately, when he'd bowed his head in deference to her passing. "How are you free of the Underworld?"

"Something kicked me out. A god, I think."

Gaara looked down at Wyatt, where Willow was already by his side and resting a hand on his brow. "Is Wyatt…?"

Raiden looked down too, breaking the anguished eye contact with his father at last. "No. He saved us. Me and Aimi. Straight blocked a strike from Izanami, but it knocked him out. I can't wake him."

"Neither can I," Willow muttered without looking up. "He's in some kind of magical coma. I have to believe he was going full strength to block Izanami. Taking that kind of strike under those circumstances…well, your power can backfire. Damage you _and_ your target. Happened when me and Tara banished Glory this one time. I'm afraid I can't help him."

"Why not?" Gaara asked. He would never forget the debt he owed Wyatt for Yanagi's life.

"His magic is hereditary. Mine's elemental. The two don't really mix."

"Can nothing be done?"

Willow sadly shook her head, then looked up at Raiden with a frown. "I'm sensing a lot of his power in you, actually. Why is that?"

Raiden didn't answer. Now that he was no longer actively grieving, something caught his attention.

Demon found himself with his hands over his face, swallowing convulsively. He managed to stifle most of the sounds he made, but every time he did, a new memory of Aimi would surface, and a cry would escape him on a choked breath.

'_**Boy." **_Kyuubi's voice was oddly restrained. _**'She is gone, it is done. The kitling remains. And it may interest you to learn why I can no longer sense him, though he stands before us: he is a pup no longer. As these things go, he is no longer in need of the ties that saw him through infancy. The loss of these ties was likely done involuntarily, with no conscious action on his part. I can no longer speak to his mind, nor can you, and that is as it should be. He will leave the den to start his own pack.**_

'_**And as for the other,' **_Kyuubi went on in even quieter tones, _**'she was unnatural from the first. She should never have been nurtured to near-maturity-'**_

Demon tuned him out. Sasuke found him and held him hard.

Gaara watched them sadly. Looking at Raiden, Willow, his children, Itachi's, and everyone else, he heaved a long, sorrowful sigh. "It's over. Finally, it is all over."

But Raiden, still staring into the night, said, "No, it's not."

* * *

The return of the world to its full glory had frightened them back to their cave at first; the flying trees and churning landscape seemed like another godly attack. From this shelter, they'd watched the land and mountains right themselves as if by sorcery. After the initial fear had worn off, Madara deduced the truth. He knew it could only be that girl, Raiden's sister. The one who'd taken his brother through some ability with Time. They'd watched in awe, the sight of Time being reversed, until it stopped completely, and rolled forward once more.

That he and the rest had remained untouched had puzzled Madara at first. But then he'd cocked his head and given a smile. He turned to where the others were watching him. "Come."

-oOo-

He'd transported them to the nearest town he could locate, and there, wandering about as if nothing untoward had occurred, were people. It was the same wherever he took them. The world was repopulated.

"Which means we're back in business," Hidan grinned.

"And what business would that be?" Kakuzu wanted to know. "The bijuu are no more. We're all mortal again."

"There is one bijuu left," Madara said carefully. He'd stayed far away from Konoha, though. Had not even tried to sense who may or may not be alive from that cursed place. "But Kakuzu is right, we have no plan currently in place. I propose we disperse for the time being, get our bearings. I will contact you all at a later time to-"

The other patrons of the discreet all-night cafe stared in shock. The group of cloaked individuals who'd been occupying the lower terrace had all vanished into the air.

* * *

They reappeared in a desert, in a circle, with someone standing in their midst. Apparently, this person was waiting for them.

It was Madara who recognized the person first. The others weren't long behind in understanding; they backed away immediately. This was Madara's fight, not theirs. Not in their mortal bodies.

Madara stood still, gazing at his opponent unblinkingly.

"Will you run?" Raiden asked quietly.

Madara noted everything, from the deepened voice, to the utter absence of fear or uncertainty. "No. I will not. I've no need to."

By which Raiden was sure he meant that he was in his prime this time around. No health issues or advanced age to slow him down. "Glad to hear it. This ends now, Madara. Tonight."

"Agreed. It's been a long time coming." But Madara looked around. "Is your sister not here to assist you this time?" If he was going to eliminate any threats to his new future, he preferred to do it all at once.

Raiden's heart twisted unbearably at mention of Aimi. He couldn't keep the grimace of grief off his face.

Madara saw it, and his eyes widened in comprehension. He couldn't immediately decide if this turn of events made Raiden more dangerous or more vulnerable, but he quickly raised a hand to his comrades; some of them evidently believed in the vulnerable theory and were trying to close in on Raiden from several points. This _was_ his fight, though, and he would end Raiden once and for all without assistance.

-oOo-

Raiden noticed the threat anyway, though grieving. He wasn't there to fuck around. Whether they attacked or not, he couldn't allow them to live. His chakra was already in play, if masked. He unmasked it now.

To his mild surprise, the Death Spheres he wanted materialized around him with only the thought of them to guide them; his arms were still crossed over his chest. A vague memory of being able to execute jutsu without hand gestures or verbal directives surfaced. That was back when he'd been small. Before he'd had bullshit clogging his thought-processes. Before he'd been immersed in society and the need for secrecy about his powers. He'd been strongest then. As he was now.

_Just like I was when I killed your ass the first time, _Raiden thought. He stared at Madara with a wealth of hatred…yet felt nothing.

The events of the past day and a half had effectively brought him back to a state of pure instinct. That and his emotions –now forcibly suppressed- did what Aimi's grief had done, and stripped away the fetters of his humanity. Unlike her, though, he was fully incorporated with his bestial side. It wasn't a 'side' to him, just an aspect of who he was. Like the color of his eyes. His restraints had never been his humanity, just the limitations most humans hindered themselves with: Fear. Doubt. Caution. Concern for those around them. Chains, each one.

He wasn't completely without emotion at the moment, just not _those_ emotions. Having faced the worst, there was nothing left to fear. That he was meant to kill Madara, if for no other reason than that he was the cause of everything, there was no doubt. They were long past the time for caution, if such a time had ever existed, and there was no one around to worry about.

As such, his power was unmitigated.

However, the fight with the gods wasn't so far in the past or so buried in his grief that he didn't remember that his power had limits. Nor did he ignore the fact that Madara was at full strength. But if he'd beaten him as a baby, he could beat him now, even given Madara's youth and vigor. After all, the First had beaten him, and he hadn't even had powers like his and Aimi's.

He took an extra moment to assess himself. Without cockiness or arrogance, he calmly concluded that he was at his height. A level of strength and ability that would have been sorely welcome mere hours ago. To realize now, after all was said and done, that reaching such a level couldn't be obtained through training alone, but was a state of mind, was a bitter pill to take. Well, better late than never.

-oOo-

It had only been a moment since Akatsuki had moved toward them. Less than that since Madara's halt of their advance, the unmasking of Raiden's chakra, and the appearance of the Death Spheres. The Spheres zoomed around him like the electrons of an atom, before vanishing.

Akatsuki shifted their stances, wondering at this new tactic.

The Death Spheres reappeared where their heads were, leaving nine headless corpses to topple in silence to the sand.

All without Raiden uncrossing his arms, or taking his eyes off Madara. Folding attacks was something else he used to do when he was little.

Madara had made himself insubstantial the moment those Spheres had vanished, ever cautious. His lips thinned at seeing his subordinates fall, but he didn't take his eyes off Raiden. Eternal Mangekyo glowed red fire at the unnaturally still boy. "Grief suits you," he commented. "That was flawlessly executed."

"Spare me."

"Not likely." Madara's voice was silky. "A pity you do not share your sister's ability with Yin-Yang release. You might have revived her, as she has revived the world."

Diverted despite himself, Raiden blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about. Izuna said she had Izanagi."

"Izuna died ignorant of many things…including this." Eternal Mangekyo changed, to reveal a spiral pattern that had Raiden's eyes widening.

"You-"

"Izanagi is merely Genjutsu. _This_ is true power. I confess, you are one of precious few who've seen this ability in me. It's not a power I want known I possess. But then you'll be dead soon…"

"Aimi…she didn't have Rinnegan." His mouth was dry. Fear tried to unsettle his control, his balance, but he held on to his focus with an effort. _He's not just at full strength…_ "Izuna _trained_ her with Izanagi. You don't know what you're talking about."

"No? I know more than you'll ever learn. What Izuna called her abilities would have made no difference to the abilities themselves, just as calling night day would not change the fact that the stars are out and the moon shining. Perhaps she believed what she was doing was called Izanagi, but that didn't change the fact that it was Yin-Yang release she used. She may not have manifested the eyes, not yet, but the power lurked in her, I am sure of it. Had she lived, she most certainly would have acquired the ability in its full power. Better she died. She was too strong as it was, I've no doubt." _And there can be no rival for my dominion over the world._

Raiden's mouth twisted. He'd heard enough, and none of it mattered. Aimi was gone, and the reason why stood in front of him. Closing his eyes, Raiden's already keen awareness of Madara sharpened exponentially.

The first time he'd killed Madara, he'd closed his eyes to escape having a Genjutsu thrown at him. Now, he thought maybe he'd also done it because sensing was just easier to do if you didn't have _all_ your senses running amok. It also heightened his already preternaturally strong sense of smell.

Sight really was a distracting sense, he decided as he felt Madara vanish. It deceived the mind into thinking that what it saw was reality, when it wasn't. Reality could not be measured by the limitations of sight. What he _felt_ was real.

Dozens of Death Spheres bloomed around him, swirling lazily. Madara had vanished…but not completely, he could now tell. Just as Madara seemed able to sense others from within his private dimensions, so too could Raiden now sense him, if very faintly. Perfectly motionless, arms still folded, he waited.

And waited.

Evidently, Madara was considering a mode of attack, knowing full well that conventional offense strategies wouldn't work. _And him with his freak eyes. Fucking coward. _Whatever the case, Raiden gave up waiting in short order.

Accessing Madara's dimension was a stretch, but doable. Raiden silently thanked the long hours of contact he'd had with Aimi's mind. He'd received an education on the complexities of time and space he likely would never have come across on his own. As such, he was able to see that so long as Madara existed in _this_ reality, his dimension couldn't be too far removed…which was good, because in trying to rip open an entry point to it, he discovered that his ability to move between dimensions was mysteriously absent. At most he only nudged where Madara was hiding with his own mind.

It was enough to startle Madara -who'd likely never had his dimensions touched with him still inside- into re-appearing with attacks blazing. Raiden lost no time in seizing control of Madara's chakra, thus freezing the magnetic pull trying to yank him off his feet.

Madara's strange eyes glared at him. Raiden glared back. Locked as they were, neither moved for a moment. Then he felt Madara wrench back control of his chakra with inhuman force, and he was left to scramble after it. He wanted that phasing ability neutralized, no matter what the cost, or he'd be here indefinitely.

_Here we go, _Raiden thought grimly.

* * *

He would have been the last to call himself a hopeful individual. Hope, love, the power of positive thinking…all that shit belonged to people he called weak. People who had weaknesses, rather. They were strong, but they weren't him. He didn't do hope, just as he didn't do fear.

Still. By definition, a fight was an occurrence between parties of which one had a hope of overcoming the other. Kenpachi could say with certainty that no such outcome looked forthcoming for him. Overpower this fuck? He wished. But he wasn't a wishing man either.

He was a fighter. Fighters fought till the end, whatever end that was. Unthinkable as it seemed, it looked as if this would be _his_ end.

His blade had broken times beyond count now. The first charge alone had shattered it to fragments, and he'd barely whisked himself out of the way of the second charge in time to save himself. He'd repaired his Zanpaktuo mid-leap, bringing it down two-handed, and putting all the considerable strength at his command into the swing.

Blackie didn't so much as blink.

There _was_, however, a nick on his forearm. That was all the encouragement Kenpachi needed.

His reiatsu was a constant burn, blasting at full-force the way it was. Truth be told, he wouldn't have believed it possible to fight under such conditions, but there was no alternative. It was fight or die. The kind of fight he'd lived for. Waited for. This was it.

For a time, he was able to keep his head attached by evasion. If he made an advance it was only after careful thought. Always directed at that pendant. A few times he switched tactics and came from someplace unexpected, but when you were fighting a mountain, strategy made little difference.

"WHY DO YOU PERSIST?" the mountain rumbled. "IT WAS HER CHOICE. HER SOUL CALLED FOR DEATH AND I WENT. SHE ASKED FOR IT FROM HER OWN LIPS AND I GAVE IT."

Under other circumstances, he'd have joined in the dialogue that seemed a ritual requirement for every fight he'd ever been in. Not this time. He had neither the strength nor the mindset to bandy words. All thought was gone. He was a fighter, not a talker.

"SHOULD THE UNTHINKABLE TAKE PLACE," the mountain went on, parrying a blow, then another, "YOU WOULD NOT RECEIVE THE CHILD AS SHE WAS. DEATH CHANGES MORTALS. IT WAS HER TIME. SHE IS FINISHED. LET HER GO."

Kenpachi's answer was a direct hit to those white eyes, a strike that was blocked by one huge black hand swinging at him. The blow sent him caroming sideways, dazed and stunned. Before he could fully rise, a foot slammed him back down. The force behind it was insane, even to him. Blood spewed out of his mouth and nose. The foot twisted, grinding downward, as Kenpachi howled.

* * *

_How is it that fighting a god is so different from fighting a mortal man? _Raiden wondered. He'd been forced out of his indifferent posture some time ago. As often as he was able to grab hold of Madara's chakra, the man was able to snatch it back, so that control of it was a ceaseless struggle between them.

There were, however, minor victories: Madara was unable to phase, and he was able to keep his eyes closed, thus avoiding the traps of Genjutsu for the most part.

Other than that, Raiden worked to keep distracting thoughts to a minimum.

_On the left._

His left wing deflected Kagutsuchi, sending the shockwave of heat out over the sand, which turned to glass. Madara copied his techniques easily, leading Raiden to believe he could use his Sharingan despite manifesting Rinnegan. It hadn't taken him long to fall back on the moves that couldn't be copied so easily. Which actually didn't give him too much to work with, considering Preta Path sucked up Ninjutsu.

Taijutsu, then.

But there Madara combated him as well. To Raiden's shock and shame, he realized that Ninjutsu-wise he might well be at his height, but he'd never been particularly great with Taijutsu. It was just something he'd never had to really rely on, what with his other abilities.

Besides which, he was supposed to be avoiding direct contact with Madara, and through it, death via Human or Outer Path.

Raiden went still, momentarily unable to sense or hear Madara. Had he phased without him knowing? No, he was currently in control of Madara's chakra, the only times the man _wasn't_ able to attack.

There was no sound, but he could smell Madara behind him. Raiden folded without thinking. Madara was now in front of him. Rasenshuriken bloomed instantly in his hands as he shoved them at Madara. Sand fountained and blew around wildly, stinging his face, as he was rewarded at last with a direct hit. Not much, but there was a cry. A calculated cry, one designed to make him open his eyes and view the results of his handiwork. He didn't fall for it, letting his other senses crawl over Madara to assess the damage.

Seemed Madara had lost an arm. Acceptable. But Madara was gone a second later, vanished. That was _un_acceptable.

The problem with folding was that it cost him whatever control he had over Madara's chakra. He couldn't hold onto it while folding. That Madara was gone now attested to the fact that while he hadn't opened his eyes at hearing the cry, he _had_ been distracted by it nonetheless. _Fuck. _

Raiden risked opening his eyes now, and glanced around. The moonlit desert was empty. Patches of fulgurite from other Kagutsuchi attacks gleamed dully here and there. Staring absently at the sand, Raiden allowed thought to take over his mind for a moment.

It wasn't that Madara was too strong, because he _wasn't_ stronger. Raiden could safely say that he was the more powerful opponent, not Madara. But Madara had decades of battle experience. And he had too many abilities at his disposal. The gods had been child's play in comparison, even though they'd been more powerful, simply because their abilities had been limited to a few things, nothing more. Often a single ability. True, he'd had Aimi on his side, but that wasn't the point. The point was that strong as he was, resourceful as he was, he might still lose. He'd already had to heal himself more times than he could remember.

Staring at the sand, Raiden considered his options. _I need to find a weakness._

* * *

The blows came seemingly without pause.

Susanoo watched him dispassionately. For a while it seemed that every killing blow the little man received only goaded him somehow. Time and again, he rose from defeat, somehow, impossibly, more resolute than before. Stronger. Susanoo couldn't say that he was being taxed in the fight, but he _was_ being called upon to display ever more effort to subdue the man…who didn't seem capable of being subdued.

This last blow he'd dealt, that had been his strongest yet. A grunt of effort had escaped him. The man was down for what he hoped was the final time. He disliked this delay in seeing to his duties elsewhere. The man lay shivering and bleeding from countless places, while Susanoo waited to see if he would rise.

-oOo-

Kenpachi's blade had been broken, repaired, and broken again until all he held now was the hilt, unable to repair it again.

He wheezed in pain. In acute agony, not mere pain. It seemed every atom in him was screaming, a sound he was sure he could actually hear in his delirium. A weak cough wracked his body, and he was powerless not to scream himself at what this small movement did to him. He had to get up, had to move, to keep fighting…

The effort of dragging his hands to a position where he could place his palms on the ground and push himself up had another moan slipping from his lips. Face down as he was, he could see his sword hilt in his bloody right fist. Again, he urged himself to get up.

But he couldn't.

His end had come, he could tell. There was no strength in his body, no more fight left. His elbows, upraised to leverage his body off the ground, collapsed. The fist around his sword hilt loosened.

-oOo-

Susanoo lifted his chin slightly approval. It was done then. All that was needed was the final blow, and it would well and truly be over. This had been a nuisance he could have done without.

-oOo-

Kenpachi could feel those mammoth footfalls through the ground. A slow, measured countdown to his demise. _Always said I wanted to go down fighting… _And yet he didn't want to die with the taste of defeat in his mouth. He tried to firm his grip on his sword, but even that much strength was beyond him. Hearing the footsteps, staring at what was left of his blade, Kenpachi at last knew fear. It was an admission to himself that he was weak, that he wasn't invincible, and that something at last had shown him that he wasn't enough.

In this final submission of his soul, his agony intensified. The screaming in him was louder. His pain was intense, but to be losing his mind on top of it seemed a cruel fate. Kenpachi closed his eyes-

* * *

-_And found himself in some odd, battle-torn landscape. The screaming was all around him now, loud enough to make him wince. And, contrary to what he'd thought, it wasn't his body doing the screaming. It was some…thing. Some tall, muscular thing he assumed was a man. There was a ragged, bloody bandage around its eyes, and a pair of torn trousers clinging to its –his- muscular thighs. All else was bare. Bloody, ripped, torn, and bare. Shaggy red hair completed the man's appearance, falling to his shoulders in thick, uneven hanks._

_At Kenpachi's arrival, the man grew silent, turning toward him despite his blind state. "Ken…pachi…" The voice was a whisper as ragged as the rest of him. Hoarse from centuries of his incessant screaming._

_A feeling twisted in Kenpachi's gut, part disbelief, part anticipation, part hungry, devouring longing. If this was who he thought it was… _It can't be_. "Who are you?"_

_The man was crouched. He stood now and turned so that he was completely facing Kenpachi. "You've never asked before."_

"_I did. Once." Helpless not to, Kenpachi took a step toward the man, noting that the height was enormous. Quite as tall as Komamura, and just as broad. "I asked."_

"_You asked. But you didn't _ask_."_

_Kenpachi waited. Thought. When it came to him, he almost recoiled. The idea went against everything he believed in, but the truth was all around him. "True power and strength are about submission."_

"_Yes…" The bandaged head tipped downward as Kenpachi stopped directly in front of him._

"_Admitting one's weaknesses."_

_No response this time. Kenpachi had to crane his head to see the face. It was scarred, dripping blood. Open wounds, old ones… Kenpachi stared at him, seeing it all, and felt an unspeakably intimate kinship with the man. Something that sat inside him, that suffused him with heat and shame. Shame that he could be so blind all his life, so ignorant of himself._

"_I am weak," Kenpachi said, lowering his head so that he stared at the man's chest. "I'm weak…without you."_

"_Yes."_

_And eternity. A moment. Self-disgust. A mute, pleading hope that it wasn't too late. _Please don't let me be too late. _This tall, bleeding man was not someone who forgave easily, he sensed. "I'm sorry," Kenpachi whispered. "I've used and abused you."_

"_Yes."_

"_Debased you with my arrogance. Took you for granted."_

"_Yes."_

"…_Please." The word was ripped from someplace deep inside him. "Tell me."_

_The man waited, seeing Kenpachi in his own way. All he'd ever wanted was to fight and serve his master well. To give him the strength he craved so fiercely. The pain of being ignored, unknown, and misused was still there, but Kenpachi was blind no more. The dark head was bowed, waiting. Accepting and receptive. _

_He'd asked. At last. Asked with his being. The man shifted, bending to Kenpachi's ear. "Listen…"_

* * *

Kenpachi opened his eyes. His hand was still before his face, still wrapped around the hilt of his sword. The Zanpaktuo was whole, glowing a yellow so bright it was nearly white. His blade was no longer chipped or dull, but gleaming, the edge so sharp that it was a tangible thing, even to him. It was an edge that thirsted, that _yearned_ to cut, begged to be unleashed on the enemy.

And _he_ was whole, he saw as he slowly got to his feet. His body glowed with his blade, their reiatsu illuminating and spreading to fill the vast, godly area they were in. More, it slashed at the landscape, shredding it in its ferocity and causing a hurricane of displaced matter.

For once, his strength didn't excite him. Now it humbled him. He lifted his blade to eye level, acknowledging it and the power he derived from it, and held it with a new reverence. With respect. "I won't forget," he murmured.

-oOo-

Susanoo narrowed eyes that reflected the yellowish power cascading out of the man…who seemed recovered now. He seemed more than recovered. This was not a creature whose power was negligible. The tool he carried was no longer an object unworthy of notice. That was a proper sword, worthy of the name. He could feel its lust, its desire to feed off him. "WHAT IS THIS?"

Kenpachi felt his old and ever-present bloodlust rear its head from the ashes of defeat. Joined with his blade as he was now, it was a sweet song in his head. To go so long incomplete, only to finally know who he was, what his worth was…it was almost too much for him to contain. The feeling was indescribable.

A question had been asked. He almost smiled.

He and Blackie had danced this dance before. "_This_," he said, hefting his blade with something akin to love, "is me saying the game has changed."

And the blade's blood thirst sharpened, Susanoo noted. He wouldn't go so far as to say he was unsettled…but the little man was right. Things had changed. Perhaps it was time he showed his own blade. It materialized in his hand now, curved and two-pronged. "THIS IS OVER. IF YOU THOUGHT MY ATTACKS OVERWHELMING BEFORE, YOU WOULD DO WELL TO FLEE. ONCE I PIERCE YOU WITH TOTSUKA, YOU WILL BE SEALED AWAY FOREVER."

Kenpachi felt Moumoku no Senshi hum in his hand at the threat. He lifted his other to wrap around the hilt, adopting a Kendo stance. "We'll see about that."

He charged.

* * *

Madara reappeared in the desert, not a little disgusted with his need to retreat. He had his chakra firmly in place, as his eyes scanned his surroundings. Raiden was nowhere in sight. More, he couldn't sense him, and couldn't see his chakra anywhere. He stood where he was and cast his senses wider.

Curious, he slowly lowered his gaze to the ground, where grains of sand blew faintly in the wind. Something…

Raiden dive-bombed from the air directly overhead, folding from God knew where, with His Death Spheres spinning in both hands. Madara sidestepped easily, reaching out and closing a hand around the boy's throat. The moment he did, Raiden disappeared in a _poof_ of smoke. Madara's lips tightened.

Copies of the boy materialized all around him, from the air, from behind, in front, and to either side. They did not attack at once, which would have made dealing with them easy, but in quick succession, forcing him to combat them singly and rapidly. If combat was even the word. Each one folded away from him before he could lay hands on them, only to reappear at some other position. Madara was surrounded by a flickering mob of yelling teens, all vanishing and reappearing too quickly for him to keep track of.

He did execute a few broad moves, techniques designed to obliterate them all at once. Wherever the real Raiden was -cleverly masked- he was able to see these coming and fold them away….and then fold them right back at Madara himself.

Curbing his rising annoyance with an effort, it was some minutes before he realized there was a strategy going on. Not all of the clones used the same techniques. Some used Taijutsu only, while others used Ninjutsu. And some used Raiden's signature moves. All of them folded out of harms way, only to reappear and attack him. By the time he realized that this was an abbreviated application of the Six Paths of Pain, he was grim. Not only that, but it seemed Raiden was very aware of the fact that he couldn't use more than one of the Rinnegan's abilities at a time. So when he tried to absorb chakra was when he received Taijutsu attacks, and whenever he tried to push or pull the boy, he received Ninjutsu attacks. Worse, the clones were capable of making grabs for his chakra, which neatly prevented him from keeping a firm hold on it himself and simply phasing out of harm's way. He couldn't continue his Ninjutsu attacks, seeing as these were all stolen and folded right back at him.

This wouldn't do.

"Show yourself!" he barked at the night. "Who's running now?"

The attacks were beginning to find their mark. One or two clones did take hits from him, but more sprang up immediately. Unthinkable. Impossible. He was actually _harried_, unable to take the time to so much as summon a creature, or-

Something sprang up from the sand behind him, and the recognizable chakra had him turning with a snarl. Hands reached for and closed around his throat.

Madara grinned. Raiden's eyes were closed, but it was the real boy. He lost no time in putting his own hands around Raiden's wrists, already leeching his chakra in great torrents.

The clones. They hadn't vanished. All of them closed around him now, swarming over him and Raiden both. Madara pulled harder on the boy's chakra. He might not be able to repel the clones while doing so, but his grin widened as some of those clones dispersed as a result. Raiden squeezed his neck in his powerful, clawed hands. His fangs were bared. Was he smiling?

Another set of hands reached around Madara's face suddenly. The claws dug into his eye sockets with a wet squelch of blazing agony. Howling, spinning, flailing behind him, his chakra erupting wildly, he nevertheless was not in time to prevent his eyes being ripped from his head. The pain of it, the _loss_, was beyond imagining. It wasn't just his eyes…

Raiden opened his own eyes a fraction, looking at the where Madara knelt and screamed. "Now we're even." Just as well. Using so many clones, all of which had been using a variety of techniques and folding, had drained the shit out of him.

Hands before his face, his empty sockets dripping into his palms, Madara turned toward the voice. "_You_."

"I killed you once," Raiden said solemnly. One huge Death Sphere formed in his hand, and he began walking toward Madara. "I'm going to do it again."

A ragged wheeze left Madara. An ugly, breathless laugh. "Fool. You never killed me."

Raiden stopped walking. The sting of defeat had to be fucking up Madara's brain. "Maybe you don't remember…"

"And maybe you were deceived with everyone else. Even Izanami. I must give Obito credit for holding onto the ruse even in the face of Izanami's interrogation, but the truth came out before she resurrected me." Madara laughed again. "How Obito raged. He always believed I'd given him the gift of immortality. To die, and then be denied resurrection at the last moment…"

"…What?" None of what Raiden was hearing made sense.

"Izanami gave me his memories. Not even Akatsuki realized any change in me when we were brought back. If the truth were known, I did consider myself and Obito to be one; I'd chosen him as a vessel for myself, after all. He, 'Tobi', and I…an odd trinity that housed a single idea. But it was Obito you killed."

Madara lunged at Raiden unexpectedly. Left wide open in his confusion, Raiden barely got a wing around himself to deflect the wood jutsu aimed at him. Madara tore right through his wing, crashing into him and bearing him to the ground, where they rolled.

This was the real fight, it seemed. Madara tore at him with ever-changing jutsu. Now fire, now earth, now wind. It was all he could do to anticipate and fold the attacks away, while combating the frightfully strong Taijutsu. A hand rammed into his side, making him shriek through his clenched teeth, only for it to be ripped free with a gory handful of his innards clutched in it. His chakra was a storm around them both, healing him, swirling the sand in a whirlpool of cutting grains, until finally he was on his back. Madara's hands were wrapped around his throat in a parody of their former position.

His bloody eye sockets dripped on Raiden's snarling face. He could feel the boy quivering beneath him, almost spent of strength and chakra both, and the rising sun beginning to peak over the horizon and warm his back. He would take the boy to his dimension, torture him, draw out his death in payment for his eyes-

The Rasengan punching through his heart was a surprise. And then he thought no more.

-oOo-

Raiden gasped and choked as he shoved the body off of him, but he wasn't done. Weak, his body returning to its human state, he maneuvered around in the sand until he cold turn Madara onto his back. He sat and place both feet on his shoulders. Reaching one hand beneath Madara's chin, and the other beneath his wild hair to grasp the back of his skull, he leaned back and pulled.

At first he couldn't do it. The fight had been hours. He was tired. Heartsick. Spent and beaten, and robbed of everything that mattered to him, it seemed. Aimi. Wyatt…

But he'd won. They'd won. His dads were alive, and he was alive, and he shoved his feet hard against Madara's shoulders, _dragging_ until the head came off in a long, grisly crunch of snapping bone and splashing blood.

* * *

In front of Konoha's gates, the rising sun found the armies already awake. They sat in mourning, in deference to Demon and his grief, and in honor of those who'd been left behind.

Raiden's appearance in their midst was reminiscent of his previous one, down to the body he carried over one shoulder. This time he went directly to his father and laid the body at his feet, dropping the head on top of it. When he raised his eyes, it was to find both his Dad and Pop looking at him, not at the body. _"Now_ it's over," he said.

There hadn't been any noise or talking when Raiden arrived, but it seemed that even the birds and rustling wind went still. The silence was complete. Raiden backed away from his parents as the other Kage slowly crept forward to investigate the corpse. Demon and Sasuke stood as well, looking at the cause of their life-long grief.

-oOo-

No one asked if Akatsuki was also dead. It was understood from the decapitated body that they were. Madara's death was the period at the end of the final sentence in a long essay on war and hatred. It _was_ over now.

Demon swallowed. Lifting his head, he found Sasuke with his eyes.

Sasuke wasn't faring too well, he knew. Torn between grief over his brother and Aimi, he stared at Demon with sunken eyes. He, and just about everyone else outside the wall, Kage included, were looking for guidance. What happened now?

Demon was very aware of Aimi and the other missing people. Aimi he refused to dwell on just then, but he couldn't seem to stop seeing the faces of his former teachers. Not just them, but Itachi. Akane. Ibiki. Kit. They would forever be immortalized in that closing circle. He would always see Kakashi's expression, the look in his eyes just before the circle had closed. There had been a split second before it had, where Kakashi had mouthed something at him. This, too, Naruto couldn't seem to forget.

_Lead well, _Kakashi had said. And that look in his eyes had intensified as he smiled. That look of pride.

He'd risen from death ashamed. That was part of his shame, he realized. Guilt over Kit, who never should have been brought in the first place, was another part. He was neither worthy of pride, nor innocent. He'd failed when it mattered, and people were dead. But for the Shinigami they would _all_ be dead. Guidance? Not from him. He was the last person they should be looking to.

It was Gaara who came around Madara's body and touched his arm. Demon blinked, seeing the world around him once more. How each Kage had moved back to stand at the head of their respective armies, who were also all standing. He heard the noise behind him, of the village slowly waking with the day and returning to life. Children laughing. Non-combatants calling to each other. The sun still rising and making him squint. His son, standing beside Wyatt's body, and looking as lost as he felt.

And he could see where the Narutos and Sasukes stood, waiting for some direction from him. Even Chibi-Gaara, serious for once. Queenie, looking as if he'd never really returned to life. He frowned at that a moment, his guilt twisting sharply.

"Naruto," Gaara murmured. But just then someone else stepped up, and bowed to Gaara for permission to intrude. Gaara inclined his head in answer, before returning to the head of the Suna shinobi.

Arata straightened from his bow and moved to stand directly in front of Demon. He waited until the shadowed blue eyes met his. "Hokage-sama."

Demon recoiled as if struck.

Arata pressed on anyway, emphasizing the title. "Shichidaime-sama. Rokudaime-sama's orders were explicit should he fall: 'Command passes to Naruto, whether he likes it or not.' I quote him verbatim. This was the message I gave you in the heat of battle, true, but it stands even now. You are to take his place, no matter who is currently in charge. Those were his instructions. As such, it falls to you, Seventh Hokage of Konohagakure, to make a statement of how we proceed from here."

Demon's eyes flitted back and forth, noting the individual daimyo and how they stood beside every Kage. Fire Country's daimyo was behind him, he suddenly sensed, along with Sasuke. Even Itachi's children were making an effort to compose themselves, looking to him to say something.

_What am I supposed to say? _"I'm…I'm not the Hokage. Leader of my small band of recruits, maybe. Possibly the army, but not-"

Arata bowed shortly, effectively cutting off Demon's stammering. When he straightened, he looked behind Demon to the daimyo, who gave a single nod.

"A leader for our hidden village is urgently needed," this dour man said in a carrying voice. "Hataki Kakashi's recommendation of Uzumaki Naruto is hereby put forth."

Demon twisted to look at him, and so saw the way the daimyo cast meaningful stares at his childhood friends. These current heads of clans all stepped forward to give their vote, followed quite unnecessarily by the other Kage. Demon watched in dream-like disbelief as he was summarily voted into office. This, the achievement of his life-long dream, when he'd given it up and lost so much along the way…

The rustle of every watching individual bowing low in acknowledgement made it no less surreal. He stared at the horizon dumbly, before a gentle nudge on his back from Sasuke reminded him to return the bow. When he had, everyone else straightened up.

"As I was saying," Arata continued as if no time had passed, "we await your words, Hokage-sama." He stepped back at last, and took his place amongst Konoha's ANBU.

What could he say? How could there be anything, any word, capable of summarizing what had happened to all of them? Where they went from here? They'd died and been brought back, suffered agonies that would never fade or be forgotten. What had been seen could not be unseen, despite their return to life. To thank them would have been obscene, and to command them would have been even worse.

In the end, he remembered his parents. The teachers on the training world, and the ones here, who would not be joining them. Fumbling for words, he spoke of them. Of the Shinigami and the debt of gratitude everyone owed them, as well as the ones who'd been left behind.

And he spoke of his children. Of Aimi, who'd been lost. Of how he was no more or less than they were; they were kindred in grief. He wasn't cut out for public speaking, but he had undergone some preparation for this as Kakashi's assistant. Years of this finally came to his rescue. He had an ingrained sincerity and honesty that helped him further. What he wanted to say finally came to him, even if it wasn't delivered as smoothly as his predecessor would have done.

Lastly, he spoke about Akatsuki and how the greed for power had led them all to this point.

"Power has its place, but ultimately, power isn't the most powerful thing. Power, the thirst for it, will destroy us. You saw that. And you saw how it wasn't power that saved us, it was just _us_. Working together, refusing to give up, helping each other." He had to bow his head a moment before he could go on. Then he lifted it to meet their stares. "It was like Ero-Sennin…I mean, Jiraiya. It was like Jiraiya said, how our bonds with each other will save us. He was right. And I promise you, all of you, that unless we can do that now from here on out, we won't make it. There'll be wars and hate and senseless death until the end of time. The second chance that we've all been given will have been for nothing."

He paused there, turning his head aside to look at Madara's body. The black hair tossed in the faint breeze, partially obscuring the gruesome eye sockets. He sensed everyone else looking at Madara as well.

"If one man's greed and hatred can come so close to destroying everything," he continued quietly, "how can there be any hope if we're all doing the same? There's a lesson to be learned here."

There was more, but they were beginning to nod. A few spoke out, shouting his title or his name. And when he finished, urging them to work with him, to work together for the benefit of everyone, the roar that went up was deafening.

That went on for a while. Demon couldn't quite bring himself to celebrate with them.

The war was over, but they weren't whole, not by a long shot. Thinking of Aimi, of everyone else, the other nations and all the people in them, he privately thought that though repaired, the world had a lot of healing to do.


	67. Epilogue

A/N: Three years, three months to the day. Finally, finally done. The relief is more than my ability to express.

To all those who stuck by me from the beginning, through the ups and downs of my updating schedule, I want to give sincere, heartfelt thanks. I love you guys. OTL

As for Raiden and Wyatt...I've already mentioned in previous notes how and where their story ends. I don't expect many to read or even care; this work stands complete. Some of you will choose to interpret the ending for those two from what's written here in your own way, and that's fine.

For the final time...onward.

[EDIT]: As brought to my attention by a guest reviewer, the mpregs that were scheduled to happen after this story was complete have more or less been canceled. Some MAY happen, but that would necessitate more fics, and I'm streamlining my workload right now. So unless a fic is owed to someone, like a kiriban, I won't be writing it.

Also, there is artwork of Aimi in chap 65, and everyone on the training world, available to look at on the FB page.

* * *

Epilogue

A week passed.

The pall of grief didn't negate the fact that the new Hokage had duties. These were brought to him in the office he'd idolized in his youth, but which was now a burden he shouldered with solemn gravity. The other Kage met with him, sat with him, as plans were arranged and outlined, and the business of peace was undertaken with new resolve.

Sasuke was with him. That helped. Both men had stayed by Raiden's side for a few days, until the boy told them quietly that he just wanted to be left alone for awhile.

* * *

That morning, after he'd placed Madara's remains at his father's feet, after the speech, the long embrace following it, and the shared tears, after the heavy acknowledgement of Aimi's passing had been borne by the three of them, he'd taken Wyatt and let his fathers lead him home. In his room's doorway, he stared at the two beds, his and Wyatt's. He'd bought Wyatt's bed with his own money, he recalled, a lifetime ago. _Six months…_

Felt live forever.

He put Wyatt in his own bed and sat beside him. Before he knew it, he was stretched out next to him, and sleeping deeply.

-oOo-

During the following days his fathers had kept him company, bringing him food, talking to him softly. He'd heard them recuperating in their own way at night, quieter than he could ever remember them being. That was good. That they had each other. But all he needed, now that Aimi was gone, was Wyatt. He loved his parents, but Wyatt was all he had. After awhile, his parents left him alone.

He didn't move from Wyatt's side except for the bathroom. Food was folded to him and eaten only when he remembered his body needed it, if someone didn't bring it to him. _Wyatt, wake up. Please._

* * *

Willow dropped by around the middle of the week. She sat on Wyatt's other side, and Raiden gazed at her dispassionately. He had a vague memory of one of his dads telling him that Willow and Gaara were staying in Itachi's house, along with all of Itachi's kids. Some feeble crack had been made about his cousins having their 'mother' back. There'd been a funeral service for the dead that Raiden hadn't attended. He would not bury his sister's memory. He could not.

"I need your help," Willow said gently.

-oOo-

Downstairs, he found the Shinigami and the other Narutos and Sasukes, with the latter's children. Those two girls and Yo-chan. He looked at them all, at Willow, and said "What." He hated being away from Wyatt. He could wake up and Raiden wouldn't be there.

"It seems these people want to go back," Willow said, gesturing to the Narutos and Sasukes. "They've waited, in deference to your loss, but they're starting to become insistent."

Raiden looked at them, noting that the Shinigami hadn't been included in Willow's gesture. And that Kenpachi seemed to be absent. "I can't."

"I'm sorry?" Willow cocked her head politely.

Someone had found village garb for her, Raiden noticed. He looked at her absently as he remembered his fight with Madara. "I can't send them back."

"Why not?"

A shrug. He had to turn his head away, trying to turn from the pain. "Aimi. I think…she took some of my abilities when she was-" He stopped. Swallowed. Looked at Willow and all the other eyes staring at him. "I can't Boom anymore, and I can only fold or pull things around my own planet. Anything farther is impossible for me." He'd made an assessment of himself during the long, silent hours by Wyatt's side. "Besides, it was Aimi who brought them."

Kage-Naruto cursed. Rasta-Sasuke spat. Byakuya closed his eyes, while his lips moved silently. Perhaps he was cursing too.

Willow gave a sympathetic smile. "Well…that's…definitely a setback. However, as I understand it from your father, Aimi did it with your assistance?" Raiden nodded. "If you don't mind?" She stepped over to him before he could ask what she meant, and placed a soft hand on his forehead.

He felt her in his mind then, riffling swiftly through his knowledge and memories.

"So!" Willow said brightly when she was done. She turned to the group of men who were all taller than she was. "Good news. I have the location of your realities and will most likely be able to send you back myself. You guys too," she said, looking past the Narutos to where the Shinigami stood.

"Except I'm not going anywhere," Ikkaku stated. "Not without my captain, and not as long as Akiko calls this place home."

"We are _all_ going back to Seireitei," Byakuya intoned.

Ikkaku wasn't the only one to protest. Urahara and Yoruichi conferred with him in urgent whispers, gesturing upward. Raiden caught Kenpachi's name and again wondered where he was. He didn't particularly care.

"Either we take this chance to go home that has been fortuitously presented to us," Byakuya hissed, over-riding them, "Or we remain here forever. You heard Willow. She won't be staying here beyond a few days more. Is that what you want? To remain here indefinitely?"

They were silent at last.

"I _am_ staying," Ikkaku said.

"Which would mean the 4th seat would be the ranking officer of the 11th division," Yumichika murmured. "He's an idiot. Without the captain or you, there'd be chaos. I'm going back as well."

So was everyone else, it seemed. Hitsugaya cleared his throat. "Uchiha Asami is coming with me."

Byakuya's eyes went down to slits. "As _what_? She's-"

"My wife. The ceremony was performed last night." His turquoise eyes challenged Byakuya's pale ones.

"Well, then," Willow said brightly into the ringing silence. "Congratulations! If everyone would please wait outside?" When they had trooped out of the house, she turned to Raiden. "This wasn't really what I wanted your help with. I'll talk about it when I'm done with them, all right?"

-oOo-

He stood in his living room, spaced out on memories of him and Aimi playing on this very floor. Of Wyatt collapsed after training, needing to be carried upstairs. A presence in the room snagged his attention.

A long minute passed before he recalled his name. "Queenie?"

"I'm not leaving without Kit," the thin man said.

Raiden frowned, but Willow came back inside then and saw that they'd become aware of each other. She lost no time with small talk. "As you know, Kit is dead. Unlike the other Narutos, his body wasn't around for his soul to join with, something necessary for the Shinigami's spell of resurrection to work. As I understand it, his body was incorporated into Izanami's pet. That Juubi thing. Since Aimi left that creature as it was once it had been killed, Kit remains lost to us." All of this was information she'd pieced together from the Shinigami and her sons. "However."

"His soul is still down there," Queenie rasped. "I have to get him back."

Raiden stared at them, fighting the urge to fold himself up to his room and by Wyatt's side. "And?"

"And," Willow said, "You were the one to pull your father out of the Underworld…with my magicks. I'm thinking we can recreate the occurrence."

Raiden blinked. "What about Kit's body?"

"Leave that to me," Willow smiled.

A sudden thought had Raiden focusing on her more sharply. "Wait…we can bring back all of the dead, everyone who died? My sister-"

But Willow was shaking her head. "In the first place, this will still be ridiculously difficult, even with my heightened powers and your co-operation. Second of all, multiple retrievals are impossible. Period."

"Why?"

Willow frowned. "I don't know, actually. Maybe because it's against nature and the natural order of things. I just know it's not done. That it can't be done."

Raiden was mutinous. _I'll decide what can and can't be done. _

-oOo-

He folded them to a remote area in the woods that night. Willow, in goddess mode, sat on the ground, with Queenie and Raiden completing a triangle formation near her. This time there was no summoning of baleful spirits. Only Willow invading his mind as before, and Raiden feeling himself ripped out of the world and reality he was accustomed to.

There was a brief sense of revisiting the familiar. A disquieting undercurrent of dread. The reminder of all he'd suffered in this place. And then he realized that he was less substantial than a thought, annexed to Willow's glowing presence in the Underworld like a shadow. He wouldn't be deciding anything. His strength merged with her magic in a seamless flow that she also controlled. Unseen, unheard, with Willow holding firmly to his consciousness, they materialized in the midst of people he recognized.

His uncle saw Willow. Smiled at her. They all did. Words were being said, but he couldn't hear them. He saw the smiles fade, the resignation. The acceptance. And he saw Kit put a disbelieving hand in Willow's. Then they were returning the way they'd come, with the oppressive feel of passing through realities making him yell. But there was no sound.

Back in the woods, where their physical bodies had never left. Raiden rolled weakly to his side and gasped for air. Willow leaned on her hands and knees, but glanced aside, where Kit's body shimmered into existence. Raiden saw Kit's soul lay down on it, as if reclining, and then Kit opened his mouth and choked on a breath of air. Another. Queenie fell beside him, all wailing, shrieking happiness and tears.

* * *

That had been three days ago. He was mostly recovered from helping Willow, and hadn't seen her since. Queenie, Kit, and Asami were gone, he knew. Ikkaku had stayed.

He could feel life settling into a routine around him. His fathers leaving in the mornings. One or another of his cousins stopping by some time around mid-morning to check on him and sit with Wyatt for a while. His Pop would come around midday, bring him food sometimes, sit for a minute. Hug him. Then both his dads would come home around evening and check on him again. They would sleep, and the process would begin again in the morning.

-oOo-

He would stare for hours at a time at Wyatt's face, while his mind seemed to run in endless circles of memories. Memories of Aimi. Everything, from his Dad pregnant with her, to the time he'd been called by Kyuubi to help him through the labor. And then coming home to find he had a fat baby sister. All her smiles, her shrieking laughter. Her hugs. How she'd followed him everywhere. The times she'd nearly died. And then she did die. She was dead. It couldn't possibly be true. Nothing in him could accept it, it was too awful.

And here he would turn his head away, his heart stuttering in panicked, painful little leaps of irregularity while he hitched air in an uneven rattle through his lungs. He would cry. He cried so much, the pain too much to fit inside him. Sometimes he would crawl in bed with Wyatt and try to take comfort, but this was one time Wyatt wasn't making it better. Nothing made it better, nothing helped.

-oOo-

One day, Ryota came over with his brothers and Yanagi. Said he, Masaru, and Kei were going back to live with their mom. Yanagi was leaving that night for Suna with her father. All of them said as how they were packed and ready to go.

Raiden could only reflect on how everything seemed broken. Nothing was as it had been before. Nothing.

* * *

The following night, Willow came to him again. His parents were with her. All of them looked at him with kind yet grave expressions.

"Sweetie," Willow said softly. "There's nothing you can do. He's not going to wake up unless he gets the help he needs."

Raiden swallowed thickly. Shook his head. "No. I can't take him back. They'll never let him go if I do. I don't even have the power…"

"I can send him to his family," Willow said. "You can go with him and stay until he gets better. When he does, I'll bring you back. Both of you."

Raiden left off staring at Wyatt's composed features. He'd washed him and dressed him in new clothes that first day. That was all. Wyatt didn't seem to need food, nor did his body eliminate wastes. The magical coma seemed to make these things irrelevant. "There's no telling how long that will take."

"No," Willow agreed. "But I'm willing to stay there with you for as long as necessary."

His fathers caught his eye then and gave identical nods. "It's all right," his Dad said. "You need to do this. You owe it to him, he deserves that much."

"What if they try to keep him?" he asked in a small voice.

Naruto, reading the real question behind it, said, "Or what if he wants to stay?"

Raiden nodded miserably.

"That would be his decision. But there won't be _any_ decision, or any hope of him recovering at all, unless you stand by him and do what needs doing."

_And I'm bonded to him, _Raiden suddenly remembered. _No one and nothing can ever take him away from me._

So it was that he found himself bidding his parents goodbye a few hours later, a packed bag on his back. There was a brief discussion on whether or not Sasuke should accompany him, but Raiden said no. "I do need to do this. I went there and got him, I'm the one who needs to take him back. Besides, you can't protect me any better than I can myself."

"Be careful," Naruto said. He pulled his son into a hard embrace, holding him there. "And Raiden…if he wants to stay, let him go. If you love him, let him go."

Raiden said nothing. A few minutes later, he and Willow vanished in a swirl of her soundless magic, Wyatt in tow.

* * *

_Elsewhere in Fire Country, two individuals materialized in a grassy clearing. The large man was in critical condition. The only limb he had working was his sword arm, and that was wrapped around the unconscious body of a girl. He stood there a moment, senseless with fatigue and injury, and completely ignorant of who or where he was._

_Unsurprisingly, his legs gave out. He sank to the grass with a moan, cushioning the girl's head from harsh contact as he did so. She rolled out of his strengthless arm, onto her back, where she lay as motionlessly as he did. His head was turned toward her. Her dark hair stirred in the faint breeze, but other than that he saw no sign of life._

_He waited. He had no idea who she was either, but there was a sense that she was important. That he'd suffered atrocities undreamed of to bring her to this place. _

_At length he saw her chest rise and fall in a deep sigh, before it settled into even breathing. A breath he hadn't known he was holding left him as well. Then he, too, turned on his back._

_His sword. It felt as heavy as a mountain, but he painstakingly pulled it until the hilt rested on his chest, with the blade lying along his stomach. He could feel it pulsing, feel the harmony his body had with it. _

_The girl was safe. His sword was safe. He sensed memory would return eventually. For now, he had no other needs beyond the girl and his sword._

_This decided, Kenpachi finally allowed himself to faint._


End file.
